The first trimester of third grade is a major transition for most students.  Assignments are not optional and quality counts.  The grades always trend up between now and report card time.  As the students become used to reading and following oral and written directions, understand the need to complete the task at hand rather than chat with a neighbor or play with their tools, and that participating in discussions and instruction is essential to understanding the concepts- grades will reflect the hard work of becoming a scholar.  Please continue to encourage your student.

If homework is a struggle, set the timer for each assignment.  Have your student read the directions, complete the first question together, then the  second one independently.  Next have your student estimate how long it will take to complete the page.  Set the timer and walk away.  The act of walking away makes the assignment your child’s and not yours.  Independence can be painful, but working without being prodded is a life skill :).   When the timer rings, glance through the page.  If the work is not completed, initial the stopping point and return it to school.  Begin the next piece exactly the same way.  Work through the homework without any emotion.  (I know that is the hard part!)  Try this approach for two weeks.  We are trying to increase independence and stamina.  Feel free to contact me if your student needs more support.

Tuesday is Picture Day for D track- no PE.    We will have PE on Wednesday and Friday this week.

Library Day: please return your book 🙂

We are attempting the use of Chromebooks during our workshop time.  24 machines chattering  requires headphones.  If you would like your student to have his/her personal headphones and not use the school headphones ( the entire grade level 200+ students use these), please send in a set in a plastic baggie marked with your student’s name.  We’ll keep them in a basket here in the classroom. The students would wear them for about a half hour at any one sitting, nothing  fancy is needed:)

Scholastic book orders are enclosed.  If you wish to order books for your child, please go online to scholastic.com/reading club.  Our classroom code is GPPM6.  For every book ordered online the classroom earns points.  I use these points to purchase books for the classroom book baskets.

The AR level is given in the synopsis of the book if you are looking for books with AR quizzes attached.

****Library is every Tuesday.  Please use the library book for reading log entries.  If your child chose a lengthy book, please help your child make a plan.  Quizzes should be taken once a week on shorter books- under 3 points- and at least once every two weeks for longer books.  Many of our top readers chose really long books the first week and did not  finish or lost interest after the first chapter.  I am encouraging students to check out shorter books until our reading stamina meets our desire to read these hefty tomes.

Your child’s test along with the practice test are in the Wednesday folder.  As you go through the test, please notice the amount of reading and writing that are required in third grade.  Our Go Math program has been updated to practice test taking skills all year long.  Therefore, this first test was not only a test of math skills, but also one of reading, writing, and perseverance.  You may also notice that problems may have been set up properly, but mistakes were made in basic addition and subtraction facts.  We are continuing to work on  addition and subtraction with three digit place value, rounding to both the tens and hundreds digit, and underlining and circling important words in the directions to help us comprehend what is being asked of us.

This next chapter is on graphing.  One of the most challenging skills is deciding on the key.  How many will each symbol represent in the graph?  Skip counting, knowing odd and even, and adding on will all be part of understanding this content.

Students have written down their access numbers and password to login at school. The website for AR is at the bottom of the page.  If you are interested in receiving updates with current scores on quizzes, please log on as a parent.  You’ll need your student’s information to complete the task.  Tomorrow we will add the number of points necessary for this trimester.

We have library on Tuesdays.  Your student has a book checked out in his/her name that should be completed this week and returned to school on Monday.  AR tests will be taken in the classroom using Chromebooks and during library time on Tuesday.

New agendas, purchased by PFO, were sent home today.  They still need to be signed at the bottom- orange box.  I will continue to  post homework each evening.  Most students are getting into the rhythm.  Please help your student return both the agenda and homework with folder each class day.  More and more students are “forgetting” and so they are reading during recess.  More importantly, the students appear unprepared for the  current day’s work.  Routines in homework will make life easier.  Work should be finished, initialed and then placed immediately in the backpack.  This type of routine creates less  stress in the mornings:)

Following oral and written directions is a major goal of third grade.  Reading and comprehending directions should be part of homework each evening.  We are having growing pains in class with listening and following directions the first time they are given.  To help with independence, please read directions with your student, look at any example given, have your student explain orally what he/she is to do, and then let your child independently complete the work.  The work can be broken down into time frames.  Asking your child to predict how long writing a sentence will take or how long half of the math problems will take will help your child break the tasks into smaller sections.  Watch the clock, each piece sent home should not be taking more than 10 minutes.  Each child is unique, as is each family’s procedure and time frame for completing homework.  Students are given time at recess to complete any unfinished work.  If homework is taking too long, complete half and send it back to school.  You would be amazed at how quickly work is accomplished  in that ten minute time frame 🙂  The first month is always the most difficult.  Routines develop, expectations become clear, and students rise to meet the challenges.   We have only been together for ten days, only 7 of those have had homework,  by mid August the bumpy road some of you are experiencing will begin to smooth. Please contact me by email if you have questions regarding homework. jsjones@egusd.net

Students are  learning  to carefully copy  the homework, organize the papers, and then get everything into the backpack.  It is quite an adventure every afternoon!  Please check the blog when you are unsure of the homework.  I will be stamping the log each day when the information is copied correctly.  Hopefully this will help with legibility and completeness.  Remember, homework is assigned Monday through Thursday on a daily basis.  It should be returned completed the following day.  Please spot check your student’s homework for accuracy.   All writing should be completed with complete sentences, – no sentences beginning with because, he, she, they.   Words should be spelled correctly.  Capitals and punctuation should also be present.  Handwriting needs to be legible.

Weekly spelling words are listed on the yellow sheet in the sheet protector found in the front of your student’s homework folder.  Tests are given in two  formats- list and dictation.  One of the dictation sentences is listed on the paper to study.  Two others will be added and include words that should be well within the spelling range of the class.

Thank you to Mrs. Seymour for volunteering to copy each week!

Thank you so much  to Mrs. Zeki for filing and filling our Wednesday folders today 🙂

Here’s a list of times and opportunities for  volunteering in the classroom.  If you see something you would like to do, please email me.  I would like to begin next week.

Monday:  2:00- 2:45  Small group working on phonics and fluency.  Weekly spelling words review and fluency practice using different passages.  A lesson plan and materials will be provided.

Tuesday:  2:00- 2:45  fluency (weekly)  I believe Mrs. Daya volunteered for this at Back to School Night

Wednesday: 2:00 – 2:45  Workshop   work with a small group using a leveled reader   A lesson plan,  vocabulary, and questions will be provided.

Thursday:  the copy machine job- I am hoping to have the following week’s work planned and ready to be copied by Thursday morning.   Your choice of time.

Art Docent:  Once a month to discuss the art prints.  I have projects that I do that go with the curriculum- so you are not responsible for the actual art part.