weekly update

 

Week of May 15th

Hello 3rd Grade Families & Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers! It is hard to believe this is our last full week of school! There is a lot of information about end-of-year activities so please read this post thoroughly. 


During math this week we are going to focus on addition and subtraction with 3-digit numbers. We have different task cards and activities to review this important skill. Our grammar lessons are coming to an end and this week we will review all of the topics we covered in Unit 4. During writing, we will do our end of the year personal narrative. This week is Business Day! We will finish up some last-minute things in class and the kids will perform the commercials they made. Our Business Day is on Thursday. We will be finishing up Wonders Unit 5 with reading more fairy tales and reviewing theme, character perspective and author's purpose.  There will be no spelling test this Friday.  We have two specials this week which are Spanish and Music.


We had a successful Multiplication Sundae party last Friday. It was fun to celebrate the kids in this way and I hope they each reported that they enjoyed their ice cream sundae!


This Thursday, May 18th is Business Day for our class. Students need to bring their projects and their poster advertising their company to school on Thursday. Please don’t send them in early as I don’t have space to store them. I have told the kids repeatedly that they should have a minimum of 50 items to sell but ideally 75-100. The students are continuing to earn Scholar Dollars that they will get to shop with. The “money” they make from Business Day will be used to buy rewards for our reward day next Wednesday. Parents are invited to come and shop on Business Day. We will give parents Scholar Dollars to spend when you arrive. Please remember that you are coming to shop, not run your child's business for them. Just a reminder to keep things more manageable we are asking parents with last names A-M to attend between 12:30 and 1:00 and last names N-Z to please attend between 1:15 - 1:45. Thank you for supporting your child! We are still in need of volunteers to help set up and clean up the gym each day. If you are able to help, please sign up here.


Mrs. Peck is having the students sign up for the Summer Reading Program at school. We will be doing that this week in class. Your student's user name will be the first letter of their first name followed by their last name (no spaces and no capitals). Their password will be: Dcsdstudent# (Dcsd followed by their school lunch number). If students want to participate they will need to get their reading logs from the library by June 3rd. Any student who completes a reading log can bring it back to school in the fall and Mrs. Peck will give them a prize. There are also a lot of prizes given by the library.


NRE will be having a Field Day on Tuesday, May 23rd! It will be an all-day event with times for lunch, snack, rest, and of course a ton of fun activities. There will be water activities, relay races, a book buddy game, and different challenge games for students both inside and outside. Students can bring lunch from home or there will be a cold sack lunch option that students can order from the school. Students are strongly encouraged to bring a water bottle and snack, along with extra clothes/shoes and a towel for after the water activities. Putting on sunscreen before school and bringing extra to apply throughout the day is a great idea as well! Unfortunately, families are not invited to this event due to issues with space. We will be using most areas outside of the building, including the car loop, for the fun field day stations. Thank you for understanding! We look forward to seeing families at the NRE picnic on Thursday, May 25th instead. We are looking for parent volunteers to help with the various games and activities. Please sign-up here if you would like to volunteer. This is going to be a fun event for students!


IMPORTANT - Our last day of school is Thursday, May 25th. In the morning there will be kindergarten and 6th-grade graduations followed by a school-wide family picnic at 11:45. School will end for the day at 12:30. Parents will need to sign their children out with me before leaving. There will be no lunches served and no busses running at 12:30. If you are not able to join us for the picnic and/or get your child by 12:30 please let me know.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of May 8th

We are in the home stretch of the 2022-23 school year! I have a lot of important information included below, so please read thoroughly.  


IMPORTANT - Our last day of school is Thursday, May 25th. In the morning there will be kindergarten and 6th-grade graduations followed by a school-wide family picnic at 11:45. School will end for the day at 12:30. Parents will need to sign their children out with me before leaving. There will be no lunches served and no busses running at 12:30. If you are not able to join us for the picnic and/or get your child by 12:30 please let me know.


It's time to celebrate our multiplication mathematicians with our Multiplication Sundae Party! All year the kids have been working on mastering their multiplication facts (0-12) and earning toppings for an ice-cream sundae. We will be celebrating their success this Friday afternoon. Ask your child which facts they have mastered and what toppings they have earned on their sundae. I'm super proud of the hard work the kids have put in this year to memorize their multiplication facts and I can't wait to celebrate with them on Friday. Their hard work will definitely pay off in the years to come!


Business Day is coming up next week and we need your help! We would love to have volunteers to help set up and clean up the gym each day. Our Business Day will be on Thursday, May 18th. If you are able to help, please sign up here.


In class, we are finishing up our final unit in Math: 2 Step Story Problem.  In grammar, we will start our final unit review and end with the unit assessment.  We are finishing publishing our fictional narrative stories. Business Day planning will continue this week. Students will be planning and recording commercials at school this week using FlipGrid. We will finish reading The Lemonade War. I am excited to see what the kids think of the ending. This is a series so I will be reading the first chapter from the next book in hopes the kids might want to read it over the summer! We will be doing Unit 5, Week 5 of our Wonders curriculum this week and will have our final spelling test of the year this Friday. We have one special this week which is Think Tank. 


Mrs. Peck is having the students sign up for the Douglas County Library Summer Reading Program at school. NRE won a $500 prize for our library through this program last year! If students want to participate they will need to get their reading log from the library by June 3rd. Any student who completes a reading log can bring it back to school in the Fall and Mrs. Peck will give them a prize. There are also a lot of prizes given by the library.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of May 1st

Hello 3rd Grade Parents!  It is hard to believe that we have started the last month of the 2022-23 school year.  We have a lot of fun activities planned throughout the next 4 weeks.

In math this week we will be reviewing fractions.  We will also be taking the end-of-year iReady Math benchmark assessment on Tuesday and Wednesday. In grammar, we will be focusing on dictionary guide words and alphabetical order. In writing, he kids edited their Fictional Narrative Masterpieces today and will begin typing the final draft starting Tuesday.  I have been very impressed with their creativity and writing skills! During social studies, the kids will be completing a business plan as they begin to plan for Business Day. I sent home a letter on bright yellow paper in Thursday folders last week outlining the business day requirements. If you haven't already, please take some time to review that information with your child. They need to have their final idea of what they are making in order to create their business plan in class this week.  In reading, we will continue The Lemonade War novel study. This week in our Wonders curriculum we will be doing Unit 5, Week 4 as we continue exploring the genre Fairy Tales and focus on author's purpose and using context clues to determine word meaning.  We will be reading short fairy tales in our small reading groups as we work on these skills.   We have two specials this week which are Art and Mandarin.


One other request, we are completely out disinfecting wipes to clean our tables at the end of the day.  I'm trying to keep everyone well as we make it through this last month of school, so it would be great to have some donations of the wipes if you are able to send some.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of April 17th

I am happy to say, that unless your student was absent and needs to make up a test, we are officially done with CMAS testing and back to our normal schedule this week.  Thanks for helping get your child to school on time and ready to test! 


In math this week, we are completing Topic 16: Solve Perimeter Problems.  Next, we will go back and complete Topic 10: Multiply by Multiples of 10.  Please keep working with your students at home on their multiplication facts.  We will be having our Multiplication Station Ice Cream Party in a few weeks (date is still to be determined) and kids will continue to have the opportunity to move through their facts and earn more toppings up until the party. In grammar, we will be working on multiple meaning words and learning the difference between homographs & homophones.  We have started writing the first drafts of our fiction stories and will continue with that process. In Social Studies, we are continuing to work on Economics and will focus on vocabulary terms associated with it. As part of both social studies and reading we will begin a class novel, The Lemonade War. We will also be doing our Wonders Unit 5, Week 2.  I am sending home the spelling list today and we will have our spelling test on Thursday since we do not have school on Friday or Monday.  Because we have fewer days to do spelling activities, I allowed student to do 2 of their 3 spelling activities in class today.  For those who worked hard and got this completed, they will only need to do one additional spelling activity for homework this week.  If they didn't finish, they at least got a start on what would typically be done as homework.   I did not send any math homework home this week since it is a short week.  We have two specials this week which are Spanish & Music.


Have a great week! -Ms. Robertson

Upcoming Important Dates


Week of April 10th

Hello 3rd Grade Families!  We survived our first week of CMAS and only have one week left to go! The kids really did a great job of sitting quietly and working hard on their assessments. I am very proud of them! 


This week in math we will be doing our Assessment for Topic 15 & continuing with Topic 16: Perimeter & Area.  We will be taking some time off from grammar due to CMAS. During writing, we will continue planning our fictional narrative and will start our first draft.  We completed science for the year last week and will switch to social studies for the remainder of the year. This week we will start our last big unit on Economics. We will spend the next two weeks focusing on vocabulary associated with economics. This week during reading, we will start Wonders Unit 5, Week 1 as we explore biographies and focus on "author's purpose".  We will have a spelling test this Friday.  We have one special this week which is Think Tank.


We will be CMAS testing during the morning on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Please help your child by having them get a good night's sleep, eating a good breakfast, and having them to school on time. This can be a stressful time for the kids. I keep reminding them that we have been preparing all year for this and they will do great. They just need to go slow and try their best! This week we are completing the math units of CMAS.


I have talked to the kids about this but wanted to let you know as well. During CMAS testing we can't have any cell phones, watches, or anything else that may beep in the room. Due to this, the kid's backpacks, jackets, and lunches will be out in the hallway. I encouraged the kids to leave these items at home for safekeeping while we are testing as their backpacks will not be under supervision in the hallway.


Our schedule change remains in effect this week to accommodate CMAS testing around the building. Our lunch is back to our regular time (11:25 - 12:05), but our specials time will move up. We will be going to specials from 1:25 - 2:05 instead of our usual 2:45 - 3:25. We will be back on our normal schedule next week.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of April 3rd

I hope you are all having a great weekend! We are ready for the next two weeks of CMAS testing in Room in 3rd Grade. Please remind your kids that all they need to do is try their best and they’ll do great! Also, getting a good nights sleep and a good breakfast are important! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.


In math this week we will be finishing up our geometry unit (Topic 15) and will complete the assessment.  Next we will be starting Topic 16: Perimeter.  During Grammar, we will continue working on Prefixes and wrap up that unit as well.  During writing, we will continue planning our fictional narrative. In science, we will start discussing Survival of the Fittest. We will be taking a break from Wonders this week since we will be doing CMAS Reading, so no spelling test this Friday.  However, I did send home Daily Math Review pages in their homework foldwers to complete by this Friday.  We have two specials this week which are Art and Mandarin.


We will be testing during the morning on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Please help your child by having them get a good night's sleep, eating a good breakfast, and getting them to school on time. This can be a stressful time for the kids. I keep reminding them that we have been preparing all year for this and they will do great. They just need to go slow and try their best! This week we are completing the reading and writing part of CMAS.


I have talked to the kids about this but wanted to let you know as well. During CMAS testing we can't have any cell phones, watches, or anything else that may beep in the room. Due to this, the kid's backpacks, jackets, and lunches will be out in the hallway. I encouraged the kids to leave these items at home for safekeeping while we are testing as their backpacks will not be under supervision in the hallway.


Our schedule changes a little bit in the next two weeks to accommodate CMAS testing around the building. Our lunch will move back to our regular time (11:25 - 12:05), but our specials time will move up. We will be going to specials from 12:45 - 2:05 instead of our usual 2:05 - 3:25.



Upcoming Important Dates


Week of March 27th

Hello 3rd Grade Families!  I am happy to be well and back in my classroom this week after being out sick last Thursday & Friday.  That is the reason that kids didn't bring home homework folders on Friday.  I will be sending them home today & we will have a spelling test this Friday, so make sure your student allows time to do 3 activities and practice before Friday.

I will talk to the kids about this today, but also wanted to let you know that our schedule will be different this week due to CMAS testing in 6th grade. We will be swapping recess/lunch with 6th grade so they will have the required block of time to take their CMAS tests in the morning. We will be going to recess/lunch 40 minutes later than normal at 12:05 pm. The kids may get hungry since they will be eating lunch later, so I will encourage each of them to eat a snack during snack time. 


In math this week we will be wrapping up Topic 14: Solve Time, Capacity and Mass Problems.  We will have our test for this topic on Tuesday and on Wednesday, we will start Topic 15: Attributes of 2 dimensional Shapes.  In grammar, we will be focusing on commas in addresses. In writing, we will begin our last writing unit for the year which is fictional narratives. In science, we will continue looking at fossils. We will start Wonders Unit 4 this week focusing on Realistic Fiction and exploring plot and character development.  This week we have one special which is PE. During our extra classroom time, we will be exploring the CMAS platform and format of the test to prepare for our CMAS testing the next two weeks.


I know Mrs. Lynch sent out information about the CMAS testing schedule in the Weekly Blast but I wanted to let you know specifically about the 3rd grade testing schedule. Third grade will be testing in the morning during the weeks of April 3rd and 10th. We will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings during those two weeks. If at all possible, please try to avoid your child missing school for appointments these six mornings.  Also, it is important that your child arrive on time because we will be starting the testing promptly at 8:45.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of March 20th

I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break! I drove to Texas and had a wonderful week with my family, but I was so excited to see all of my students today!


We will have a busy week in 3rd grade as usual. In math, we will continue Topic 14 as we learn learn about time, elapsed time and measurement of volume and mass.  In grammar, we will be focusing on Punctuation of Dialogue. In writing, the kids will finish publishing informational reports and start an enrichment writing project to expand upon informational writing.  We will complete Wonders Unit 3 with a focus on summarizing and sequence through expository texts.  In science, we will start our unit on Fossils.  We have two specials this week which are Spanish and Music.


I know Mrs. Lynch sent out information about the CMAS testing schedule in the Weekly Blast but I wanted to let you know specifically about the 3rd grade testing schedule. Third grade will be testing in the morning during the weeks of April 3rd and 10th. We will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings during those two weeks. If at all possible, please try to avoid your child missing school for appointments these six mornings.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of March 6th

Hello 3rd Grade Families.  This is the last week before Spring Break!

This week in math we will be wrapping up Topic 13: Fraction Equivalence & Comparison.  We will be reviewing this topic on Wednesday and testing on Thursday. We will have a preview lesson on Topic 14 on Friday and will continue with that unit after spring break.  In grammar, we will be reviewing Unit 3 and taking our assessment later in the week.  This week in science we will be taking a closer look at Plant and Animal Extinction. In reading, we will continue in our Wonders program with Unit 3, Week 4 where we will continue reading folktales and learning about summarizing and theme. We are also continuing our 180 Days of Reading which ties nicely into asking and answering questions as we read. We have one special this week which is Think Tank, but will also have Tech Time on Wednesday and Thursday.  We are also moving along with learning cursive this semester.  This week we will be focusing on writing our names in cursive.  


I know Mrs. Lynch sent out information about the CMAS testing schedule in the Weekly Blast but I wanted to let you know specifically about the 3rd grade testing schedule. Third grade will be testing in the morning during the weeks of April 3rd and 10th. We will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings during those two weeks. If at all possible, please try to avoid your child missing school for appointments these six mornings.


Spring conferences will be held this week. Conferences will be held in person or over Zoom. The Zoom link is next to "Location" on the Sign Up Genius. If you will not be coming in for a conference, I will be sending a progress report home in your child's Thursday folder this week.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of February 27th

We have a busy week in our 3rd grade classroom.  In math, last week we finished Topic 12: Fractions in Math & took our assessment on Friday.  This week we will start Topic 13: Fraction Equivalence and Comparison.  In grammar, we will finish up simple and complex sentences.  In writing, the kids will finish their first Informational Report and start publishing them and adding text features next week. Our focus in science will be on Environmental Changes and Effects. In reading, we will be jumping back into our Wonders curriculum in the place we left off before winter break- Unit 3, Week 3.  We will be exploring Folktales.  We will start having spelling tests each Friday starting this week.  Yellow homework foldwers were sent home Friday with the spelling list.  Students will need to complete 3 spelling activities and return them in their homework folder on Friday and we will have our spelling test that day. . We have two specials this week which are Art and Mandarin.


I know Mrs. Lynch sent out information about the CMAS testing schedule in the Weekly Blast but I wanted to let you know specifically about the 3rd grade testing schedule. Third grade will be testing in the morning during the weeks of April 3rd and 10th. We will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings during those two weeks. If at all possible, please try to avoid your child missing school for appointments these six mornings.


It's hard to believe that it's already time for spring conferences! Spring conferences are not required, however, please know that I am happy to meet with any families who would like a conference. The signup was sent out by email.  Conferences will be held in person or over Zoom. Please indicate your conference choice on your sign-up. If you are unable to find a time that will work for your schedule, please reach out to me to discuss alternate arrangements.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of February 12th

Hello 3rd Grade Families, Although this is a shorter week it will be a busy one as always. In math, we will continue Topic 12: Fractions,  In grammar, our focus will be on subject and verb agreement. In writing, the kids will finish researching their animals and will start drafting their informational reports. In science, we will be focusing on Environmental Traits. In reading, we will finish our study of non-fiction text structures. We have two specials this week which are Spanish and Music..


We will be having our Valentine’s Day party on Tuesday! As mentioned in the letter I sent home in Thursday folders, If your child is bringing in Valentines to pass out to the class please make sure they have one for every student. We have 21 students in our class. NRE will be collecting boxes of cereal for The Backpack Society through Valentine's Day.


Thank you to those of you who sent in antibacterial wipes. 


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of January 30th

This week in math we will start Topic 7: Represent and Interpret Data. In grammar, we will be learning about comparative and superlatives. We started our writing informational reports study last week. The kids made a list of 5 animals they would like to focus on for their report.  They will find out which animal they will be assigned to this week and begin research. In science, we will continue looking at behavior and social groups in animals. In reading, we will switch from nonfiction text features to nonfiction text structures. We will have flood reading groups this week as well which we began again last week. We have two specials this week which are Art and Mandarin.

We will be having a Valentine’s Day party on Tuesday, February 14th. We will be making Valentine bags at school so your student will NOT need to decorate a Valentine’s Day box at home. Students will be allowed to pass out Valentines to their classmates if they wish. If students bring in Valentines they must have one for each student in our class. We have 21 students this year. A class list will be coming home in Thursday folders this week. Please watch for an email with more information about our party coming soon.

We are looking for parent volunteers to come into school to help run our PRIDE cart. It is a great way to get involved and help support our Positive Behavior System. Please sign up where you can help out! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FACAF29A5F49-parent

I would like to ask for donations of antibacterial wipes. We wipe our tables down daily and I'm running out of wipes. If you are able to donate a container or two I would greatly appreciate it!


Upcoming Important Dates



Week of January 23rd

This is our first full week since winter break and there is a lot on the schedule.  In math, we will continue learning about Area.  You probably already know this, but since we did not have a spelling test this week and we just started a new unit, I decided to send home a multiplication station fact for regular homework.  Please have your student complete the entire packet and return it in their yellow homework folder on Friday.  Also, please cut the flashcards attached at the back of the packet and practice the math fact with your child so they will be ready for a flashcard test on Friday.  The goal is that they memorize the facts so they can recall them quickly when the see each problem.  This takes practice, practice, practice!  In grammar, we will be focusing on linking verbs. We finished our poetry writing unit last week and poetry books will come home this Thursday. Please take some time to read through your child's poems. They did a great job! I was so impressed with how expressive they were in their free verse poems!  We will begin working on informational report writing this week which will tie nicely into our non-fiction reading unit. In science, we will be taking a closer look at behavior and social groups. In reading, we will continue our unit on non-fiction texts focusing on text features. We have one special this week which is PE. 

We will also be learning about the importance of kindness and how we can show kindness in different ways at school.  I will be challenging the students to fill a jar with small pom poms.  They will get to add a pom pom for each act of kindness they show and when we fill the jar, we will have a celebration to acknowledge their many acts of kindness.  Please support this by asking your child how they showed kindness at school and if they were able to add a pom pom to the jar.  Thanks for your support!

I would also like to ask for donations of antibacterial wipes. We wipe our tables down daily and I'm running out of wipes. If you are able to donate a container or two I would greatly appreciate it!


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of January 17th

We had a great first week back from break! I was so excited to see each and every child and hear about their winter break.


Although it's another short week, we have a busy week ahead in third grade! This week in math we will be starting Topic 6: Calculating Area. I am also encouraging kids to study their multiplication facts and move through our multiplication station.  I had a lot of completed packets brought back after break and will do my best to give flashcard tests to all who completed packets by the end of this week so they can continue to their next fact, but please have them continue working on flashcards so when I do pull them for a test, they are ready to go.  If your child would like additional multiplication packets to do at home, please let me know and I will put those in their yellow homework folders this week.  This week in grammar, we will be working on irregular past tense verbs. We will finish our two-week poetry unit this week. The kids have really been enjoying this unit and are writing some great poetry. In science, we will continue Life Cycles and look at the life cycle of frogs, insects, and chickens this week. We will also be observing the seeds that we planted last week. During reading, we are beginning our unit on nonfiction text and will focus on different text features found in nonfiction. We have lots of reading and game opportunities to help us learn the different features. We will not have a spelling test this week.  This week we have two specials which are Spanish and Music.


The STEM Fair will be held next Thursday, January 26th from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. This is optional for 3rd grade.  If your child would like to complete an individual project they are welcome to do so at home. All projects need to have a tri-fold display board for the STEM Fair Open House and should follow the Scientific Method or the Engineering Design Process. which can be found on the NRE website for step-by-step packets for each type of project. During the STEM Fair Open House,  the Star Lab will be in the library for families to visit. and there will be a scavenger hunt for families to do, helping them explore the different projects.  Although most projects are done by upper grades, it will be a fun opportunity to explore creative ways for looking at science and STEM.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of January 10th

Happy New Year! It was wonderful to have a break and spend time with family, but I am also so excited to see all my students and get started with our 2nd semester.


This week in math we will finish Topic 5 and do our assessment.  In grammar, we will be focusing on present, past and future tenses of verbs. In writing, we will be learning about and writing different types of poems for the next two weeks. In science, we will be focusing on life cycles. This week we will be planting seeds in bags to watch them sprout as well as dissecting a lima bean in order to see the different seed parts. In reading, we be reading poetry to go along with our poetry writing unit.  We will also be learning the Typing Pal program and practicing our typing skills in preparation for typing in our final personal narrative pieces.  From here out, we will be typing in our final writing pieces, so if your students wants to practice with the typing pal program at home, it will help them to become more efficient and successful with this process. Ms. Beckie will be coming in for tech lessons on wed. and thur. to help kids with this program.  We will have ThinkTank for our specials this week.


For the next several weeks we will be taking a break from our Wonders reading curriculum to focus on non-fiction texts. For the first few weeks, we will be focusing on text features, and then we will move into text structure. During this break from Wonders we will not be having spelling tests so there will be no homework assigned.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of December 19th: 

Time for Winter Break! What a great first semester.  It has been a joy watching all of your children learn and grow.  The kids did an excellent job on their Native American presentations last Friday! I was amazed at how much I learned from my students!!  I am very proud of their hard work, their creativity and how well they did presenting their projects. 

Although it is a short week, we have some important tasks to wrap up before our break.  In Math, we will continue with our Topic 5 lessons and plan to finish up Topic 5 after we come back from break.  In writing, students will be completing a final draft of their Opinion Essay Masterpieces. In reading, we will review cause and effect and do a fun snowman activity to reinforce the review material.  We will also be watching the made-for-TV Stone Fox movie. This will lead to some great compare-and-contrast conversations between the book and the movie. We have two specials this week which are Art and Mandarin.  We will finish up our short week with a great Winter Party for the kids on Wednesday at 1:00.  Thank you in advance to our wonderful room parents, Diana Johnston and Kerrie McKenzie for organizing, as well as all of the other parents who send things in and come in to help on the day of the party to make it happen.  Please know that everyone's efforts are greatly appreciated!


**Please note, that I won't be sending a Homework Folder home during the break.  However, please look for your child's Thursday Take Home Folder which will be sent home with them on Wednesday.  Graded rubrics for the Native American project will be in the folder along with some other graded work.  Also, per the requests of many parents and as promised, I am sending home some Multiplication Station Materials for each students. (worksheets and flashcards to complete and practice that will help them progress through learning their multiplication facts and earning points towards our ice cream sundae party that will happen in the spring).   I attached a note to these materials explaining this is completely optional over the holidays and can also be worked on at home after we return from break.  In order to move past each fact, they have to complete the worksheets, have parents grade for accuracy (they do this themselves at school) and practice the flash cards for that fact until they have them memorized completely.  If working on at home, they will need to bring back the completed and graded worksheets for a fact they have mastered, give it to me and put their name on the station list indicating they are ready for a test.  I will give them a flash card test to see if they are ready to move on to the next fact. and they will earn their points.  My reason for sending these materials home was that some students who take longer to finish their work were not getting a lot of time to work in the multiplication station, and I want everyone to have an opportunity to progress through it.  This at home work is optional.  I would also encourage you to work with your kids using flashcards that include ALL the facts they have mastered so they will retain the learning and get quicker and quicker in knowing all of their multiplication facts.  If you choose to take a complete break from schoolwork over winter break, that is absolutely fine too, but hang on to the materials since students can continue working on this at home after break as well.


Have an incredible Winter Break.  I will see all you in 2023!!!


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of December 12th

Hello!  We have a lot going on in 3rd grade this week!  This week in Social Studies, we will be reviewing all we have learned in our Native American studies and doing an Assessment to wrap up the unit.  Friday will be our day for students to present their projects.  In Math, we completed Topic 4 and did our Assessment.  We will be doing IReady middle-of-the-year benchmark assessment testing this week then starting Topic 5.  In grammar, our focus is concrete and abstract nouns.  In writing, we will complete our first draft of our opinion piece and start editing.  In reading, we are doing Wonders Unit 3 Week 2 and are focusing on summarizing using expository texts.  Since we have a short week next week, we will not be having a spelling test.  We will also be completing our Stone Fox novel study this week. We have one special this week which is PE.

Don't forget that your student's Native American Project is due this Friday.  Students will be presenting their Native American projects on Friday. Please don’t send projects in early as I don’t have enough space to store a lot of projects. Remember if your child is using technology, they need to have their project saved in their DCSD Google Drive so we can easily access it. If you have any questions about the project please let me know.

Also, next week will be a short week.  Students will only be coming M,T,W.  We will have our holiday party next Wednesday at 1:00.

Mountain Vista has asked us to share a Save the Date with you. Please see the attached flyer for the Wish Week Community Fair that Mountain Vista will hold on February 7th, 2023.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of November 28

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Don't forget that we have our field trip this Thursday, December  1st.  This Thursday, We will be riding the bus to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. If you haven't already, please sign your child up for the field trip through My School Bucks as soon as possible. The cost for the field trip is $10.  I sent an email out to those of you who are not signed up.  Please send a sack lunch on Thursday that students will take to the museum to eat there.  It makes things easier if your student brings a lunch and drink that can be thrown away after eating so they don't have to carry anything around at the museum after lunch.  It will be a lot of fun!!

This week in Math, we have continued to work on Topic 4: Use Multiplication to Divide.  Connect Area to Multiplication and Division. For grammar this week, we are doing a review and assessment. In writing, we are pausing on our personal narratives so I can review and provide editing to all students.  We are starting a new Unit on Opionion Writing & will go back to finish our narratives next week.  Our social studies Native American unit will focus on the Southwest Native Americans this week. In reading, we are reviewing Unit 2 Concepts & completing our Unit 2 Assessment.  There is no spelling test this week. We will also begin a class novel study this week on the book Stone Fox. This is always a favorite book for the kids. We have one special this week which is Think Tank/


We will be finishing our Native American Unit right before Winter Break. As part of our unit students are asked to complete a project at home to present to other students. More information on the project was sent home in homework folders and via email before Thanksgiving break. There is a planning page that is due this Friday and requires a parent's signature so you are aware of what your child is planning to do for their project. Please assist your child in planning for their project this week.


Next week we will be making totem poles as part of our Native American unit. I am still in need of empty paper towel tubes. If you have any, I would greatly appreciate you sending them in.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of November 14

This is our last week before Thanksgiving Break! No school all week next week to celebrate!

This week in math we are starting Topic 4: Use Multiplication to Divide: Division Facts. In grammar, we will be focusing on possessive nouns. In writing, we are editing our personal narratives. In social studies, we will be learning about the Native Americans of the Great Plains region this week. In reading, we are doing Unit 2 Week 5 in Wonders focusing on Poetry.  Our spelling words have digraphs this week (2 letters that combined make 1 sound like ch, sh, wh, th, ck).  We will have our regular spelling test on Friday. We have 2 specials this week, Art & Mandarin.

FIELD TRIP: We will be taking a field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Thursday, December 1st. Please register your child for the field trip through My School Bucks as soon as possible. The cost for the field trip is $10 per student. While I do have enough chaperones for our field trip, I'm always willing to take more! Please let me know if you are willing to be a chaperone. Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered!

After Thanksgiving break we will be making totem poles as part of our Native American unit. We need empty paper towel tubes. If you have any, I would greatly appreciate you sending them in.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving next week and enjoy the break!


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of November 7th

I hope you all enjoyed the extra hour of sleep we got due to the time change. I want to take a second to thank any of you or your family members who are currently serving or have previously served in our military. I hope you all have a wonderful Veterans Day and know we appreciate your service.


This week in math we will finished Topic 3 and took our Assessment.  In grammar, we will be working on dialogue and combining sentences. We will incorporate this into our writing as we finish up our personal narrative drafts. The kids loved the start of our Native American Unit last week and this week we will continue as we focus on the Southeast Region. We are in the week 4 of Wonders Unit 2 and our focus is on theme and character development. We have one special this week which is  PE. 


FIELD TRIP: We will be taking a field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Thursday, December 1st. Please register your child for the field trip through My School Bucks as soon as possible. The cost for the field trip is $10 per student. I am in need of chaperones for our field trip. Please let me know if you are willing to be a chaperone.


As you may have seen in your child’s Thursday Folder or read in Mrs. Lynch’s Weekly Blast, the entire district is participating in #OneBookDCSD this week. Each day there is something special going on. More information on all of this can be found on the NRE website. Here is a quick peek at the schedule for this week:


Monday - Multicultural Day - dress up in your favorite cultural outfit

Tuesday - Be a Reader Day - wear school colors and share your favorite book.

Wednesday - Wellness and Workout Day - wear school appropriate work out gear

Thursday - Career Day - dress up as your future career or as a community helper

Friday - Kindness Day - wear bright colors


We have started our Native American Unit in Social Studies. During this unit we will be doing different activities to go with each region we study. For one of our regions we will be making totem poles and we will need empty paper towel tubes. If you have any, I would greatly appreciate you sending them in.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of November 1st

Happy Halloween! 

Although it's a short week, it will be a busy one in third grade! In math, we will start Topic 3: Apply Properties: Multiplication Facts 3, 4, 6, 7, 8.  In grammar, we will be focusing on irregular plural nouns. In writing, we are bringing all our writing knowledge together as we finalize drafting and editing our narratives. We will be shifting from science to social studies this week as we begin our units on Native Americans. For the next five weeks, we will focus on one Native American region each week. This week we will focus on the Eastern Woodlands Native Americans. In reading we will continue with Wonders Unit 2, Weeks 3 & 4 focusing on "Why do people immigrate to new places".  We will work on silent letter spelling words, and determining theme.  We have two specials this week which areSpanish & Music

Save the Date! We will be taking a field trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Thursday, December 1st. More information will be coming in the weeks ahead. I will need volunteers to join us, so please let me know if you are able to attend.

The kids had a great time at our Halloween party last Friday. I would like to give special thanks to our room parents for planning a great party for the kids. I will try and add some pictures to our class website if you'd like to see some of the fun.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of October 24th

I hope you have all had a wonderful Fall Break! 

We have a full week ahead as usual in in 3rd grade In math, we will finish Topic 2 & do our final assessment. Division Facts. In grammar, we will be focusing on concrete and abstract nouns. We will be wrapping up motion & forces in science with our review & assessment. In reading, we will continue Unit 2, Week 2 focusing on how people make government work. We will have Thinktank for specials.

We will be celebrating Halloween at school this Friday, October 28th. The festivities will begin outside with the school costume parade at 8:45 am. The kids should arrive at school in their costumes and ready for the parade. However, they will be removing their costumes after the party so they need to have clothes on under their costumes. Masks are allowed as long as they are not bloody or scary. Absolutely no weapons of any kind are allowed! I told the kids that even if it's something that can be used as a weapon to hit someone else it needs to stay home. Immediately following the parade we will have our classroom party until 10:00 am. Our wonderful room parents have planned a great Halloween party. Thank you in advance for helping to make this a great party for the kids! All parents and younger siblings are welcome to attend.

The annual Fall Festival will be held Friday evening from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. This is always a favorite event for the kids and it's free this year! I hope you can swing by and visit me in the Gross Museum and Tattoo Parlor as you visit each grade level's events. Make sure you visit the Haunted House as well. The sixth graders have been busy planning and have a full week ahead to get it all set up. For more information please see the NRE website.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of October 10th. 

This week we are having It is parent/teacher conferences.  I look forward to meeting with those of you who are signed up for a conference.  Please check your student's backpack on Monday for a conference form in a sealed envelope.  This will give you some information about your student's beginning of the year testing scores in reading, math & writing as well as recent math assessment grades, social studies, science and behavior expectations.  Next week there will be no school.  Enjoy your Fall Break!


This week in math we are starting Topic 2. All of the kids have a good start with our multiplication station too. During grammar, we will be learning about Common and Proper Nouns. We are continuing to learn strategies to apply to our personal narrative writing as well.  We are starting our Motion & Force Unit in Science.  We are starting Unit 2 in Wonders and will have our first spelling text for unit 2 this week.


Upcoming Important Dates

October 10 - 14 - Conferences

October 17 - 21 - No School / Fall Break

October 28 - Halloween Parade and Parties (during school)

October 28 - Fall Festival 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm

October 31 - No School / Professional Development Day

November 4 - Popcorn Friday

November 8 - SAC/PTA Meeting 6:15 pm - 7:30 pm

November 11 - Veterans Day Celebration

November 16 - DBC Meeting 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

November 21 - 25 - No School / Thanksgiving Break

November 18 - Holiday Shop

Week of October 3rd

Happy Fall! I can’t believe it is already October!

We have another full week ahead in 3rd grade! In math, we will have our Topic 1 Final Assessment and will be starting Topic 2: Multiplication Facts Use Patterns.  In grammar we are focusing on Sentence Fragments vs. Complete Sentence and appropriate punctuation.  We will apply this learning as we continue writing personal narratives. In science, we will start Forces in Motion. In reading, we will finish Wonders Unit 1 by looking at how we compare and contrast texts.  We will wrap up Unit 1 with a review & complete our Unit 1 Assessment. We have PE for specials this week.

Please look for a letter and packet I will be sending home in this week’s Thursday Folder explaining how Multiplication Station works in our classroom.  We use a program called Multiplication Station to help the students practice and learn their facts. Students will work through different activities and learn different strategies to help them learn their facts. These strategies were included in the packet I sent home. As students learn their facts they will come “test” with me. Testing is just doing some flashcards with me to prove they learned a strategy and know the facts.  As they pass their tests, they will earn parts for an ice cream sundae. Later in the year, we will have an ice cream sundae party and the more facts the kids have passed the more toppings they will have on their ice cream sundae. This is a fun way to help students learn their facts. The packet gives great strategies and tricks for helping to learn each multiplication set.  We will be covering all of these strategies in class, but it will help you in supporting your child at home as he/she is challenged to learn multiplication.  

Here are some ways you can help your child at home. Get flashcards. You can find these at Dollar Tree, Target, or Walmart. There are also many options available for download on iPads or tablets. Many of these are free. There are also different games available online. One website I love that includes not only math but also reading practice is www.abcya.com. Another website that I found while looking is: https://www.multiplication.com/games/all-games. It looks like it has many different games as well. Again, if you have a tablet there are numerous multiplication games available and many of them are free. Even 5 minutes a day of practice helps!

We will be previewing the Book Fair Tuesday morning at 11:00. The kids are able to return to the Book Fair during school hours any day this week to make purchases. The book fair is also open before and after school if you would like to come and shop with your child. Please see the NRE website for additional information and Book Fair hours.

Fall parent/teacher conferences will be held the week of October 10-14. This year you have the option of having your conference in person or over Zoom. If you haven’t already signed up for a 15-minute conference, please use the signup genius sent out by email.. Please indicate your conference preference (in person or Zoom) in the comment section. If you are unable to find a time that works for you, please reach out so we can find a better time.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of September 26th

We have another busy week in 3rd Grade.  In math, we continue working on Topic 1: Understand Multiplication and Division of Whole Numbers. The kids will be working hard at school to memorize their 0-12 multiplication facts. My goal is for every student to go into 4th grade with their facts memorized. If you have basic multiplication flashcards at home, I would love it if you could start practicing these facts with your child. If you need flashcards you can find them at Target, Wal-Mart, or Dollar Tree. In grammar, we will be focusing on pronouns this week. We will continue to work on personal narratives in writing by focusing on planning and dialogue.  In reading, we will be learning about National landmarks and memorials this week through our Wonders curriculum. In science, we will wrap up weather and students will present a project they did on designing a home that could stand up to a hurricane.  Their creativity and problem solving skills were amazing during this project!

We started Flood groups last week and will continue every week moving forward for a 30 minute block in the afternoon on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.  This is where students work on specific skills in small groups based on IReading Results.  We have two specials this week which are Music and Spanish.

The Multicultural Fair, is this Thursday from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. I hope you can join us to celebrate our diversity and learn about all the different cultures represented at NRE!

Fall parent/teacher conferences will be held the week of October 10-14. This year you have the option of having your conference in person.  A master sign-up was sent out Friday for all classes and I will send a direct link in my weekly update email today.

Upcoming Important Dates


Week of September 19th

As you know, this week is a shortened week.  There is no school this Friday.  Also, we have had quite a few kids out sick.  As a result, I have decided to move our week 5 spelling text to Monday.

We did start our new unit on multiplication by looking at 3 different ways to view multiplication (repeated addition, number lines & equal groups and arrays).  I will be reviewing all these concepts on Monday before moving on.  As we start getting more into our multiplication tables, we will start having some math homework.  Right now, I am working with students on skip counting and encouraging them to work on skip counting at home.  This will help them with the multiplication unit.  There are songs and activities for practicing skip counting or you can simply practice them out loud (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 etc). (3, 6, 9,12, etc).  working progressively on one number at a time.  We started 2 this week.


Week of Week of September 12th

We have a lot of fun and learning to look forward to this week in 3rd grade!  In math, we will finish Topic 9 and have our assessment at the end of the week.  In grammar, we will be focusing on adverbs. We will continue to work on personal narratives in writing by focusing on adding good details and descriptions. In science, our focus will shift to hazardous weather. We will be taking a closer look at tornados this week which will include a fun hands-on experiment. In reading, we will continue discussing how traditions help us understand culture and focusing more on character development. Don't forget to have your student complete the traditions quilt square and return it this Friday.  I look forward to hearing the students share their family traditions as we celebrate our unique and different lives.  We have two specials this week which are Art and Mandarin.

The Fun Run prize day is this Wednesday, September 14th. Our community did an AMAZING job of fundraising and we have far surpassed the initial $60,000 goal. The last time I looked the amount was over $70,000! Every student will get to participate in prize day which will include a root beer float or snow cone, inflatables, an obstacle course, and a Wet and Wild Extravaganza. It is VERY important to send your child to school on Wednesday with the following: wearing play/athletic clothing, appropriate footwear, a change of clothes, a water bottle, and a beach or bath towel. Prize day is a student/staff only event during the school day. For the safety and security of all children and staff, spectators are not allowed. If your child earned individual prizes you will receive details for each prize earned by email. The Mock Sleepover is planned for Friday, November 4th and the Magic Show will be during the school day on November 1st.


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of September 5th

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend!  This week we only have 4 days of school, but still have lot's of learning on our calendar.

MATH: We will start Topic 9: Fluently Add and Subtract within 1,000.  

GRAMMAR: We will be learning about Adjectives.

WRITING: We will continue our writing unit on Personal Narratives.                                                                                                                                     

SOCIAL STUDIES/SCIENCE: We will have our Local Government Assessment & start our first science unit: Weather & Climate. 

READING: We will continue our Wonders Curriculum as we discuss how traditions can teach us about culture.  We will be reading realistic fiction and learn about visualization, character perspective and character development.

SPECIALS: PE

Thank you for all the support in the Fun Run last! I was amazed at the effort put in by all of the students!  I will be posting some fun pictures to the photo section of my class page this week, so keep an eye out for those photos soon. Fun Run donations can continue to be made through 4:00 pm on September 9th. See the Northridge website for more information.

We had our first Popcorn Friday last week. This is a fundraiser run by the Discovery Booster Club (DBC). There is a Popcorn Friday day each month. For the first Popcorn Friday of the year they provide popcorn for every student in the class. However, moving forward only the students who pay for popcorn will receive a bag. You can sign your child up for the Kernel Club for $10 for the year or send in $1 each Popcorn Friday. For more information, please see the Northridge website.

Upcoming Important Dates

Week of August 29th

Below you can find what we will be doing in class this week:

MATH: We will finish up Topic 8 & do an assessment.:

GRAMMAR: We will be reviewing verbs and taking the assessment to wrap up that unit as well.   

WRITING: We will begin our writing unit on Personal Narratives.   

SOCIAL STUDIES/ SCIENCE: We will finish up our Local Government Unit.                                            

READING: We will continue our novel Third Grade Angels . The kids are loving this book and always ask to read more. In Wonders (our reading program), we will be continue working on compound words, vocabulary, headings & maps and chronology.  We will also have a new spelling list and our 2nd spelling test this Friday.

SPECIALS: We have two specials this week which are Music and Spanish.

We have our annual Fun Run this Wednesday. Third grade will be running at 2:45 and it is supposed to be HOT! Please remember to send your child to school with a water bottle and tennis shoes. It might not be a bad idea to put some sunscreen on before school as well. This year, for the first time, the event is organized solely by your PTA, which means 100% of the donations stay with the school and benefit our students. Your donations go toward teachers and specials supplies, online resources, books for classrooms, teacher appreciation, community events, field trip transportation, and much more. We have amazing individual and school-wide prizes (see flyer for details). Spread the word among your family and friends and help your student raise money for NRE!

Mrs. Peck is revamping our Box Tops program. It is now digital and super easy! Just download the app, pick NRE, scan your receipts, and voila, you are done! Watch for Classroom Leaderboards and help your kids win monthly prizes!


Upcoming Important Dates

Week of August 22nd: It was great to see many of you at the Carnival on Friday.  We have had an incredible first 2 weeks getting into the groove of being a responsible, respectful, caring and productive 3rd grade class.  I am excited for this third week as we will start introducing more of our curriculum and getting into our learning.  


Another reminder that all emails sent to my long version email were not received.  Also, the email listed on the main 3rd grade page was incorrect (it had a 1 at the end of my name) -someone has already corrected it. If you sent an email to either of these emails that still needs to be attended to, please re-send it to me at  pprobertson@dcsdk12.org.  and use this email for all future communications for the rest of the year. 


*Important Reminder: School Pictures are tomorrow, Tuesday, August 23rd.  Don’t forget to send your order forms back by Tuesday- 1 form is for individual pictures and the other for the class photo.


This week, we will be going to Think Tank for Specials. Your student should have brought home a Yellow Homework Folder on Friday, August 19th.  This folder contains a letter from me explaining how I will use the homework folder, expectations and how you as a parent can support your student with getting homework completed.  It also includes an overview of our first reading unit and the first spelling list with homework activities.  Students will have a Spelling Test every Friday starting this coming Friday, August 26th & will be expected to bring back their yellow homework folders with completed homework assignments every Friday morning.  You might notice in our Reading Units that while the spelling list changes every week, the Essential Question, Genre Study, Comprehension Skill, Vocabulary Words & Vocabulary Strategy remain the same for 2 weeks. 

READING: For the next 2 weeks our Reading Unit will focus on Autobiographies. The Essential Question: How do people from different cultures contribute to a community? Our Comprehension Skill is Sequence and our Vocabulary Strategy is Compound Words. The new vocabulary words are listed in the overview sent home in your student’s yellow homework folder. We will also continue reading 3rd Grade Angels and working on specific comprehension skills.

MATH: We will be doing our Beginning of the Year IReady Testing on Monday & Tuesday to assess math skills.  We will then start our Envision Math curriculum on Wednesday, beginning with Topic 8: Use Strategies and Properties to Add and Subtract. We will be working on Topics 8 and 9 first in order to brush up our addition and subtraction skills before moving to Topic 1 which begins a series of topics covering multiplication and division. 

GRAMMAR: We will continue working on parts of speech. This week’s focus will be verbs. 

WRITING:  We will work on writing procedures and stamina in preparation for beginning our first writing unit.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We will have a Citizenship Assessment on Tuesday and continue discussing communities with the focus on building a caring community at school & how people from different cultures contribute to our community.

Upcoming Important Dates

Week of August 14th

It has come to my attention that all emails sent to my long email listed in the meet & greet trifold are not being delivered to me.  I will be working with our tech teacher to correct that, but in the meantime, please use the following email for all correspondence: pprobertson@dcsdk12.org.  My apologies if you have sent an email, and thought I didn’t respond.  Please feel free to forward any emails you sent to the other email address if they still need to be read and addressed.  


This week, students had Art & Mandarin for their specials.  Students agreed to and signed our Classroom Rules Agreement and were assigned classroom jobs that will last for 2 weeks.  In Math, we have been reviewing in preparation for starting our Envision curriculum next week.  In Grammar, we have been learning about Nouns.  In Reading, I have been reading a novel aloud to the class called Third Grade Angels by Jerry Spinelli and working on comprehension skills including character identification & character traits, setting, compare & contrast, and text-to-self connections.  We finished our Civics Unit on Citizenship & will be having a Citizenship Assessment on Monday, August 22nd.  


Yellow Homework Folders were sent home on Friday with homework for the following week & information about the Fun Run.  My class seems so excited to get out to recess, I have decided not to do a group sign-up for snack.  If your child wants a snack, please send one for them each day and they will be able to eat it during their health break & snack time.


Upcoming Important Dates


Week of August 8th

We have had a great first week of Third Grade!  For those of you who were not at the Friday Meet & Greet before school started, I want to introduce myself, Paige Robertson.  While I have been teaching for many years, this is my first year at NRE.  If you have any questions, the best way to communicate with me is by email at pprobertson@dcsdkk12.org.


Our class has spent a lot of time this first week learning and practicing procedures for all the things we do in our room so we can create an organized and positive learning environment.  It would be helpful if you asked your student simple questions to reinforce the procedures we have learned.  Some questions you can ask are "What are your morning procedures when you come into the classroom?What hand sign do you give if you have a question? (1 finger up)...have to go to the bathroom? (2 fingers up)...need help with something (3 fingers up)? How do you let Ms. Robertson know that you understand? (thumbs up)...have questions (level thumb)...don’t understand (thumbs down).


This week we had PE for our specials.  I let the students participate in actually coming up with our classroom rules and was so impressed with the guidelines THEY wanted to keep things calm, safe and positive.  I will be creating a Class Compact with all of the rules they agreed to and they will be asked to agree to and sign it next week.  I have also tried to include many activities this week that help me get to know your students better and allow them to get to know friends and establish relationships.  Next week will be a big one with putting our class compact into action & announcing our job assignments. Welcome to the Third Grade!