Thir d Gr a d e Pe ter s on E le me nta r y S c hool

Third Grade Update

Issue 7 April 2013

A Note from the Third Grade Teachers

Welcome Back! We are beginning our final quarter of third grade this week! Time is flying by and we have a busy month! Please join us for our Open House night on April 11 from 6:30-8:00 pm to check out some of the great things we have done this year. Also, please take note about our upcoming third grade musical. More information will be coming home from Mrs. Handy. Please take a look at each subject area for our specific areas of focus for the upcoming month.
The Third Grade Team As we meet with small groups of students for Guided Reading, students will have the opportunity to practice and reinforce the literacy skills and concepts from our weeks lessons at each of the five literacy stations (Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading).

This month our anchor stories, focused skills and strategies are:

Lon Po Po Narrative Elements, Comparing/Contrasting, Fairy Tales

Boom Town Cause & Effect and Fact & Opinion

We will continue to dig deeper into our stories to answer higher level thinking questions. Please remember to fill out your nightly reading log and read 15-20 minutes each night.

Important Dates
April 1 Back to School
Throughout the month of April writing will coincide with our study of immigration in social studies. In writers workshop students will combine the information learned from our study about immigration to write a fictional piece about coming to America.

April 5 Report Cards home

April 9 No School (SIP)

Each student will be creating their own immigration trunk of important items they would bring on their trip to America. Please check in on your childs progress of their writing project during Open House.

Aprill 11 Open House 6:30-8:00 pm April 24 3rd Grade Musical 6:30 pm

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T H IRD G RA DE U P DA T E

IS S U E 7

The Unit Outline emailed at the beginning of each unit outlines the specific skills and strategies while also providing additional resources for at-home practice. Outlined below are the specific skills and strategies we will be focusing on as outlined by the new Illinois Learning Standards (Common Core). Focus Multiplication & Division

The Family Letter provided at the beginning of each unit outlines specific skills and strategies covered within the unit. Outlined below are the specific skills and strategies we will be focusing on as outlined by the new Illinois Learning Standards (Common Core).

Use multiplication and division to solve word problems. Multiply 1 digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 Multiply 2 digit times 1 digit numbers Be able multiply and divide using properties of operations.

Unit 7 Fractions Review and Test Thursday, April 4th Unit 8 Area and Perimeter Perimeter of Figures Area of a square and rectangle Solving for perimeter and area with an unknown variable Solve multistep word problems Know and compare relative units of measure-

Focus Measurement and Data

Measure area by multiplying side lengths to find areas of rectangles with whole-numbers side lengths. Find areas of non-overlapping rectangles

Social Studies
This month we will be learning about Immigration and Migration.
The essential questions guiding our study will be:

How has immigration/migration help form our country? Why do people immigrate/migrate? How does immigration/ migration affect our country and community?

We are wrapping up our unit on Habitats. Students have made a mural of an ocean, forest, or desert. In addition, students researched in the LMC about specific characteristics of each habitat and created a paragraph about what they learned.

We are tying writing and social studies together to make an immigration trunk to bring on a fictional trip to America.

Please look for the display of habitat posters and research writing on display for open house.

Great Websites & Resources

Please check our grade level blog at http://thirdgradepanthers.blogspot.com under additional fun websites for activities to support our learning!