Hello 3rd Grade Families,
I hope you all have had an amazing fall week! This week the troops have officially made it halfway through the 1st quarter! If you have any questions over midterm report cards, whether that is over grades or comments feel free to contact me with any questions, I am happy to help. Some of the kiddos’ favorite parts of this week included their God’s days of creation unit, math jeopardy, and an educational game with many categories called Free Rice. (I embedded the link because many of the kids said they wanted to play it at home) Some of the other things we learned about this week include:
ELA
In ELA, students began the new genre study over argumentative texts. They were introduced to eight new vocabulary words and read two different stories about our country's landmarks and national parks. While doing this the students practiced the following ELA skills:
Fact vs Opinion
Main idea and supporting details
Point vs counterpoint
Spelling / Phonics
In spelling and phonics this week the troops were given their ten new words on Monday. Each word had a long vowel sound in it. Several words had short vowel sounds as well. We then spent the rest of the week dissecting how to break our words into syllables without changing the vowel sound.
Grammar
In grammar this week we went over simple and compound sentences. We discussed how coordinating conjunctions can affect the meaning of our sentences. We also reviewed proper sentence structure.
Religion
In religion this week we learned about the days of creation. The students then were assigned a particular day and learned through bible scripture what their day entailed and were asked to illustrate a picture to present to the class. The students also enjoyed learning about Padre Pio in honor of his feast day on Thursday.
Math
In math this week the troops completed two different lessons that reviewed regrouping in addition and expanded form. They then had a test review day, and took their test on Wednesday. We finished off the week with a game of math jeopardy.
Science / Art
In science we recorded our temperature outside this week. We also discussed the difference between climate and weather. Next week we will be analyzing our weather data.
Upcoming Dates:
FFF meeting: Monday September, 27th (Please bring FFF shirts)
K-4 mass: Wednesday September, 29th
FFF mass: Friday October 1st
Freundly Reminders:
As the weather gets cooler outside please have students dress for the weather.
Please make sure your child knows where they go at the end of each day for their own safety.
Many Blessings,
Heather Freund
Hello 3rd Grade Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful week! This email is coming to you on Thursday because I will be absent tomorrow. This week the troops have completed their learning on 9/11, finished their final drafts of their personal narratives and have had a little extra time for some guided crafts. This is one of the first weeks we have had no other big events going on and have had a normal week of school (yay!) One of the highlights of the week was starting off with our Falcon Faith Families to do service projects around the school. Another highlight they had was having library hour downstairs for the first time since kindergarten! Some of the other things the troops did this week include:
ELA
In ELA this we finished out our unit on Realistic Fiction and how other cultures use traditions as a form of heritage. The students have done a lot of writing this week between responding to the author's purpose in our Realistic Fiction story and by writing their rough drafts, and final drafts of their personal narratives.
Spelling
In spelling and phonics this week we focused on identifying and spelling out closed syllable words. They did this by counting the vowels and isolating the short vowel sounds in the words. We also reviewed trigraphs and digraphs.
Grammar
In grammar this week we built on our topic from last week of identifying complete and compound subjects in sentences, and we learned how to identify complete and compound predicates in a sentence. We will continue to practice these skills throughout the year because it is a more difficult subject and lays out the foundation for many English skills.
Math
In math this week the troops have completed four different lessons covering the following topics,
Missing addends in two digit numbers
Three digit addition
Missing addends in word problems
Missing difference in subtraction
They will celebrate their hard work tomorrow by playing a Kahoot that will review the past 14 lessons.
9/11
We took a deeper look into 9/11 talking about the memorial, the different kinds of heros that day, and how the world changed forever. They then finished up with a craft that will be hung outside our classroom in remembrance of our fallen heroes.
Freundly Updates and Reminders:
Please send your child with layers to school especially since our classroom fluctuates temperature quite often.
Please do not send pop its, stuffed animals, or other toys and games unless asked by teacher or staff.
Please sign your child’s spelling menus, especially if there is no paper attachment for the day.
You are more than welcome to attend mass on Wednesdays. I will let you know each week your child has a mass role.
Upcoming dates:
Midterm, Friday, September 17th
Mass on Wednesday, September 22nd
I hope you all enjoy the beautiful weekend with your families! Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions!
Many blessings,
Miss Heather Freund
Hello 3rd Grade Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful short week! Even though our week was short, we accomplished and learned so much! This week the troops have taken the fall benchmark tests for the diocese, had a writing workshop, a 9/11 learning lab and I believe their favorite part of it all was their marble jar party which they worked hard to earn since the first day of school! Some of the other things that took place in our classroom this week include:
ELA
In ELA this week the troops were introduced to the genre of Realistic Fiction and eight new vocabulary words. They also worked on analyzing the structure of the genre and wrote about how the character Peter in our story “The Dream Catcher '' changed throughout the story. The students’ rubric over their writing should be in their take home folders so that you may all look at it together. Next week we will read one more story in realistic fiction and finish their personal narratives.
Spelling and Grammar
This week in spelling the students had ten new spelling words that all contained a trigraph or a trigraph blend. This was a new skill that was built on after learning digraphs last week. In grammar they learned how to identify subjects, complete subjects, and compound subjects in a sentence.
Religion
In religion this week we looked at the readings and the gospel that was supposed to be read on Wednesday’s mass. We also learned about several different saints whose feast days are coming up.
Math
In math this week the students finished their first unit and after going over a practice test on Wednesday, we took the test on Thursday. Thank you for helping your child study for their math test. They did a wonderful job. To wrap up math they took the math benchmark test on Friday!
Science
In science this week we wrapped up our lessons on the water cycle. Next week we'll be learning about the difference between weather and climate.
9/11
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 we spent this morning recreating the scene and the students learned about the timeline of the attacks. To finish up the 9/11 lab the students analyzed Alan Jackson’s song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”. These packets are going home with the kiddos today if you wanted to take a look!
Freundly Reminders:
Please send your child with layers to school especially since our classroom fluctuates temperature quite often.
Please do not send pop its, stuffed animals, or other toys and games unless asked by teacher or staff.
Please sign your child’s spelling menus, especially if there is no paper attachment for the day.
Upcoming dates:
FFF meeting: Monday, September 13th
Mass: Wednesday, September 15th
Midterms: Friday September 17th
I hope you all enjoy the beautiful weekend with your families! Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions!
Many blessings,
Miss Heather Freund
Hello 3rd Grade Families,
I hope that you all have had a joyous week! This week the troops have learned socially, spiritually, and even more academic, especially with getting routines down in the classroom. One of students’ favorite things about this week was getting to find out their Falcon Faith Families and attending mass with them on Friday! Some of the other things that took place in our classroom this week include:
ELA
This week during ELA we have been expanding more of our knowledge in the genre of Narrative Nonfiction. The students have been analyzing the structure and have completed many graphic organizers in order to come to a rough draft of an event that has happened in their life. In their personal narratives we have been focusing on using descriptive detail, sequence words, while keeping the author’s purpose in mind. I have been super impressed with all of their writing and their passion for the subjects they are writing about.
Spelling / Grammar
In spelling we have been focused on digraphs, blends, and digraph blends.
In grammar the troops have learned more about what makes a complete sentence, along with 4 types of sentences including commands, exclamations, questions, and statements.
Religion
In religion this week we have been learning about our classroom saint, Saint Rita, through bible verses, podcasts, videos, and church findings. In addition to this we have had two masses, and Mr. Spire began server training with them.
Math
In math this week we have completed four lessons, over adding money, writing numbers in standard and word form, along with a deep review of place value. The kids then wrapped up the week with playing trash and addition war!
Please keep working with the kids on addition and subtraction facts, it helps them build a better relationship with numbers and will boost their confidence when we get into multiplication and division.
Science
This week, in science we did an introduction to our weather unit and explored more about the water cycle.
Upcoming Dates/ Events:
No School Monday, September 6th
Mass on Wednesday, September 8th
Benchmark testing Wednesday 8th - Friday 10th
Freundly Update:
Next week the students will take place in fall benchmark tests for the diocese. This is the first time the students will participate in them since they start in third grade. There are three tests, one in math, one in reading, and one in written expression. We will take one each day next week starting on Wednesday and going to Friday. Please have the students have a good night’s rest and a hearty breakfast. Students are allowed to bring a brain fueling snack on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Please bring a snack that is classroom friendly (without utensils).
I hope that you all enjoy the extended holiday weekend God blessed us with. If you have any questions about our week feel free to contact me!
Many blessings,
Miss Heather Freund