What's Happening 4/25

Hi Families,

It's been awhile, but with the end of the year quickly approaching, I want to make sure that you are up to date with all of the fun end of the year activities.  

We are so excited to announce our partnership with Hewitt Elementary in holding the first ever Purple Panther SMAsh Dash on May 13th at Hewitt Park. We are joining together with partners across the community to smash SMA and raise money for research in fighting this terrible disease. All proceeds from our race will go directly to helping fund research to put an end to SMA. Wear your purple, go crazy, have fun, and join us on May 13th. Register before May 8th to ensure you get an event t-shirt.

https://goo.gl/forms/PyB16YxhgX5H8yEj2

Hopefully, your children have shared how much they are enjoying Workout Wednesdays at CCE. We are working hard and pushing each other to live a healthy lifestyle and be physically active when possible. To encourage hard work and show the importance of being active, our school staff has also bee joining students in the gym each Wednesday. 

We would like to invite YOU join us if you can. Our PE time this week is at 11:25-11:55am. 

Reminder: Please have your child wear their Castleman Creek shirt every Wednesday.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Currently, we are in first place in third grade! However, another class is close behind. Please send in box tops so we can keep our coveted spot. 

I have updated our Google Calendar with important upcoming activities. Check it out by clicking here.

Today, I am sending home a little activity for you to complete. The STAAR is the first major test that the kids will take, and although I am 100% confident that every child will do well, a little encouragement goes a long way! I am sending home a manila envelope for your eyes only. Inside will be two notes for you to write an encouraging letter to the kids for both tests. I will surprise the kids with the letter on the first day and then the 2nd letter on the 2nd day (math first reading second). 

You don't have to but an idea that a sweet family did last year was have friends and family text words of encouragement to their daughter on their personal cell phone, and they printed them out it on the letter. This was a great way to get long-distance friends and family involved. 

Get creative and decorate it with stickers or cute memes. The kids eat that stuff up! 

Please send these letters back sealed in the manila envelope give no later than Thursday, May 4th. This will give me one day before the STAAR to sort the letters and have them ready to pass out on Monday, May 8th.

Whew! That was a lot, but I hope you feel informed about everything happening in our class and at CCE. As always, do not ever hesitate to shoot me an email should any questions pop up. 

What's Happening 2/20 - 02/25

Happy Friday! 

Dear Parents,

This year we're going to use a new tool to share what we're learning in class called Seesaw. Your child will have his or her own learning journal, and you can get notified when your child adds new items. It's completely private -- only you can see your child's journal outside of class.

Click on https://app.seesaw.me/s/763-187-856 to sign up -- it takes just 30 seconds.

Once you sign up, you can download the Seesaw Parent app for iPhone or Android, or access your child's journal on the web.

Thanks!

P.S. If you have more than one child using Seesaw, or want to add a new class/school year for your child, follow the link in this email, then click 'Sign in' tab at the top. You do not need to create a new account.

Thursday, February 23rd will be our reading STAAR Simultation. 
I definitely do not want the kids to stress about this. My only wish is that they get a good night's sleep the week before and eat breakfast in the morning. We will be using their data to determine what gaps they need help with, or how how we can extend their learning. 

There are a lot of important dates coming up. A month ago, the librarian passed out a read to succeed reading log. They are due next week (check the calendar), to receive a free 6 flags ticket. 

Here is what we are learning next week:

Reading/Language Arts/ Writing

Review Nonfiction text: Main idea and Details 

Language Arts:

Adverbs

Home Activity: 

1. Have your child create sentences using adverbs. 
2. Try to use different adverbs and ask your child if they caught it

Writing:

Kids are on week 3 of research. They are researching the planets and will create a presentation due the 25th.

Math

2nd week of equivalent fractions. Quiz is on the 25th. 
**Represent fractions with denominators of 2,3,4,6, and 8 using a variety of objects and pictorial models, including number lines.
**Explain that two fractions are equivalent if and only if they are both represented by the same point on the number line or represent the same portion of a same size whole for an area model.  

Science

Construct models that demonstrate the relationship between the sun, earth, and moon, including orbits, and positions. 

Identify the planets in Earth's solar system and their position in relation to the sun. 

 Social Studies

Communities and Change
Todd Beamer 

What's Happening 02/06-02/10

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! In each third grade classroom we will have a small, low-key Valentine celebration. If you would like to help provide supplies for the day, please click on the link below to sign up. Thank you in advance!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0B48ABAB23A4F94-heart

Please allow your child to decorate a valentine's day box or bag at home. Any child that does not have a bag on February 14th, will receive a paper sack from me so they are not left out! 

Students will need a card to give to each of their classmates. These cards can be handmade or store bought and should be brought to school no later than the morning of Tuesday, February 14th.  Please use the class list below to make sure you have a card for everyone!

Boys:

Devin Zettlemoyer

Marcus Morgan

Daniel Carillo-Valadez

Tyler Pruitt

Daunte Stoglin

Jude Garcia

Tristen Teakell

Aragon Kvocka

V'Angelo Gutierrez 

Girls:

Valerie Owens

Kaelyn Morgan

Trinh Ho

Layleanna Grey

Aubrey Ramirez

Luci Lopez

Zoha Asad

Londynn Grimes

Here is what we are learning next week:

Math:

Comparing fractions

fractions on a number line

distance from zero on a number line

Reading:

Reviewing nonfiction text 

Writing:

Research

Students ask open ended research questions and develop a plan for answering them. 

Science:

Space

identify the planets in Earth's solar system and their position in relation to the sun

Social Studies:

Juliette Gordon Lowe

Communities and recreation 

What's Happening 01/23-01/27

Hey, Families!

Earlier this week, I passed out a 6 Flags Read to Succeed packet. The kids must read a certain amount of minutes and have a parent signature in order to receive a FREE 6 Flags ticket.

If your child has lost their paper, please have them ask me for another packet.

I hope y'all have a relaxing weekend.

What We Are Learning:

Math:

Paired Number tables
Example:
Click and scroll to page 5 (CLICK HERE)

Multiplication as a comparison:
Example:

**Carl has 9 pencils. Jesse has 3 times as many pencils as Carl. How many pencils does Jesse have?

**Michael has 5 times as many books as Ellie. Michael has 20 books. How many does Ellie have?

**Landon’s pig weighs 5 times as much as his dog. Together, the animals weigh 120 pounds. What does Landon’s pig

Reading:

Theme and Genre

Language Arts:

Possessives and Quotation Marks
Sounds of Ou (could, touch, through, bought) 3.24vi

Writing:

Personal Narratives 

Social Studies: 

Week 13 Heroes/Inventors  1B, 2C, 11B, 14B, 16A-B, 17 Benjamin Banneker
George Washington Carver

Science:

The Sun and the Water Cycle

Have a great week! 

What's Happening 01/08-01/12

Hey Families!

On Thursday, I sent a note home about G/T testing. If you feel that your child would qualify, please email me and I will send you a permission slip.

Accelerated Reader

This week we launched AR! The kids are really pumped about it. Before break, your child took our reading district screener. Based on that test, your child was given their ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) which gives them a range of books that are just right books for them. 

For example: Let's say a child's reading level is a 3.7. This means (the kids don't know this detailed) that they are reading on a 3rd grade level in the 7th month of school. Their ZPD will be a 2.9-4.2. There are colored dots assigned to the books that match these levels. 

The kids can read books from this level so they don't become frustrated. Each month, the kids will take another reading screener and their level will move appropriately so we can make sure they are reading appropriate books. 

My first school did a similar program, but AR is new to Castleman. Please allow us some grace as we implement it this semester. 

What We Are Learning:

Math:

2 by 1 digit multiplication

Reading:

Literary Nonfiction

This unit is my FAVORITE to teach! This past week we learned about the man that invented basketball. Next week we will learn about the inventor of the Ferris Wheel and the man that created the donut!

Language Arts:

Commas in a series

Spelling: -igh

Writing:

Procedural Writing

Social Studies: 

Healthy Communities

Science:

Weather

Have a great week! 

What's Happening 12/12-12/16

Reading:

Drama, multiple meaning words, and homographs

Grammar:

Comma rules 

Math:

Relationships between multiplication and division

Solve one and two-step problems involving multiplication and division (including addition and subtraction). 

Science: 

Natural Resources

Social Studies:

Healthy Communities

Jonas Salk and Louis Pasteur

Holiday Party!

It’s almost time for our Holiday Party!  It is going to be a fun event. We will be having our party on December 21 from 8:30-10 am in the cafeteria. We will have 6 stations that the classes will rotate through, which will include a snack, two crafts and 3 games. We would love to have you there to enjoy the fun and to help your students do their activities at each station!

We also have created a Sign Up Genius list of supplies that we are needing for the party. If you are able to donate something to our party, please click the link below and sign up! Supplies can be brought to our classroom or the office.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/60B044FADA923A57-3rdgrade1 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

What's Happening 12/5-12/9

Happy Friday!

There are a lot of important dates coming up. Next week the Peppermint Shop will be open for students to purchase gifts for their families. Please see the flyer that was sent home today to see when your child is allowed to shop.

Here is what we are learning next week:

Reading/Language Arts/ Writing

We have learned the structure of poetry and how to classify poems. Next week, we will be analyzing poetry. We will be looking at poetry in multiple choice formats. This can get a little boring, so I will simulate a game show with the kids next week to pump them up! I hope they will enjoy this lesson! :)

Language Arts:

Similes and Metaphors 

Click {HERE} to see the definitions. 

Home Activity: 

1. Ask your child to create some similes and metaphors
2. Try to use more similes and metaphors in your daily language to see if they catch it! 

Writing:

The kids will write poems that convey sensory details using the conventions of poetry. 

Math

Determine the quotient using the relationship between multiplication and division

Solve 1 and 2 step word problems involving multiplication and division

Science

Characteristics of land forms

 Social Studies

The History of Transportation

Henry Ford 

Secret Code:

What is your child's favorite movie?