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January 25, 2025
January 25, 2025
We had an amazing Rule the School day, and all of our student “teachers” were absolutely gatortastic! Our third graders also completed their first practice STAAR assessment, known as the Math Interim, and they did a fantastic job showing their hard work and perseverance. We are now preparing for the Reading Interim on January 26, so students will continue practicing their reading skills in class.
Please continue to watch the news and keep an eye out for weather updates from GCISD as we prepare for The Big Brrrr of 2026! ❄️
RULE THE SCHOOL
RULE THE SCHOOL
Miss Caldwell
Miss Caldwell
Mrs. Caldwell put together a special science experiment to investigate the process of making ice cream. Students measured, combined mixtures, and cooled ingredients of sugar, milk, and vanilla to see who can create the best ice cream. See the pictures of all the fun below in the Science Section.
Miss Arce
Miss Arce
For Rule the School Day, Miss Arce created a wonderful and engaging math lesson focused on graphing using gummy bears! She guided the class through sorting, counting, and graphing the different colors, helping classmates practice important data skills in a hands-on and exciting way. Her creativity, leadership, and clear explanations made the lesson both fun and educational—what a sweet way to learn math! 🍬📊
Miss Thompson
Miss Thompson
Miss Thompson took over Mrs. Walker’s class for Rule the School and planned a fun-filled day with Bingo and brain puzzles. She did an amazing job leading the class and keeping everyone engaged. When asked about her favorite part, Miss Thompson said she loved getting to be the teacher for the day and helping her classmates stay on track and have fun!
Miss Essary
Miss Essary
Assistant Principal for the Day
Miss Hull
Miss Hull
Counselor for the Day
Pictures from 3rd Grade Rule the School Experience: Supervising the Kindergarten Lunch
and awarding the Gator Way Receipient.
✏️Interim Testing Reminder!💻
Students will be taking their Reading interim assessment over the next week. This interim is a practice STAAR-style test and help us see what students are doing well and where we can continue to grow 💪📈
📖 Reading Interim: Tuesday, January 27th
Please make sure your student comes to school with a 💻 fully charged laptop and 🎧 wired headphones on testing days. Thank you for helping your child feel prepared and confident 🌟
Valentine's Class Parties
Friday 2/13 at 1:30pm
Valentine's Exchange: If you would like to send in Valentine's for your child's class, please be sure that there are enough for all the student's in their homeroom class. (20) We are not sending home a class list this year. The Valentine's do not need to be addressed, you can just put from your child's name. In class we will be decorating paper bags to hold their Valentine's. If you want to make a fancy box or bag, feel free to do that at home and bring it in the morning of the party.
Baby Picture needed for the Valentines Party
Baby Picture needed for the Valentines Party
We have a fun activity planned for our Valentines Party where students will get to see baby pictures of their classmates and will try to guess who it is. In order to do this, we need your help by sending in a cute digital baby picture of your child. The picture needs to be school appropriate, so no pictures in diapers :) Pictures between the ages of 6 months-2 years work great. Please email a picture to your child's homeroom teacher by Friday, February 6th. Thank you!
Perot Field Trip
Perot Field Trip
We are excited to announce 3rd grade will be going to the Perot Museum for our Field Trip this year on Wednesday, March 25th. Save the date if you are interested in being a chaperone. Look for sign-up information and more details in next week's newsletter.
Keeping Up with Grades in 3rd Grade
As we enter the new semester, here’s a quick reminder on the GCISD grading policy for third grade: Grades reflect each student’s progress in a TEKS-based curriculum and include a variety of learning activities in core subjects, as well as enrichment areas. Formative grades showing progress during learning and summative grades measuring mastery through tests, writing, and projects. If a student earns a failing grade on an assignment or test (excluding semester exams), reteaching and reassessment opportunities are available. Students may redo assignments or retake tests within five school days of when the grade was posted in Skyward, and earn a replacement grade up to a maximum of 70, supporting growth and success throughout the semester.
A note from Coach Maupin
A note from Coach Maupin
I wanted to let you know about an exciting new opportunity coming up for our third, fourth, and fifth grade students.
For the first time, our school district will be hosting a cup stacking competition. This event is designed to be a fun and positive experience, not an intense or high-pressure competition. The focus is on participation, trying something new, and enjoying a unique activity with other students from across the district.
Sport stacking helps develop hand-eye coordination, focus, and confidence, and it’s a great way for students to challenge themselves in a new and engaging way. Whether your child has tried stacking before or would be brand new to it, this event is meant to be welcoming and encouraging for all participants.
Please see the attached flyer for more details about the event. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
Thank you for supporting new and fun opportunities for our students!
The Rotary Club handed out dictionaries to our 3rd graders.
Prehistoric Park Coloring Contest Details:
Participants will print and color a Megalosaurus coloring page and submit a photo of their completed artwork. One winning design will be selected and transformed into a real animatronic dinosaur, painted to match the artwork and displayed at Prehistoric Park at Meadowmere Park from March 14–29. The winner will also receive free one-day admission to visit the park and see their dinosaur in person.
All entries must be submitted by February 2, 2026. Every participant will also be entered into a drawing to win a ticket to Prehistoric Park.
Additional information about Prehistoric Park and the coloring contest can be found at GoGrapevine.com/PrehistoricPark.
English Language Arts
English Language Arts
**READING INTERIM January 27th**
This week students will be learning...
Reading- This week in reading, students will focus on asking and answering questions, identifying the central idea, and using text and graphic features. Using TEKS 3.6A, 3.6B, 3.7C, and 3.7E, students will ask and answer questions before, during, and after reading to build understanding. With TEKS 3.6G, 3.7C, 3.7G, and 3.9Di, students will identify the central idea of a text and explain how key details support it. Additionally, through TEKS 3.6G, 3.7C, 3.7F, 3.9Dii, and 3.10C, students will use text and graphic features such as headings, captions, diagrams, charts, and bold words to locate information and better understand what they read.
Grammar-This week, students will strengthen their grammar skills by learning how adjectives tell what kind and how many (TEKS 3.11Div), using this, that, and articles correctly in sentences (TEKS 3.11D), and reviewing plural nouns during spiral practice (TEKS 3.11Diii). Students applied these skills in speaking and writing to make their sentences clearer and more descriptive.
Math
Math
***Unit 5 Test (1/29)***
***12's fact fluency quiz Wednesday (1/28)***
We will be wrapping up Unit 5 this week & moving onto Unit 6 Fractions!
This week the students will be learning...
I can organize data into a variety of graphs and analyze the data to solve problems. (TEKS 3.8B)
I can represent fractions, using concrete objects
(TEKS 3.3A)
To help your child at home with these skills-
Practice their multiplication facts/ skip counting. (Students can log onto canvas for a link to our songs and online flashcards)
Work in independent practice workbook on pages section S- Represent and Interpret Data (pg. 175-190)
Practice division and multiplication multi-step story problems.
The images below are some ideas of math practice to do at home (choice board) and examples of these types of representations.
Check out our problem solving model!
This is a tool we call 'UPS Check!' Using this model helps the students better understand and create a plan before solving when they come across story problems. I HIGHLY encourage you to practice using this model with them while solving story problems.
Dear parents,
Multiplication fluency is a very important foundational skill.
In order to accomplish this goal, students will practice their multiplication facts and will be quizzed every Thursday. Each quiz has 20 questions and they will be given 3 minutes to complete the quiz. They must score at least a 70% in order to move on to the next fact. The facts that will be assessed are x0-x12.
They will have class time to practice their facts but we also ask that they practice at home.
We recommend using flashcards and/or playing online multiplication games.
Recommended free Multiplication practice websites:
www.ascendmath.com
Click the yellow button Flashcard Math-FREE
Click the fact your child is currently practicing, select how many questions and the time limit.
https://www.timestables.com/multiplication-games/
Click multiplication games and pick game of your choice or practice multiplication speed by clicking Speed Test X on the menu bar.
Once your child masters all of their facts, they will be awarded a certificate of completion.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Social Studies
Social Studies
3.3A GEOGRAPHY. The student understands how humans adapt to and/or modify the physical environment. The student is expected to describe similarities and differences in the physical environment including climate, landforms, natural resources, and natural hazards.
Resources:
Studies Weekly Newspaper and App **Week 16
Science
Science
3.10B Earth and space. The student knows that there are recognizable processes that change Earth over time. The student is expected to investigate and explain how soils such as sand and clay are formed by weathering of rock and by decomposition of plant and animal remains.
Resources:
McGraw Hill Chapter 6 Lesson 1 Soil Formation
Science Pictures from Miss Caldwell's Science Experiment-Changing States of Matter-Making Ice Cream.
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