Math

3
rd
- This week in math we are finishing up our unit on place value, and
moving into addition. We will practice multiple strategies for addition,
including number strings, the traditional method (vertical algorithm),
labeled pictures, number lines, and adding on a 100s chart. In third
grade, students are expected to solve one and two step problems
involving whole numbers to 1,000.
*Ask your child some of the strategies they use when adding numbers.
How can their knowledge of doubles or combinations of 10 help them
add other numbers?

4
th
- Students will continue with place value this week, exploring and
connecting decimal place value of tenths and hundredths through the
studying money. This week daily homework begins. Please see the
attached Homework Helper for tips and strategies for working with you
child. Some math problems will seem familiar, others will be
challenging. Please help them, and if through problem solving you are
unable to figure a problem out, Ill be happy to help the following
morning. I do ask that your child at least completes a WIK/WINK chart
if they are unable to solve the problem (info on WIK/WINK on the
Homework Helper).

Science Preparatory Academy
This week and next students are exploring lab safety through
several day long exploration and experiments. Students will be
creating posters to promote safe lab behavior as
well as practicing these behaviors. *Ask your child
which poster they helped create for the classroom
and why that information is important to all students
in a science lab.

Chocolate Fever Book Club
Students continue to participate in a whole class book club
of Chocolate Fever. Students continue to write a reading reflection
after each chapter.
This week our mini lessons during Readers Workshop focus
around the idea of deepening the level of our reading reflection. We
taught the levels using the concept of swimming as an analogy. Level
1 (Surface Level) reflections will retell events, connect, predict or
wonder, but not expand to tell why. Level 2 (Diving Down) reflections
will show some of the students own thinking and expand on sentence
starters. Level 3 (Digging Deep) reflections show the students
thoughts and feelings and expand and explain why he or she thinks
and makes deeper connections. We read examples
of each level, assessed reflections using this system
and even added more to improve basic reflections to
push them to Level 3.
*Ask your child to share with you what they
have included in their Readers Notebook so far. The
main character, Henry Green, is on the run. Ask your
child what is happening with Henry and how they
would react if he or she had Chocolate Fever.








Writers Workshop
Students continue to work inside his or her writers
notebooks. This week, writers workshop minilessons will focus around
picking a seed idea, where we reread our entries for one that sticks
out as a good start for a possible publication. This could be one
sentence, one part of a list, or an illustration. We will then learn
strategies to write around our seed idea, where we
learn strategies to add on to our ideas to write more,
even trying out different genres. We will be
experimenting with new styles of writing and use of
juicy language. Through this writing process
students will draft, the revise, edit, and publish their first writing piece
of the year.
UT Student Tutors
Brentwood is hosting several cohorts of pre-service teachers
on our campus this year. We have the opportunity to work with a
group of UT students once a week on Thursdays from 9:40-10:25 until
Thanksgiving Break. We are so excited for this special
opportunity for our students!! Students will be in groups
of three or four and work with two UT students each
week. Their work will be research focused around
Earth Science topics.
*Ask your child to share about their very first experience,
which will take place Thursday.

Important Notes & Events!
Caf Volunteers Needed
We are in need of volunteers to help monitor lunch. If you can help by
donating some of your time to help out in the caf it would be much
appreciated. Please contact John Green-Ortero for more information
at john.green-otero@austinisd.org.

A Note From Mrs. Gray about GT Nominations:
Parents, if you would like to nominate your child for the Gifted And
Talented Program at Brentwood, please contact your child's teacher or
Ms. Gray (cgray1@austinisd.org) for the form. It is due September
25th. Teacher feedback and test results determine your child's
placement. If your child qualifies, he/she will be clustered with other
GT students in class for extension projects provided by his/her teacher
(who is GT trained) and also be given individual work at his/her level
when their classwork is completed. Brentwood GT trained teachers
offer extensions/challenges regularly to ALL students, regardless of
placement-we do not have a GT pull out program in Austin ISD. If your
child does not qualify, he/she has the opportunity to re-test again a
year later. In middle school and high school, ANY student can take
pre-AP classes if they rise to the challenge.

*HOTDOG HOEDOWN: The Back to School Event this year is called
the Hotdog Hoe Down. Thursday, September 25th will
be 3rd through 5
th
grade.

*Fall Pictures will this Friday, September 26
th
.

Library Day: Friday
*Please check our calendar on the back of this newsletter as well as
online for snack share information and other school events.

*Please visit our wiki page for information about our class:
http://mahlstadtsvrcek2-3class.wikispaces.com/
http://mahlstadtsvrcek2-3class.wikispaces.com/Calendar
Lifeskill or Life-long Guideline of the week: Curiosity
September 22-26, 2014