Reading--As you may know from reading the superintendent’s message Imagine Learning EL Education and Wit and Wisdom have been put forward for field testing in the classrooms. Both curricula have been identified as high-quality, research-informed instructional materials. The field testing process provides us an opportunity to experience a unit in a curriculum to learn more about it, try out the instructional routines and assessments, and use the materials and platforms to assess their efficacy, impact, and usability. Grade 3 will be testing the literary classic module, using the mentor text Peter Pan by J.M Barrie.  Students will read an informational text about the author and historical context to make connections between what they have read in Peter Pan and the issues presented in the informational text. Students will also have the opportunity to analyze character traits and actions and compare their point of view to the point of view of the characters.

Writing- As we move into spring, we’ll continue to focus on the  literary elements of stories  and learn how to respond to text based questions.  The analysis of story elements and how we respond are essential skills for the upcoming MCAS test (end of April). Students will be expected to respond to a text based question in two different ways.  They’ll either write a literary essay responding to a question such as, What is the theme of the story? How does the author use the text features to help the reader? or How does the character change throughout the story?  Student responses should consist of three paragraphs, and provide reasons, evidence, and why the evidence is important. 

Another type of writing is called the narrative task. Students will read a story and then be asked to write the story from a different point of view, or write a new ending.  The narrative task must be a minimum of three paragraphs and use thoughts, actions, and dialogue to make believable characters.  Students want to be storytellers, not reporters! 

Over the next few weeks our focus will be on how to write a literary essay, following a specific structure that builds upon the box and bullet organizational structure that we’ve been using all year. Afterwards we’ll revisit storytelling (narrative task) and practice how to write from a different point of view, etc…

Math--After February Vacation, we will finish Unit 4 and students will take a fraction quiz.  Following that we will begin Unit 5 on Multiplication, Division, and Area.  We will revisit multiplication and how it connects to array models, which we will then apply to the concept of multiplying to find the area of a rectangular shape.  These array models will also help students to learn the basic concepts of division.     

Science--  We have started our next unit which is Animals Through Time.  In this unit, students develop an understanding of how animals and their environments change through time. Fossils provide a window into the animals and habitats of the past. Analyzing the traits of animals provides evidence for how those traits vary, how they are inherited, and how they have changed over time. Students also examine how the environment can affect inherited traits and determine which animals will survive in a particular environment.

Social Studies--Over the next few weeks we will continue to learn more about the Pilgrims & Puritans. We have talked about who the Pilgrims were and learned about their voyage on the Mayflower. We will continue to discuss what their lives were like during the first winter in New England, how the Wampanoag helped the Pilgrims, what life at Plimoth was like, and the challenges that they faced in a new land.

Homework- In order to grow as readers and mathematicians it’s important that students dedicate 30 minutes each night Monday- Thursday on homework. 

Reading 20 minutes a day at home is important. This could be done daily or as a total of 80 min. per week. We want the students to choose high interest, “good fit books.”  The goal of reading daily is not only to grow as a reader, but also to instill the love of reading.  We don’t assign students books to read at home, but trust that they’re choosing a book that they enjoy, and will help them develop reading for meaning skills and further develop their vocabulary. 

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 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.  

In school we’ll use the AR program and Xtra math program to track their weekly progress.  

AR-  We use Accelerated Reader as a way to monitor engaged reading time and comprehension. It also allows us to personalize students' reading goals so students are motivated to read and they can check their own progress.  Students shouldn’t be reading for “points,” but rather choosing books they will enjoy reading at their level, and therefore, finish many books and achieve points along the way. The goals that are set for each student have been differentiated to meet their learning needs and are adjusted throughout the trimester as students meet their goal. As long as they’re reading at home and in school, the points will be a natural progression.  

**Students can take AR quizzes at home for books that they are reading at home.  They will need to log into their school google accounts to do this.  Please see the helpful directions for logging into school google account and AR on this link or on the classroom website.

Xtra Math- 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.  Within the program, students have 3 seconds to type an answer. If this is not completed, the program reinforces their learning by giving the correct answer, having students read the correct answer, and typing it in before moving on.  We will be introducing this program next week and having 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 the students to work on. Spaced 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 or algebra in the higher grades.