Dear families,
It has been a great full week of instruction and the students are getting back into school routines. I was sorry to have to leave school early today because we did not get to do the prize box that the students earned this week on Class Dojo. I reassured them that I would make sure we did it first thing in the morning on Monday during morning meeting! The students received their weekly papers and behavior communicator. Please take the time this weekend to look at their assignments and sign and return the communicator to school. As a reminder, there are only two weeks left in the second nine weeks. Third grade policy is seven or fewer marks on the behavior communicator to earn PAW Achievement! For this nine weeks we will be visiting Hermitage High School’s specialty center and participating in a STEM activity.
Next week in Reading we will continue to read fiction and nonfiction, focusing on monitoring for meaning. At the third grade level students are expected to read independently. In class we are working on stamina and ways to make meaning from text with questions, summaries and organizer. In Writing we will continue to focus on writing friendly letters. We will also practice using context clues to help improve meaning. In Math we will continue to learn about telling time to the minute, equivalent periods of time, and elapsed time. This is really hard for some students: try helping them at home by asking them questions like, “If we eat dinner at 6:30 and mom gets home two house earlier, what time did Mom get home?” The students will have a Power test in Math on Friday, January 18. In Social Studies we will learn about the kingdom of Mali. In Science we will review interdependency and animal adaptations.

Upcoming Events:
Friday, Jnauary 18-Math Power Test
Monday, January 21-No School: Martin Luther King Jr., Day
Wed./Thurs. Jan 23/24-Reading Benchmark test
Friday, January 25-End of second nine weeks/PAW Achievement field trip for qualifying students
Monday, January 28-no school for students/Teacher work day
Thursday, February 7-Evening Parent Teacher conferences(sign up genius to come soon)
Thurs./Fri. February 7/8-Math Benchmark tests

Here’s hoping for light snowfall and warm temperatures in the the week to come!