Happy Friday 3^rd Grade Families

This month we are focusing on the character trait of being Resilient.

• I will work to solve problems.
• I will challenge myself.
• I will persevere and be patient.
• I will do my best.

Congratulations to Angelica!!! She is our Student of Character this week.

Information & Reminders:

• Library Monday
• PE Wednesday & Friday
• On Thursday we get to attend an on campus fieldtrip to the Crocker Art Truck! The Crocker’s Art Ark, a mobile art education center designed for students in pre-K through 8th grades, brings original works of art and activities to schools throughout the region. On the road with different exhibitions since 1980, the Art Ark is distinguished in the nation as one of the first mobile art museums and one of the few to include hands-on learning.
• On Friday, Mrs. Hatfield will join us for an Art Docent lesson! Thank you Mrs. Hatfield for your support!

Book Order due by Friday, Sept. 16^th! It’s Scholastic Book Order time! Ordering online is fast and easy:

Order online at scholastic.com/readingclub

•  VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
•  ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code GWDPZ.
•  SHOP all the amazing books and value packs.
•  SUBMIT your order online and earn FREE Books for our classroom.
•  All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading together!

LAST CALL to sign up!!! Trimester 1 Parent/Teacher Conferences: As mentioned at Back to School Night, on a year-round calendar Parent/Teacher Conferences are not required and minimum days are not provided in our calendar to conference. I would like to meet with those families who would like to conference. This can however be challenging without the minimum days. In order to have ample time to meet, I am planning to take a sub day on Friday, October 21^st. A sub will cover my class and I will be offering back-to-back conference slots. If this date does not work for you, and you would like to conference, please email or call and we can work something out for another time that week.

Please use the attached sign-up genius to schedule a conference.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f48a4a72fa0fb6-trimester2

Classroom Volunteers:

• This year I will use Sign-up Genius to manage our classroom volunteers. I will send 1 sign-up for each trimester. If you have a set day you’d like to come each week, please let me know, otherwise please sign up here for volunteer opportunities August – October 2016. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f48a4a72fa0fb6-trimester1

• Pretty Please J…Calling all party planners!!! Do you like to plan parties, do crafts, love Pinterest? I am looking for a few parent volunteers who would like to take charge of planning our holiday party. We will have 3 parties this year. Our first party will be a holiday theme party on Tuesday, December 20th 12:15-2:45. Ideally I would like a few parents to take charge and plan as you wish. I have a small budget to start and we generally ask the families for donations (either items or money to support the fun). I usually ask parents to plan 4 stations containing a combination of art/craft (a possible holiday gift for a family member), a yummy treat, etc. I’m open to your crafty ideas. I do like to keep it simple, each station taking no more than 20-30 minutes.

What are we learning this week?

Attached you will find an information sheet describing our learning goals in Language Arts for the next two weeks. Please read to find information on the reading strategies, skills, and vocabulary we will focus on. On the blog you can find a list of spelling words as examples of the spelling patterns we will focus on. This list had also been provided in your child’s homework binder. We are on Week 2 of spelling.

In Math we wrap up Chapter 2: Representing and Interpreting Data. We will have our chapter test next Wednesday or Thursday. Please see the attached vocabulary sheet as a reference for our learning goals for this chapter. You can visit the GoMath Think Central website if you’d like examples of our daily lessons for this chapter. There are games and other activities for the students to work on from home for extra practice. If your child loses their nightly math homework, it can be printed from this website as well.

In Social Studies we are studying Geography. We continue to learn about maps, map skills, landforms, and other geography terms.

In Science we’re learning about Biomes. We’re exploring the desert, grasslands, temperate forest, tropical rain forest, and arctic region. We will focus on life cycles and animal and plant adaptations. We continue our work on our Biome Books.

This month in Physical Education/Health/Nutrition we will kick off the SHAPE program and experience our first Harvest of the Month – green beans (YUMMY).

The objectives of the Harvest of the Month program include:

• Increasing students’ access to fruits and vegetable through school meal programs, classrooms, school gardens, farmer’s markets, grocery stores and community gardens. We will take a fieldtrip later this year to the EGUSD food processing plant for a tour!
• Stressing the importance of participation in daily physical activity and understanding why it is important.
• Increasing students’ knowledge of and familiarity with California-grown fruits and vegetables and the rich agricultural bounty of the state. Each month we get to learn about and taste a new fruit or vegetable!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!