Mrs.

Bates 3rd Grade Newsletter

Hello everyone. The nice weather is fast approaching as well as the end of the school year. I would like to thank all of the parents who have volunteered in our classroom this year. It has been a tremendous help. Parent volunteers will go through the end of April. After that our schedule can get hectic with end of the year activities. Thank you again for all of your help and hard work this year! In math we are starting Unit 8. This unit covers fractions. Next week is also our last week of testing our multiplication fact families. We will be testing on the 12s fact family. After that we will continue to take a timed multiplication mad minute every week. When you come into the room, you can see your childs sundae grow with their learning. The purpose of memorizing these facts is so that when we start multi digit multiplication, your child will already know the facts and can concentrate on learning the process. We will have our sundae party some time the first week of June. I will send home a note asking for donations and help with this. I have also sent home a multiplication mad minute pack. These mad minutes are a part of the weekly homework. Your child must complete as least 2 of these sheets per week. They may, however, complete up to 7. When they complete a sticker chart, they will receive a no homework coupon. I have also given everyone extra challenge packs to work on when they finish their journal work. When your child turns this in they will earn a no math homework coupon for them to use whenever they wish! In addition, I have a fourth grade math pack that is available for parents. This is a take home pack to complete at home for an extra challenge. However, students may bring pages back to school if they wish. Many of these concepts may be new and will not be taught during the school day. Please let me know if you are interested in this. In language arts we are continuing to work on our 7 keys of comprehension. So far we have worked on connections, mental images, fix up strategies, background knowledge or schema and inferring. We read the story Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express. We practiced mental images and mood of a story. Next week we will be starting a literature circle unit. Students have been put into 5 groups and each group will read an assigned book. When they read they will also have a job to do while reading. The next day the group will then discuss their jobs. In this way, students will be reading and using those keys to comprehension and learning how to discuss their thinking with others in a group setting. When the book is completed they will work on a book project to demonstrate their learning.

Our next science unit will be earth. We will be starting this in the next week or 2. We will cover rocks, erosion, earthquakes and volcanoes. It should be an exciting and fun unit to learn about! In social studies we are still learning all about our great state. We have entered World War I and the Great Depression. You have also received information about your childs state report project. Thank you for your help with this. This is a great project to introduce research to the students as well as paragraph writing and presentation skills. I will send home more information as the date of Monday, May 17th comes closer.

Our class is also in need of a few items to get us to the end of the year. We need kleenex, anti-bacterial wipes for our desks and pencils. If you can help by sending in any of these products, thank you! Dates to remember: Tuesday, 4-20 Dr. Shibler will be giving a financial update at the PTO meeting at 7:00 Thursday, 4-22 3rd grade goes to the IMAX. Parents if you would like to meet us there and purchase your ticket you are welcome to. Thursday, 4-22 BC pizza night for Belmont Tuesday, 5-11 PTO meeting at 7:00 Friday, 5-14 Picnic Day Tuesday, 5-18 White caps Night Friday and Saturday, 5-21 and 22 Relay for Life Friday 5-28 and Monday 5-31 no school for Memorial Day break