Miss Steensma Third Grade

October 23, 2026

Fall Parties are on Friday, October 30th. We are still needing one volunteer for our classroom party. See this link to sign up!
Students may choose to wear their Halloween costume for our Fall Party! Students must bring their costume to school, and we will give them time to change before our Fall Party. All costumes will need to go over the clothes they wear to school that day.
Please see the flyer about Red Ribbon Week next week.
Spelling words came home today. Our test is Tuesday, October 27th.
Report cards are coming home today. Thank you for a great first quarter!

October 9, 2026

Spelling Update:
- - Students are bringing their spelling words home today to practice for our spelling test on Tuesday. Students also have opportunities to practice these words at school. Moving forward, we will no longer be having students retake their spelling test. We will also send spelling words home a few days prior to the test to allow students to practice at home.
  - Thank you for your flexibility as our team refines our spelling systems with our new ELA curriculum.
See the flyer with information on Trunk-or-Treat!

October 2, 2026

Tasty Treats is back again starting next week! See the flyer to the right with more information.
Our school is partnering with Art to Remember for a creative fundraiser featuring keepsake products customized with your child's art. With 60+ items (many under $20), these make great gifts and a portion of every purchase supports our school. Click the link, enter your online order code or search for your child's artwork, and start shopping!

Please see this message from our room parent, Brenda Keller:

The 3rd grade room parents have been working hard to plan this year's Fall Classroom Parties, and we're ready for parents/guardians to sign up to contribute supplies/money and help at their kid's party!

Party supplies requested: https://3rd-grade-fall-party-donations-45462.cheddarup.com

If you'd like to contribute money, you can Venmo your grade's designated room parent: Allyson-Fortenberry-2

Classroom party helper sign-up: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/pta-volunteer-sign-up-copy-5987/forms

September 25, 2026

Fall Parent Teacher conference sign up is open! Please see this link for directions on signing up. Conferences are on Thursday, October 8th and Tuesday, October 13th starting at 4:00pm. Miss Mustard and I look forward to sharing about our progress and learning in 3rd grade so far!
There is no school for students October 15-19th.
Miss Mustard's last day in our classroom will be Wednesday, October 14th. We will miss her so much, BUT we are so excited for her to continue her student teaching experience at Wheeler in primary ACP with Miss Renken.

September 18, 2026

Our class raised over $1,400 for the school fundraiser! Thank you for supporting Wheeler Elementary! The Fun Run was a hit ☀️
- - - Because we hit our class goal of $1,000, our class earned extra recess, class picnic, and movie/popcorn for next week.
    - We will be having a class picnic and watching the movie, Mulan, on Friday, September 25th. Students can bring a lunch from home OR eat school lunch for the picnic.
Author Visit is also next Friday, September 25th.
See links below from the Wheeler PTA:
- - - Sign up for the Wheeler Directory: Wheeler PTA Directory 2026-2027
    - Join the Wheeler PTA: Wheeler PTA Membership - Cheddar Up
    - Submit a Birthday Shoutout: Wheeler PTA Shoutouts 26/27 - Cheddar Up
    - Volunteer with the PTA: PTA Volunteer Sign Up 26/27 - Cheddar Up
    - PTA Website: Wheeler Elementary PTA

September 11, 2026

Students are excited for all of the prizes from the school fundraiser. On Monday, students can wear pajamas, wacky socks, AND bring two stuffies. Thank you for supporting our school!
The Fun Run is Friday, September 18th. Please help me in reminding your child to wear comfortable shoes to school that day.

September 4, 2026

Please see the following message from our room parent, Brenda Keller:

Your Room Parent for this school year is Brenda Keller and can be reached at brendakeller26@yahoo.com. To be sure you're getting classroom information on things like classroom parties, classroom volunteer opportunities, group gifts, and more, please be sure to enter your info in the PTA directory here.

August 21, 2026

We have had an amazing first full week. We've done lots of review with expectations and how to make our classroom and school welcoming and comfortable for everyone!
Please help remind students to bring planners to and from school every day, and planners should be signed nightly.
In ELA (reading/writing), our first unit is a lot of review skills from 2nd grade. This includes identifying short and long vowels, compound words, subject-verb agreement, and long vowel patterns. We have also been practicing using complete sentences and understanding the difference between sentence fragments and complete sentences. We will continue to read The Wind in the Willows, and various activity book stories to practice reader's response. Some of these will come home weekly!
In math, we are continuing to learn different ways to solve multiplication problems. We have reviewed using arrays, pictures of equal groups, and using a number line to help solve these problems. Once students begin to understand the "why" behind multiplication, it's imperative that they start memorizing multiplication facts! If students do not finish their blue math pages during walk-to math time, it will be sent home as homework and must be turned into their math teacher the next day. We've discussed this throughout the week so students should be very aware of this now. As long as students turn in their work with their best effort, they will get a full completion grade.
In Social Studies, we are starting geography. Next week, the focus is on identifying the 7 continents, 4 major oceans, and the prime meridian and equator. We will follow that with learning about different landforms around the world!
Please see the flyers to the right about office reminders and lunch specials next week.

The message below is from our Wheeler PTA:

Each year, PTA asks one parent or guardian from each classroom to serve as a room parent. The hope is that this person will help you with volunteer & supply needs that come up, classroom party organizing, and more. :) We are still looking for room parents/guardians for a few classrooms, so will you please add the below message to your Friday newsletter tomorrow? Thank you!!

As we kick off the school year, the PTA needs a parent or guardian to serve as the room parent for my classroom. This individual's duties involve planning classroom parties with the grade's other room parents (PTA will initiate and lead these meetings, so you aren't on your own!), possibly organizing group gifts for the classroom, and various other little tasks and opportunities that may come up throughout the year. (Parents/guardians with multiple kids at Wheeler: You can sign up for just one classroom per school year.) If you're interested in this role, please sign up here: https://room-parent-2026.cheddarup.com

August 14, 2026

We had an amazing first week of school! I have loved getting to know all of the students. :)
Students are bringing home their planners today. Students are to show you their planner, get it signed by a guardian, and bring it back to school each day. Thank you for your help in reminding students to bring these back on Monday.
MAP testing begins next week! We will take MAP reading on Tuesday 8/18, Wednesday 8/19, and Thursday 8/20. MAP math will be on Tuesday 8/25, Wednesday 8/26, and Thursday 8/27. Please help me in reminding your student to get a good night’s sleep and eat breakfast (at home or at school at 8:15).
Meet our new counselor, Miss Fenner! See flyer to the right.

August 7, 2026

Dear Families,

Welcome to Miss Steensma's Third Grade Class and to the 2026-2027 school year! Third grade is a big year, and I am thrilled to have your child as a part of our class. Our days and weeks will be filled with many wonderful experiences and opportunities for your child to learn and grow.

I am also excited to introduce Miss Mustard, our class’s student teacher, who will be teaching with me until mid-October.

Open house is on Monday, August 10th 5:00-6:30pm. Please bring your child's school supplies to put in their desk. School supplies ordered through the school fundraising opportunity are already on your child's desk. If you have any questions, please refer to the Third Grade Supply List or let me know.

Please take the time to read through this document for important information about third grade.

I look forward to working together to make this a great year!

Sincerely,

Miss Steensma

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