Hello and welcome to third grade at GSA! 

The transition from 2nd to 3rd grade, when it comes to grades, can be very dramatic. Remember, we are now reading to learn versus learning to read. That being said, for 1st quarter, students do not receive a grade below 60 on any assignments. We use this quarter as a "transitional" time to get use to grade expectations. In the notes section, you will see the actual grade a student receives if their score is below 60. Second quarter, students will receive the actual grade they earn in the grade book. You have access to student progress at anytime in the ParentVue app. Contact Ms. Gloria if you need help with setting this up.

We do not offer "redo" assignments. As a grade level, we offer many opportunities for success. If a student does not receive mastery on a task (80% or higher), we have enough assignments to balance out and find a true representation of student's understanding of concepts. If a student misses a coursework assignment, we often do not have them make it up, due to time constraints.

When reviewing the  grade book, please note that assessment scores are weighted more heavily than coursework. If you notice a discrepancy in a grade, that is due to assessments being weighted at 60% and coursework weighted at 40%. Anytime you have questions about grades, feel free to reach out to any 3rd grade teacher via Remind (the Remind code is @3rdgsa) for clarification.

We have begun planning for our Zoo field trip!  We have scheduled our trip for March 6, 2026. More detailed information about transportation, chaperones, and needs, will be addressed closer to the date. Starting early in the year helps us reach out goal of raising enough funds to go. We are in need of roughly $6,500 which can easily be achieved through tax credit donation. We also will take any monetary donation to "Gator PTO." In the memo indicate this donation is for third grade field trips. We have 2-3 more field trips in town throughout the year that we will need support for as well.

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, October 6: Report Cards Go Home

• Monday, October 6: Julian Apple Pie Orders Begin

• Tuesday, October 7: Book Fair Begins - Set up E-Wallet

• Tuesday, October 7: Parent/Teacher Conferences Begin -  Please sign up with your child's homeroom teacher.

BLANK CAB LAMAESTRA

• Wednesday, October 8 - Friday, October 10: Early Release @ 11:40 am

• Monday, October 13 - Friday, October 17: No School - Fall Break

• Wednesday, October 22: Classroom Spelling Bee

• Friday, October 24: Julian Apple Pie Orders Due

• Friday, October 24: October Birthday Celebration - Signup to Follow

• Monday, October 27 - Friday, October 31: $1.00 Boo Grams sold before school and delivered each day

• Monday, October 27: Field Trip to the Bard Water District - Blank's class and 1/2 of Cab's class

• Tuesday, October 28: October Family Night in the GSA Cafe from 6:00 - 7:30 pm

• Thursday, October 30: Field Trip to the Bard Water District - Lamaestra's class and 1/2 of Cab's class

• Friday, October 31: Halloween Parade - 9:30 a.m. in the Bus Loop

Reading: In this module, students will listen to, read, and view a variety of texts and media that present them with information about important U.S. documents and symbols. A genre focus on nonfiction provides students with opportunities to identify central idea, text structure, and media techniques in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter video to build knowledge across genres. As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn more about our country’s history and how various symbols came to represent the values and ideals of the United States.

• Weekly Reading Assessment and Spelling Test: Wednesday, October 1

  • Spelling Words and Reading Concepts to be tested can be accessed here!

Writing: Students will be working on writing an opinion essay.

Math: Unit 3 - Addition and Subtraction Within 1,000

Students develop fluency with addition and subtraction within 1,000 while using rounding and estimation to determine the reasonableness of answers.

• End-of-Unit 3 Assessment: TBD

• Caregiver Support for Unit 3 can be found here!

• Family and Caregiver Website can be found here!

Science: In this unit, students explore weather and climate patterns. They make predictions about the weather through careful observations of the clouds, wind, temperature, and precipitation. Students also learn to differentiate between weather and climate and use models to reveal global climate patterns. They use this information to design solutions that reduce the impacts of severe weather events like windstorms.

Engineering: Students will examine some technologies and brainstorm ways to to improve them using To the Rescue: Engineering Aid Drop Packages. Students will plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Social Studies: Students will connect the ELA focus of Let Freedom Ring with American symbols and landmarks.

• Clever: Once students log in to Clever, they will not need to use any additional passwords. If your child is not at grade level in Lexia or ST Math, at-home practice is crucial.

• Seesaw: Students will need to sign in to Google on the Google homepage using their school email address (111#@student.craneschools.org) and their capital letter password. Once in Seesaw, click "I'm a Student" and "Sign in with Google."