Week of January 5-9
Dear Parents and Students,
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Happy 2009! We are very excited to begin the year with fresh ideas and new concepts. The students appeared eager to return to the routine of school. We are not sure how eager they will be to return to the routine of homework. Thank you for all the wonderful and generous Christmas gifts bestowed upon us. You are very thoughtful and gracious families. We appreciated everything! We hope all of you had a rejuvenating and blessed Christmas break.
Please be sure to let us know of any vision/hearing difficulties, asthma, allergies, or other special needs for your child so we can be sure to accommodate them when necessary.
If you intend to volunteer in the school/classroom by being a room parent, assisting with activities, or chaperoning a field trip, you MUST have a background check, be Virtus trained, and current with training bulletins. There are no exceptions to this rule! Pat Martin, the high school secretary, is the contact person for Virtus training. If you intend to visit the classroom, eat lunch with your child, etc. and you are NOT Virtus compliant, then a Staff member at Villa will need to escort you to the location in the school.
May God's blessing be abundant to you,
Mrs. Schleper and Mrs. Wessels
Important Dates to Remember:
| January 7 |
Early Dismissal |
| January 19 |
School Closed |
| January 26 |
Catholic School Week begins |
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Wish List
Several parents have been asking what supplies are still needed in the third grade classrooms. We have all kinds of math manipulatives, but we are in need of "household" and consumable items. If you would like to donate any of the following, just send them into the classroom with your child. Thank you!
** Board Games to play during indoor recess (Sorry, Trouble, Guess Who, Legos, etc.) We have plenty of cards and Dominos.
** Magazines (Family Fun, Woman's Day, Southern Living, etc.) - We utilize the magazines for various projects throughout the year. The students will cut pictures, make collages, etc.
Reminders
1. Some ways to foster responsibility in third grade is to assist your child with being prepared for class each day. Please help your child place homework and other items in the proper sections of their portfolio, review material daily, and arrive to school on time, so they have an adequate amount of time to unpack is essential. Students should be unpacked and ready to begin their day by 8:00 a.m.
2. Have your child complete and return all homework the following day. Remember, homework is a review of the work completed in class.
3. Please send your child to school with a water bottle each day! Brain research statistics state that water is essential in nourishing the brain. Having a well hydrated brain will help your child remain on task.
Morning Meeting
The purpose of these daily meetings set the tone for the day while helping the students feel welcome, increasing confidence and communication, and building cooperation skills.
Religion
This week the students will learn about the four marks of the Catholic Church. The marks of the Church define it as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. At Mass, as we pray the Nicene Creed, we profess our belief in one holy catholic apostolic Church. We will discuss that Jesus chose his apostles to lead the Church and today the pope and bishops are the successors of the apostles. At the end of chapter, the students will create a church illustrating that it is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
Language Arts
READING: The new year brings some cooler weather; therefore, we will begin reading Mr. Popper's Penguins. We will utilize the book to focus on story elements, introduce cause-effect relationship, and complete various cooperative learning activities. They will complete journal writing activities each day and answer comprehension questions. The students will also create a list of new words learned to expand their vocabulary while reading the novel. They will use their list of words to play various games. We will research Penguin information during computer class and complete penguin activities which correlate to this wonderful book.
READING HOMEWORK: The students will need to read orally to their parents at least twice a week. They will record in their planners which night they are reading orally. The student and parent should rotate reading a page aloud. Please emphasize stopping at punctuation, pausing at commas, and reading with expression. Your child may correct you if they do not hear expression, etc. while you are orally reading. Students are expected to record their reading selection and number of pages read each night in their planner. This is part of their reading grade! With the guidance of the parent, students will select their own reading material. Take time to teach them how to use the "Five Finger Method" when selecting a book (0-1 words missed on the first full page of text then the book is too easy, 2-3 words missed the book is a their reading level, and 4-5 words missed the book is too hard.) They are expected to read 15 minutes each night and at least one night over the weekend.
BOOK REPORTS: Since the start of the school year, the students have completed a book report at school each month. Beginning in January, book report information will be sent home to complete as homework. The students will have approximately 4 weeks to have their book approved by Mrs. Schleper, read the book, and complete the assignment. This should be a fun and enjoyable activity!! I will send home the information for the book report for January this week. The report will be due on January 30th.
WRITING: ALL WRITTEN WORK SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN CURSIVE AND IN COMPLETE SENTENCES. The students will spend time writing goals for 2009. The children will reflect on goals for their family, academics, spirituality, frienships, wellness, and personal activity. Ask your child to share their goals with you! This week we will finish learning about nouns. They will create a hybrid noun. The students will work on DOL (daily oral language) each day. The students will begin keeping a Grammar Notebook each week. They will utilize the Grammar Notebook to study for tests. They will have a DOL/Grammar assessment every Friday. They will complete DOL and journal writing each morning.
Spelling
This week the words focus on the vowel sound /or/ spelled or as in sport and /o/ spelled au, augh, ough as in haul, caught, and ought. They will have nightly spelling homework. The students will be tested over all 22 words on Friday. The words are: forgot, bought, nor, haul, ought, forest, sport, thought, daughter, port, sort, record, taught, brought, forth, because, fought, report, forty, caught, penguin, toboggan.
Math
This week we will be learning division. I will be teaching them the relationship between multiplication and division. We will stay with division a few weeks while also learning about tangrams and working with word problems.
Science
We will be finishing chapter 3 this week. The students will be discussing how populations depend on each other and affect each other. They will learn about predators, prey, scavengers, parasites and carbon dioxide and oxygen cycles.
Social Studies
We will wrap up our Colonial Times unit this week. We will review how life was different back in the colonial times. We will do some comparing/contrasting together as a whole class.We will be discussing colonial homes, clothing, food, religion,education, occupations and daily life. Look for a take home test later in the week for homework!
Enrichment
The students are randomly divided up into groups of five. Every Friday from 1:30 - 2:15, the students will attend an extra class in one of the following specials: Art, Music, Gym, Drama, and Library. The students will learn additional curriculum during enrichment. At the beginning of each quarter, the students will switch to a new enrichment special. Every child will have the opportunity to participate in all enrichment specials by the end of the school year.
Specials
| Monday: |
Foreign Language, Music |
| Tuesday: |
Health, Library, Computer |
| Wednesday: |
Foreign Language, Art |
| Thursday: |
Gym |
| Friday: |
Mass, Enrichment |
***Lunch is at 10:45 every day. Please inform Mrs. Crisler if you plan to eat with your child.