Week 5

Class Notes

We had another busy and exciting week in third grade! Students are settling into our routines, diving into new learning, and showing wonderful curiosity and teamwork. A quick reminder: there is no school on Tuesday. Wishing a Happy New Year to all families celebrating Rosh Hashanah! 

Our students have been writing up a storm! As we dive into the new Fishtank Learning program, I’ve found that students would benefit from having a 1-inch, 3-ring binder to keep their writing organized and easy to access. If possible, please send a binder in for your 3rd grader within the next few weeks. If this presents any hardship, please don’t worry—I’ll have extras available so that every student has what they need to be successful.

Here’s a peek at what we’ve been working on and what’s ahead:

Literacy
We are beginning our second chapter book, My Name is María Isabel by Alma Flor Ada. In this story, students will explore different aspects of identity and consider how we should treat people whose identities may differ from our own. Through María Isabel’s experiences, students learn the importance of respecting and valuing people’s names. Throughout this unit, they will also reflect on their own identities and get to know more about their classmates.

Writing Task

Students will write a story imagining what might happen if Free (one of the main characters in Dyamonde Daniel) moved back to Detroit. Students will: 

•brainstorm a logical sequence of events that follow the narrative arc. 

•Write events with a clear beginning, middle and resolution. 

•Introduce characters and setting. 

• Use descriptive details and dialogue to bring their story to life

Fundations
We will wrap up Unit 1 this week, focusing on closed syllables and their reading and spelling rules. Students will take the Unit 1 assessment on Monday. On Wednesday, we’ll move into Unit 2, which introduces adding suffixes to root words. Here is a link to the Unit 2 home resources.

Math
In Illustrative Math, we are beginning Section B of our unit on multiplication. Students are learning to understand multiplication as equal groups of objects. They will use discrete drawings and tape diagrams to represent multiplication, then connect these representations to expressions such as 3 × 2, interpreting this as “3 groups of 2.”

Science
This week, students designed habitats for their isopods, making careful choices to give them the best chance of survival.

Thank you for your continued support at home! I am so impressed with the energy and effort your children bring to school each day. We are off to a wonderful start, and I look forward to all the learning and growth ahead.

Repeat Announcements

Scholastic Book Ordering:

If you would like to order books through Scholastic Book Clubs, our online ordering code is DPC2T (purchasing online is required).  SHOP OUR CLASS PAGE. By building your home library with Scholastic, you will also be helping to build our classroom library. The more books students order, the more free books we get for our classroom library!

Library Reminder: 

Our book swap day in the Media Center is every Wednesday. Please help your child remember to return their library books.

Links for more information: 

Click HERE for home support materials for  Unit 2 of Fundations

Click HERE  for home support materials for Unit 1 of Fundations

Special Subject Schedule

Monday -- Art

Tuesday -- P.E. & Spanish

Wednesday -- Media

Thursday -- P.E.

Friday -- Music & Spanish

Important Dates

Tuesday, September 23rd -- No School, Rosh Hashanah 

Thursday, October 2nd -- No School, Yom Kippur

Wednesday, October 8th -- Early Release Day, 12:15 dismissal

Monday, October 13th -- No School, Indigenous Peoples Day

Thursday, October 16th -- Curriculum Night

Wednesday, October 22nd -- Early Release Day, 12:15 dismissal

Created 9/2025

Jennifer_ramras@needham.k12.ma.us