Newsletter 10-11-12

Ms. Little’s Third Grade Beacon

October 11, 2012

Upcoming & Important Events:

·        Friday, October 12^th – Field trip to Plimoth Plantation & Mayflower II (arrive at school at 7:15 AM)

·        Friday, October 19^th – Dismissal at 12:30

·        Friday, October 19^th – Book orders due

Classroom News:

Ali: Last week we learned about fact families. For example, the fact family for 6, 2, and 8 is 6 + 2 = 8, 2 + 6 = 8, 8 – 6 = 2, and 8 – 2 = 6. To play the game, one person rolled two numbers and the other person finished the fact family.

Nathan: A fact family is basically a group of numbers that + or – and = something, like 6 + 1 = 7, 1 + 6 = 7, 7 – 6 = 1 and 7 – 1 = 6. You just have to put the numbers in different ways like I just did.

Lily: In Math we are learning about mental math. Mental math is when you do math in your mind. The kind we learned was about breaking apart numbers to help us add easier. Mental math is hard but I can make it!

Elizabeth: In Spelling we learned to practice our words with a partner. Practice with a partner means to sit across from each other and read their words to them. Then they answer you. For example, if the word was “shell” they would answer back S-H-E-L-L. If they answered wrong you would tell them the right way to spell the word so they could get it the next time. Practicing with a partner helps us learn how to spell our words.

Seamus: We are reading The Witches. So far the little boy is in the ballroom at the hotel. He is at the grand high witch’s meeting. The witches are in the ballroom with him.

David: Last week in Writing Workshop Ms. Little gave us our writing notebooks. We read our stories, then took our stories from our notebooks and put them in our minds.  Next, we made sure that we had the story right and told it to our partner. Then we wrote it down on special draft paper.

Madison: One day Ms. Little said she was going to teach is a new game that was called Sparkle. It was really fun because I liked knowing that I’m spelling the word right. I liked the part when you get to make someone sit down by saying “sparkle.” We played this game to practice spelling.

Colin: In Social Studies we made little plays. In my group there is Jesse, Logan, Nathan, and me. Our play is about Medusa.

Tyler: We played a game last week to practice skip counting. We counted backwards and forwards. I like counting backwards and forwards because I get better with my math. We counted by 2s and 5s. We stood in a circle and we sat down if we were out.

Emily: Last week in Literacy we had some choices. They were spelling, read to someone, and read to self. We needed to pick one to start on. In spelling we had a lot of choices. I can’t remember all of them but here’s some I can: rainbow writing, partner word search, and write your words three times. In read to someone you have to find a partner and get your book box, then you pick your book and sit EEKK with your partner. Sitting EEKK means elbow to elbow and knee to knee. In read to self we just read quietly to ourselves.

Brenna: When we had picture day it was in the Gym. We all had our pictures taken. We all wore nice clothes. It was fun.

Daniel: In Math we learned about in and out boxes and played an in and out box game. We all had in and out boxes for homework. This is how an in and out box works. Let’s say the rule was +7. If you put 3 in then 10 would come out. Here is an example:

In	20	40	17
Out	30	50	27

Rule: +10

Molly: In Library we got computer accounts. Mrs. Patino showed us how to make one to log on/off. Now we have them so when we go to Fowler we can save things.

Jameson: Last week we played tag at Gym. We played soccer at Gym. Sometimes we play dodge ball at gym.

Seanalee: Last week we learned lowercase b and h for cursive. Now we all know cursive b and h.

Katie: At Music we played the drums and maracas. We were practicing the beat with the drums. We were also practicing the rhythm with the maracas.

Jesse: We received postcards from Alaska, Massachusetts, Idaho, and Wisconsin. We are collecting postcards from all fifty states. We have collected 19 postcards so far.

Tatyiana: Our class took a place value test in Math. Some of us used place value blocks to help.  I love place value now.

Phaydan: Every month we make calendars. First the paper passers give us the calendar papers. Then we write the days on the lines at the top of the calendar paper. After that we write the numbers of the days in the boxes. Then we bring it home to write what we have planned for each day and we have to decorate it with crayon or colored pencils.

Logan: Every Friday we read Time for Kids magazine. It said we are having an election on November 6, 2012. The other one said that farmers need rain for their food, animals, and plants. We read that there was a flood in Kansas and 100,000 people moved. It said there was 6 inches of rain and some people are still there!

Ms. Little: We have started our addition unit in Math. Over the next few weeks, we will be working on adding two, three, and four-digit numbers. It would be beneficial to help your child become automatic with their basic addition facts (0-10), either by practicing with flash cards or aloud at home. Enjoy the weekend.