Students’ Highlights 9/25/23 – 9/29/23

• Chapel- Performing Readers Theater, The Legend of Lightning Larry
• Music- Solo playing of piano or ukulele instruments
• Language Arts- reading When the Pigs Took Over
• Science- Building rolling devices and controlling where they roll
• Art- Making pumpkins like the artist Yayoi Kusama
• Math- describing data to answer questions
• Social Studies- Reading about resources that shape communities
• Spanish- Working on a project for the Day of the Dead Chapel
• PE- Catching and throwing footballs

Next week, students continue to learn reading comprehension skills while reading about nature’s balance.  Students will learn to ask questions to make sure they understand what is happening and distinguish literal and non-literal language.  Grammar lessons focus on types of sentences and contractions.

Math lessons next week, revolve around collecting data and representing categorical data with bar graphs and pictographs using a scale with intervals larger than one.  Students will describe and interpret data considering how well a data representation communicates to an audience.

Social Studies Communities  magazine develops students understanding of the factors that shape communities such as geography, natural resources, history, and culture. Students will be able to make connections with related titles:

• Communities Change-  Changes in economy, population, and topography can impact a community.
• People and the Environment-The surrounding environment of a community affects the way people in that community live.
• Producers and Consumers- Businesses and workers provide goods and services to consumers in every community.

Reminders

• September 29th:  Progress Reports come home
• October 1st: Students start logging daily the number of pages read on their Reading Log
• NOVEMBER 10TH: THIRD GRADE BAKE SALE
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip to Tucson Presidio

Spelling Lesson 8:  Words with Double Consonants

1. letter
2. dollar
3. happen
4. better
5. rabbit
6. hammer
7. soccer
8. dinner
9. zipper
10. ladder

Welcome October, from Lightning Larry and the gang!

Students’ Highlights 9/18/23 – 9/22/23

• Music- continuing ukulele and piano
• Language Arts- Unit 1 tests, finished writing personal narratives
• Math- Reviewed unit 1 for upcoming test, facts mastery
• PE- Crossover
• Art-Finishing our Christmas cards
• Chapel- Stress Tag, Mass Apostles
• Spanish-Practicing “Amor Eterno” for Dia de los Muertos

Language Arts unit two begins on Monday.  The theme is Nature’s Balance and the BIG question we’ll explore is “What happens when nature loses its balance?”  The first reading selection, When the Pigs Took Over, is a humorous story that explores too much or too little in nature.  Students will compare and contrast characters’ words at the beginning of the story and at the end, as well as what the characters learn.  Additional reading selections about nature this week explore overhunting, habitat changes, and overpopulation.

Next week starts Unit two math; Graphs and Line Plots.  Students will develop ideas about collecting, representing, describing, and interpreting data.  The unit focuses on using bar graphs, pictographs, and line plots to represent, describe, and compare categorical and numerical data.  Students will also generate measurement data in inches, half inches, feet, and yards.

We, Mrs. Zlaket and Ms. Stalkfleet, encourage students to make reading a daily habit in their lives, one we hope will remain with them as they mature into adulthood. To promote positive reading habits, we have formulated a page requirement for books that are at the child’s reading and emotional level. We expect students to read books that they have not previously read in order to expand their reading experiences. This outside reading assignment is part of your child’s reading grade. Of course, students may read more pages than this goal and are encouraged to do so if they have the time and inclination. We hope this encouragement will help reluctant readers discover and enjoy new authors and genres. Those students who have discovered the joys of reading will be encouraged to branch out to find even more challenging books. Thank you for helping develop YOUR lifelong reader. 

MONTHLY READING GOALS FOR OCTOBER – DECEMBER

• 280 + PAGES – E
• 233-264 PAGES – S+
• 217-232 PAGES – S
• 206-217 PAGES – S-
• 0-205 PAGES – N

Reminders

• September 29th: Library Visit to the Wilmot Branch- bring your library card
• NOVEMBER 10TH: THIRD GRADE BAKE SALE
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip to Tucson Presidio

Spelling Lesson 7 Words with the Final -le Sound

1. settle
2. eagle
3. rattle
4. saddle
5. cattle
6. middle
7. ripple
8. turtle
9. single
10. pebble

Happy first weekend of Fall from the 3rd grade lunch bunch!

Students’ Highlights 9/11/2023 – 9/15/2023

• PE- Flag Football, Crossover
• Math- Division
• Science- magnetic forces
• Art- Blending colors, optical illusions
• language Arts- learning parargraph spacing, first and third person narrators
• Spanish- sang Amor Eterno, writing notes in Spanish
• chapel- Easy to pull someone down and hard to lift someone up, Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord
• Music- Playing Mary Had a Little Lamb on piano, playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on ukulele

A recently read article from Love and Logic describes different types of parenting styles and how those styles influence building grit.  We admit that we have been each of the parents described in the article at times, while raising our own  children.  Now, our parenting fiascos are some of the humorous “Remember when…” stories when visiting with our adult children. We are glad that they understand that our actions always came from our love for them. Hopefully, they will reflect on our parenting as more of a consultant than the other styles.   Enjoy reading.

Building Grit Versus Stealing Grit from Love and Logic

“Grit is the ability to persevere in the face of challenges and difficulties and it is something that is learned primarily through experience. Love and Logic contrasts two very common parenting styles—Helicopter Parents and Drill Sergeant Parents. Both parenting types steal the opportunity for kids to develop grit through experience.

Helicopter parents steal this experience from their kids by protecting them from struggling with problems. Drill Sergeant parents also steal this experience through sending the message that their kids can’t think and do for themselves, so the parent must do this for them.

In contrast to these two parenting styles, Consultant parents (Love and Logic parents) allow kids to learn perseverance through experience. These parents know that experience and consequences do the best teaching, even though kids will be challenged in the short term.

True achievement comes through struggle and perseverance, which is the key to building grit. There is no doubt that kids who develop grit through experience will lead happier and more productive lives than those who don’t. Listed below are few “grit stealers” with corresponding “grit builders.”

Grit Stealer:  Micromanage or rescue your kids.
Grit Builder:  Allow your kids to make affordable mistakes and live with the consequences.

Grit Stealer:  Constantly tell them that they are bright, gifted, or exceptionally talented.
Grit Builder:  Celebrate effort, hard work, and perseverance.

Grit Stealer:  Immediately gratify their desires.
Grit Builder:  Let them wait for what they want.

Grit Stealer:  Talk badly about yourself.
Grit Builder:  Show your kids that you maintain a positive attitude when you make mistakes.

Grit Stealer:  Model perfectionism
Grit Builder:  Let them see you make mistakes.

Grit Stealer:  Try to always keep them happy. Give them the impression that life should never be upsetting or stressful.
Grit Builder:  Allow them to experience a natural and full range of emotions. Show that you care by expressing empathy.

Teaching perseverance isn’t complicated. It requires a willingness to allow kids to experience healthy challenges as they grow. It also requires that we let them see that they have what it takes to cope with life’s challenges.

As you know, next week will be BUSY!  We have school photos next week as well as well as our Language Arts unit test.  We will also be doing our first standardized tests.  As such, we decided to dedicate our community time this week to practicing with the i-pads.  We logged in, did some sample questions, and got a chance to experience some of the ways that the questions will be delivered.  This was a great investment because we could answer authentic questions and the kids could get a sneak peek at what next week will bring.

Reminders

• September 19th: Class Picture- wear red top and khaki bottom
• September20th: Individual Picture- dress to impress
• September 29th: Library Visit to the Wilmot Branch- bring your library card
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip to Tucson Presidio

Lesson 6 Spelling Words with Final Double Consonants

1. well
2. miss
3. puff
4. fill
5. smell
6. guess
7. spill
8. stuff
9. unless
10. grill

 

Students’ Highlights the Week of 9/4/2023 – 9/8/2023

• PE- Hockey on scooters
• Language Arts- Learning subject and predicate, clauses and phrases
• Spanish- Learning our ‘Day of the Dead’ song
• Math- Facts Practice, solving division problems
• Art- Finishing Christmas cards and coloring slowly with focus
• Music- Learning that C is under the Treble clef on an electronic keyboard
• Science- Learning the scientific method and data collection analysis
• Chapel- Learning about peace and listening to Grandfather Ghandi

Third Grade will visit the Wilmot Library branch on Friday, September 29th.  Students will need to bring their own library card in order to check out a book. Our mission is to check out a mystery book as part of a monthly-genre reading requirement. We, Mrs. Zlaket  and Ms. Stalkfleet, encourage students to make reading a daily habit in their lives, one we hope will remain with them as they mature into adulthood. To promote positive reading habits, we expect students to read books that they have not previously read in order to expand their reading experiences. READING GOALS FOR THIRD GRADE: 10-12 pages every day. This outside reading assignment is part of your child’s reading grade. Of course, students may read more pages than this goal and are encouraged to do so if they have the time and inclination. We hope this encouragement will help reluctant readers discover and enjoy new authors and genres. Those students who have discovered the joys of reading will be encouraged to branch out to find even more challenging books. Thank you for helping develop YOUR lifelong reader. 

Reading comprehension strategies will focus on distinguishing and comparing points of view.  Reading selections include a biography and an autobiography on Joseph Lekuton.  Grammar continues work with subjects and predicates, adding compound subjects, and developing mastery of subject-verb agreement.

Math formally introduces developing strategies for division based on understanding the inverse relationship between multiplication and division and division notation.  A facts assessment on 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s is scheduled this week.  Student will have 3 minutes to complete 30 math multiplication facts.  Daily practice is essential for mastery in third grade of all multiplication facts through 10 x 10 by the end of December.

Second Steps unit two focuses on empathy.  Lesson Concepts are:

1. looking for clues on a person’s face or body and in the situation helps students notice and understand how that person is feeling.
2. People can have different feelings about the same situation.
3. All feelings are natural.

Social Studies wraps up Mapping Our World and begins Communities this week. Communities asks the question, What factors shape and make communities different? Students will explore how geography, resources, history, and culture shape communities.

School Pictures take place on September 19th and 20th for TK through 4th grade.   Class pictures are on Tuesday, the 19th and students will wear their official school uniform: Red top and Khaki bottom.  Individual pictures are taken on September 20th and students should dress to Impress. Watch for information regarding having a siblings picture as there will be two options available.

We love getting together during our “Community” time.  This week, we played “Fill the Stairs”–a dice game that focuses on place value and ordering numbers. It was tons of fun and we loved seeing the smiles!

Reminders

• Students arrive 7:45 – 8:00 AM
• September 8th: Back to School Social
• September 13th: Half Day Noon Dismissal
• September 19th: Class Picture- wear red top and khaki bottom
• September20th: Individual Picture- dress to impress
• September 29th: Library Visit to the Wilmot Branch- bring your library card
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip to Tucson Presidio

 

Lesson 5 Spelling Words with the /ü/ Sound

1. cool
2. rule
3. lose
4. noon
5. true
6. move
7. mood
8. grew
9. clue
10. scoop

Students’ Highlights 8/25/2023 – 9/1/2023

• Language Arts-Poetry and still working on subject and predicate.
• Music-Continuing our ukulele and piano playing.
• Science-Talking about forces like gravity when we push something and the force of magnetism using paper clips that “float” in the magnetic force.
• PE-Using teamwork as we were playing Kingpin and Hula Hut and Hula Hoop tag.
• Math-Working on multiplication with arrays and using them to learn about dimensions and area,
• Chapel-Receiving communion in Mass, listening to Ms. Hart’s story and hearing her sing with her guitar.
• Art-Making Christmas cards with Christmas trees.
• Spanish-Learning a new song in Spanish for chapel.
• Social Studies-reading Mapping our World with lots of new vocabulary.
• Giving-Handing out our “apple” gifts to lower school friends.

This week we played board games and cooperative games during indoor recess.  The weather was just too hot to spend more than ten minutes outside Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during the lunch break.   Playing board games has many benefits.  One side effect of playing board games is laughing. Laughing has been shown to increase endorphins.  Those are chemicals that bring up the feeling of happiness. Sharing laughter and fun can promote empathy, compassion and trust with others. Positive feelings and thoughts, like the laughter and enjoyment that always comes with board games releases some chemicals that fight stress and boost your immune system. Other benefits of playing board games are developing logic and reasoning skills, improving critical thinking and boosting spatial reasoning.   Encouraging children to play different types of board games can also increase verbal and communication skills, while helping develop attention skills and the ability to concentrate and focus for longer periods of time.

Altruism is the term psychologists use to describe the act of placing the needs of others above our own. Most importantly, it’s the act of doing or giving to another, without the intent to receive. Classic examples of altruistic behavior include: giving someone a gift “just because”,  Third graders plan to give “just because” several times this year beginning today.  We are welcoming all of lower school (TK-4) back-to-school with an ‘apple’ and a pencil.

Reminders

• Students arrive 7:45 – 8:00 AM
• September 4th: School Closed, HAPPY LABOR DAY!
• September 8th: Back to School Social
• September 13th: Half Day Noon Dismissal
• September 29th: Library Visit to the Wilmot Branch
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip to Tucson Presidio

Spelling Lesson 4: Words with Long e and Long i Sounds

1. high
2. easy
3. wheel
4. busy
5. smile
6. street
7. lucky
8. wipe
9. might
10. between

 

Students’ Highlights the Week of 8/21-8/25

• Spanish-Learning conversation sentences and only speaking Spanish in class moving forward..
• Science-Force and motion-We made a paper clip float.
• Language Arts-Small group work, Happy to help stories like “Those Shoes.”
• Math-multiplication, rewards for success in math.
• Second Steps-Playing “Who’s talking?”
• Art-Painting Circles like Leonardo DaVinci
• PE-King Pin and Tower Take Down
• Music-Learning notes so we can play electric piano and play the ukulele
• Chapel-We made spiritual rain.

Third graders completed their first Language Arts weekly-assessments in Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Spelling.  Look for these finished quizzes in student homework folders.  Next week, the Happy to Help theme is explored in Leveled readers about heroes.  Students will learn the elements of a poem and continue their reading comprehension lessons of preview and predict and analyze characters based on their actions and words.

Math lessons will expand students’ understanding of the meaning of multiplication.  Students will be introduced to arrays to represent multiplication.  They will use arrays to find factors and products.  Learning multiplication facts is a top priority.  Frequent practice in and out of the classroom is essential for mastery.

Social Studies’ lessons will ask students to use map elements to interpret information on a map and compare the map to a globe.  The lessons review the compass rose, map legend and scale and will remind students how those tools help maps communicate information.

As a grade, we got together to work on our first “giving” project which will be delivered next Friday to all Lower School classes. This goes along just perfectly with our “Happy to Help” theme in language arts. We are excited to share some smiles.

Reminders

• Students arrive 7:45 – 8:00 AM
• September 4th: School Closed
• September 8th: Back to School Social
• September 13th: Half Day Noon Dismissal
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip
  

  Spelling Lesson 3; Long a and Long o

  • goal
  • fail
  • away
  • most
  • alone
  • awake
  • chose
  • crayon
  • coach
  • raise

Students’ Highlights Week of 8/14 – 8/18:

• Music-Playing piano and ukulele.
• Language Arts-Writing about the “worst day ever.”
• PE-Hula hoop tag and Tower take down.
• Science-Bridge building with cups and paper.
• Math-Multiplication in our books.
• Art-Making an Art portfolio.
• Chapel/Mass-Listening to the Prayers of the People
• Second Steps-Be a learner song and Triple T with a twist.
• Spanish-New words with Maestra.
• Getting to know you games-“Have you ever” and “Would you rather…”

Highlights are collected from students each Friday.  They may provide an opportunity for a family conversation, allowing your child to share what he or she is experiencing in school.  Encourage your child to tell you about any of the highlights listed below to get the full story.

When it comes to learning …

Movement trumps sitting
Talking trumps listening
Images trump words
Writing trumps reading
Shorter trumps longer
Different trumps same

Students have met their enrichment teachers and learned many routines and procedures in all their classrooms. We will build on this foundation and continue to develop relationships and academic stamina. Second Steps, social emotional learning curriculum, teaches students to prepare to be a learner by “Focusing attention, using your eyes, ears and brain.” Playing the game, ‘Triple T with a Twist,’ helped students practice listening and remembering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Arts theme, Happy to Help, will explore a big question: How do people help each other? For the next four weeks, students will read fiction, non-fiction and poetry that connects to the unit’s theme. Reading comprehension skills will include analyzing characters, elements of a poem, point of view, and making comparisons. Each week, there will be assessments: Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Grammar, and Spelling.

Math lessons’ main ideas are understanding the meaning of multiplication and learning the multiplication facts. Students will look for relationships between multiples, solve related story problems and discuss the patterns they see involving groups of three and six.

Classroom Coordinator is a volunteer opportunity for you to support your child’s classroom.  Third Grade Classroom Coordinator duties include scheduling field trips, planning small seasonal celebrations, planning the End-of-Year Third Grade Party and managing the class funds according to administrative guidelines.  Both third grade teachers and parent coordinators will meet soon to plan the year.  If you are interested in being a  coordinator or helping support a coordinator, please let us know.

We strongly recommend that students always have a refillable water bottle in class and a hat for time spent outside! Our goal is 100% participation! We can do it!

Reminders

• Students arrive 7:45 – 8:00 AM
• August 23rd:  Curriculum Night 6PM
• September 4th: School Closed
• September 8th: Back to School Social
• September 13th: Half Day Noon Dismissal
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip

Spelling List:

1. else
2. buzz
3. finish
4. head
5. summer
6. lift
7. ready
8. visit
9. fence
10. live

 

 

Highlights of Students’ First Days of School

• Playing at recess
• decahedron activity
• seeing friends, old and new
• getting supplies organized
• Learning routines and procedures
• Getting-to-Know-You games
• Math game Pig
• Finding a Friend bingo game with Mrs. Zlaket’s class
• TTT with a Twist game with Mrs. Zlaket’s class
• read-alouds
• Science with Mrs. Peterson
• PE with Coach Greene
• Art with Ms. Vizzini
• Spanish with Ms. Iturralde

Our Third Grade Journey Begins

Expect a blog post each Friday going forward with highlights, information, reminders and this week’s spelling list.

Reminders

• Students arrive 7:45 – 8:00 AM
• August 23rd:  Curriculum Night 6PM
• September 4th: School Closed
• September 8th: Back to School Social
• September 13th: Half Day Noon Dismissal
• November 21st: Grand Friends Day
• December 15th: Field Trip

Spelling List Week 1; Test on Friday, Aug. 18th

1. bath
2. hobby
3. than
4. damp
5. bottle
6. lots
7. trash
8. flock
9. pocket
10. flap