Embedded Files
Logging into Clever-- Please use this link to find directions for logging into Clever at home.
Clever Instructions for Families
Halloween Activities-- Just a reminder that students do not dress in Halloween costumes at school. However, as part of a fun fall activity, we are going to be doing a mystery science activity, Why do our skeletons have so many bones? Students consider what would happen if their body didn't have bones. In an activity that combines science with art, they trace their hands and then add see-through bones to their picture, making their own skeleton hand. Please note, we will be putting vegetable oil on paper as part of this project. If you have any allergy concerns about your child using vegetable oil, please reach out to me through email.
Conferences- Conferences are scheduled for Monday, November 2nd and Tuesday, November 3rd. Conferences are scheduled for 20 minutes, and we have back-to-back conferences scheduled throughout both days. To keep everyone on schedule, we’ll need to adhere to your scheduled block of time. Please be looking for an email coming soon that has more information and a link to the online conferences.
Homework- To grow as readers and mathematicians, it’s important that students dedicate 30 minutes each night, Monday- Thursday to homework. Homework will begin Monday, September 13th.
Reading 20 minutes a day is an important part of third grade. Regular reading helps students build fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and confidence while developing strong reading habits. It is important that students make time for reading each night and make it a consistent part of their routine. Please help your child choose a good-fit book that is interesting, approachable, and can be finished in a reasonable amount of time. Finishing a book in a timely manner is important so students can maintain their understanding and comprehension of the story. After finishing a book, students will take an AR quiz. AR quizzes will help us monitor the reading done in school and at home and help us better support your child’s reading growth throughout the year. Please use this link to view directions on accessing AR from home. Directions for Logging on to AR
Reading Is Like Eating a Balanced Meal!
Reading Is Like Eating a Balanced Meal!
Think of graphic novels as the dessert of reading. They are fun, exciting, and absolutely something we can enjoy! But just like we can’t eat cake and cookies for every meal, we can’t read only graphic novels if we want to become stronger readers.
To grow our reading muscles, we need to vary what we read. We need to read chapter books, nonfiction, articles, poetry, and other kinds of texts, too. Different books help us practice different reading skills, build vocabulary, learn new information, and stretch our thinking.
Enjoy your reading dessert, but don’t forget to eat your reading vegetables, too!
Math fact fluency is the building block for higher-level math concepts, and by the end of third grade, students should know by memory all products of two one-digit numbers (3.0A7). Students should spend 5-10 minutes each night practicing their multiplication facts up to 10x10. Math fact fluency also helps students solve more complex math problems more quickly. If they have mastered their math facts, these concepts will be significantly easier, and they will be better equipped to solve them at a more efficient speed. The benchmark for trimester one is that students will “Know from memory all products of factors 0,1,2,5,9, and 10.” They can practice in a number of ways. Traditional flash cards, reciting facts aloud, writing them on paper, or using an online program. We suggest that students start with 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10.
Ways to practice your facts:
Make flashcards/fact triangles
Print fact practice sheets off my website under the tab (At Home Resources) or remind your child to take a printed copy from school, if their preference is to practice on paper.
Say them aloud (driving in the car, waiting for an appointment, etc.)
Play a math computer game that involves facts. Timestables.com
Xtramath- In math, we use the online fact program XtraMath to monitor their progress. It is an online fact fluency program that helps students develop quick recall and automaticity of their basic math facts. Although it is a timed fluency program, we remove the visual timing elements from the screen so that students are not distracted or become anxious by this. The program reinforces their learning by giving the correct answer, having students read the correct answer, and typing it in before moving on. We have already introduced this program and have had each student take the placement quiz to determine their initial fluency score. Once the placement quiz is completed, each day, students will be given a two-minute progress quiz to check what progress they have made. Based on this progress quiz, students are given an individualized set of 10 facts for them to work on. Repetition is used to solidify knowledge of these particular facts. Students are asked to complete a full round of XtraMath each day, which is 10 minutes or less. Students with a strong foundation of basic math facts will have an easier time when they begin to tackle more advanced math, like fractions, area, and algebraic thinking. Please use this link to view directions on how to access xtramath from home. XtraMath Sign in directions
Toys, Fidgets, and Trading/Playing cards- We noticed in the third grade that a lot of toys, fidgets, and stuffed animals have been coming to school. We encourage you to have your child leave these items at home. Many times, they are lost at school, but more often, they become a distraction to your child and the others around them during the day. If these items do come to school, students will be asked to keep them in their backpacks or their cubbies to use during recess times. If they become a distraction during learning time, teachers will collect them and hold onto the item until the end of the day. We are having a lot of discussions about what a tool is vs. a toy, and what that would look like in the classroom. wanted to share with you a sensory support option that may be helpful for students who benefit from movement throughout the school day. Wiggle Wobble Chair feet gives students a chance to expend energy and quietly wiggle back and forth or side to side. This quiet movement helps them stay focused, and engaged in their learning. If interested, they can be found using the following link. Another option are Wobble cushions, which strengthen core stability, improve balance, and help children settle and concentrate when needed in the classroom. If interested in this option, they can be found using this link. Sometimes a whole body movement is a less distracting option to a hand fidget, while expending more energy.
Thank you so much for your help with this.
ELA- Within the next few weeks, we will be wrapping up Unit 3. Students have been analyzing learning challenges faced by others, specifically with reading and writing. We’ve used the book, My Librarian is a Camel, to research learning challenges and the access to books that people face in other countries. Using this book, we explicitly taught and scaffolded how to write an informative paragraph using text evidence. Students have been using colored pens to help them identify each part of the paragraph. For example, they use red for a focus statement, blue for detail, and green for evidence. The students will combine these paragraphs to create a five-paragraph essay to answer the question, “What are some learning challenges people face around the world, and how do they overcome them?” Please look for these essays to come home in mid-November.
Math-Math- At this point in the year, we have started Unit 2 in math. In this unit your child will:
❚ Solve story problems involving multiplication
❚ Represent problems involving multiplication using skip counting, number lines, arrays, and ratio tables
❚ Develop efficient strategies for multiplication facts through 10 × 10, including learning to apply the associative and distributive properties when multiplying.
Feel free to use the free Math app that accompanies our Bridges math program for additional support in practicing multiplication and many other math skills. You can find these at mathlearningcenter.org/apps. Another great resource is IXL Fact Fluency Zone. Fact Fluency Zone can be found under the learning tab and includes fluency games, worksheets, and videos. You can access IXL through this link https://www.ixl.com/signin/nashoba You may need to log into google to use this link.
Science-- As we finish up the month, we will be wrapping up our unit on weather and climate. Soon, we will start our new Science unit on Forces, Motion, and Magnetism. In this unit, students explore the forces all around them. They investigate the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces, the pushes and pulls of bridge structures, and the effects of gravity and friction on the motion of objects. Students also explore the power of magnetic forces and design solutions to everyday problems using their knowledge of these forces.
Social Studies–-In Social Studies, we are becoming historians of our own community! We are learning about the history of Bolton, Massachusetts, and how our town has changed over time.
Students are exploring Bolton’s early settlement, the Colonial Period, and the Federal Period (1776–1830). We are learning about the people who lived here, how they traveled and communicated, schools, farms, businesses, religion, important buildings, and how Bolton’s citizens participated in major events in American history.
We are also learning how historians use primary and secondary sources, photographs, maps, buildings, and other historical evidence to learn about the past. Students are discovering that many places they see around Bolton today have an interesting story to tell!
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