WEEK OF MAY 2, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

I cannot believe that we are already beginning the month of May.  The time seems to be flying by as we approach the end of the school year.  Here's what is happening in the upcoming week:

READING - We will be reviewing the ways in which sentences within a paragraph or paragraphs within a reading passage may be organized.  The types of organization or text structure that we have been studying are cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, and sequencing.  Our class members has been very enthusiastic about using Achieve 3000 to support their reading comprehension.  (Well, we are in a competition with Ms. Flowers' class, so that could be part of the reason.)  Encourage your child to use this program at home for some of his/her nightly reading.

WRITING - Students will be practicing how to paraphrase information they read in order to write informational reports in their own words.  This week, students will be given a high interest nonfiction article to read, and then write an informational report on it.  We have also been practicing varying our sentence structure by writing both compound and complex sentences.

SCIENCE - We had fun last Friday making an edible model of the soil.  Students used various cereals, as well as brown sugar to represent the layers of the soil - bedrock, clay, silt, sand, and humus.  Milk (to represent water) was poured over the "soil" so students could observe how water moves through the layers of the soil.  On Friday, we also transferred our bean plants that started sprouting in cups in the room to the garden. While in the garden, we also planted many types of seeds including radish, carrot, gourd, and tomato into our garden plot.  Third graders are also excited about heading up the composting project that we will be starting at Douglas.  We will have a unit test on Wednesday to culminate our plant development unit.

MATH - Students are currently learning how to tell time to the minute, as well as solve problems involving elapsed time.  We will use a number line model to help students understand how to solve problems involving the passing of time.  On Thursday, we will have a unit test on time.

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday, May 3 - Interims go home

Tuesday, May 3 - Math Night - 5:00 PTA Meeting 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. - Math activities

Book Fair will be taking place this week in the Media Center.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.  Thanks for all of your support.

Sincerely,

Ms. Underwood      

WEEK OF APRIL 25, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weekend with your families.  Listed below is information about the coming week.

READING - We will shift our focus back to determining the main idea/central message of a reading passage including poetry.  Distinguishing the main idea from supporting details is a difficult concept, so we will continue practicing this strategy in the week ahead.  We will also take a look at the spelling patterns in our set of  "Word Work" words this week.  We have been playing a game called "Sparkle" to reinforce correct spelling of these words.  The class loves this game!

WRITING - Students should be wrapping up their biography reports.  This week, I will be teaching minilessons about the revision part of the writing process.  We will be looking at items such as sentence structure and improving word choice to make our writing clear and interesting to the reader.

SCIENCE - In our study of plant development, we have now begun to focus on the composition of soil. We will be comparing/contrasting some of the components of soil such as clay, sand, and humus. I have a fun edible project planned in order to help students understand the various layers of soil.  We will also learn about composting.  Students have been very excited to check the bush beans and lima beans they have been growing in plastic baggies.  Last week we transplanted the sprouts to a cup, and many of them are growing quite nicely.  Hopefully, we will plant them in the garden soon.

MATH - We will spend two more days reviewing fraction strategies followed by an assessment on Wednesday.  Our next unit will be approximately six days with the focus being on telling time to the minute and solving elapsed time problems.

IMPORTANT DATES
Friday, April 29 - Spirit Day - Who can wear the most zippers to school? - National Zipper Day
Tuesday, May 3 - Math Night - 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Sincerely,
Ms. Underwood

WEEK OF APRIL 18, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

We had a wonderful time last week integrating lots of art activities into our learning.  We made seed mosaics (science), partitioned CD's into equal parts and decorated them to go on our fraction fence on the playground, and made origami roses to understand fractional parts.  I am looking forward to another fun-filled week with your children.  Listed below is an overview of the upcoming week.

READING - This week we will continue reviewing and practicing reading strategies to help us comprehend our reading.  Our focus will be on inferring (using background knowledge plus text clues) to figure out what is not directly stated in the text.  We will also practice strategies that can be used to figure out the meanings of unknown words we encounter in our reading.  Please encourage your child to use Achieve 3000 at home to give him/her further practice using strategies to answer comprehension questions.  

WRITING -  Students are completing their biography booklets this week.  They have enjoyed learning about the lives of these notable people.  Students will be sharing some of the interesting facts they have learned with their classmates.

SCIENCE -  It has been so exciting to watch the roots, stems, and seed leaves emerge from our bush beans that have been growing in our plastic baggies.  We will be planting these seedlings in a cup this week and continue our study of plant development by focusing on pollination.

MATH - This week we will explore fractional relationships using pattern blocks.  For example, if a yellow hexagon represents one whole, what fractions do the trapezoid, rhombus, and triangle represent?  Students will be creating a creature using the pattern block shapes and explaining the relationships between the shapes chosen.  Please continue to help your child memorize their multiplication facts.

IMPORTANT DATES  

Thursday, April 21 - Field Day 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Friday, April 22 - Spirit Day - Earth Day -  Show your appreciation for the earth. 
Monday, April 25 - Snow Make-up Day

Sincerely,
Ms. Underwood
   

WEEK OF APRIL 11, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

I am excited about our in-house field trip tomorrow.  The scientists from Science is Fun will be visiting our third graders to present a program on matter which should reinforce many of the concepts we learned when studying solids, liquids, and gases.  I think the program will be very engaging for our students.

READING - This week in reading, we will be focusing on main ideas and supporting details. Tomorrow, we will determine the main idea and supporting details in various pieces of art.  When reading with your child at home, please ask them to tell you the main idea of their reading in a sentence and support their answer with three details.  This is a difficult concept for many students and practice at home will help reinforce this reading skill.

WRITING - Students will continue to research and write biographical reports on the family life, early life, school years, later life, and accomplishments of the person they are researching.  We are writing this paper in a booklet format with a few illustrations included.

MATH - In math, we will continue to practice comparing fractions by drawing various types of visual models to prove our thinking.  Students have also been playing some fraction games to enhance their understanding of fractions. A unit test will be given on Thursday.

SCIENCE - Students are excited about the bush bean they are growing in a plastic bag in class.  We are hoping to see a sprout soon so that we can then transplant them in our garden at Douglas.

IMPORTANT DATES -
Friday, April 15 - National Tax Day - "Show Me the Money" Spirit Day

Sincerely,
Ms. Underwood

WEEK OF APRIL 4, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my Spring Break and hope that you also had a wonderful time with your families.  I am looking forward to seeing your children and beginning a new quarter.  It is hard to believe that this is our last quarter of the school year! 
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Students will be receiving their new reading logs for the month of April tomorrow.  During the final quarter, the expectation is that students will read 30 minutes nightly.  Thank you for continuing to sign both the reading and multiplication logs.  **Also, I am not sending the weekly work habits/conduct reports in the Monday folders tomorrow since we have been on break.  I will include these reports in the Monday folders going home on April 11.

INFO FOR THE COMING WEEK:

READING - Our focus in reading this week will be on the text structures of sequencing and compare/contrast.  I have a fun activity planned for tomorrow involving Ritz crackers and Oreos to give students a hands-on lesson with comparing/contrasting.  On Tuesday, we will compare and contrast two different pieces of art.  Later in the week, we will sequence the events taking place in various art pieces.

WRITING - Students will continue researching and writing informational papers on their biographical characters.

MATH - We will continue our study of fractions as we learn how to compare them.  Students will understand the relationship between fractions with the same numerators, but different denominators, as well as fractions with the same denominators, but different numerators.  I will also be teaching games involving fractions that students will play during center time in math.

SCIENCE - I am looking forward to our Plant Growth and Development unit as we will be participating in several hands-on activities, including lessons in our Douglas Elementary garden, to learn about plants and soils.  One of our first activities involves dissecting a lima bean to identify the parts of the seed.

IMPORTANT DATES
April 8 - PBIS Assembly - 10:15 - 10:45 am. - Gym
April 8 - Dress like an animal Spirit Day
April 8 - Report cards go home.

Sincerely,
Ms. Underwood

WEEK OF MARCH 21, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

I really enjoyed the Reading Conference that I attended last Sunday - Tuesday at the Raleigh Convention Center.  Although I missed my class, I was grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by fellow educators, as well as authors, to continue my education in reading.  I have already been implementing some of the strategies/interventions I learned with my own students.

As we prepare for the shorter week ahead, I wanted to highlight some of our class activities in each subject area.

READING - Students will be describing the relationship between the sequential steps in a process, using language that pertains to sequencing (first, next, finally, etc.).  I will be asking students to sequence the steps involved in making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while I actually make the sandwich according to their directions.  This is always a fun lesson, especially if students do not carefully place the steps in order and use specific language when giving directions. We will also be looking at spelling patterns in the following words during our Word Work this week:  question, threw, through, vacation, wear, we're, with.  Students are being encouraged to use the Word Wall where these words are posted in order to improve their spelling skills.

WRITING - This past week we began another unit of informational writing with the focus on biographies.  Students began researching the family life of their biographical character.  Our writing will be done in a booklet format focusing on the following areas of the person's life:  family, early life, school years, later life, and accomplishments.

SOCIAL STUDIES - Students will be finishing up Social Studies with Mr. Otto by the middle of this week.  Upon our return from Spring Break, students will start the final unit in Science, which will be focusing upon plant growth and soils.

MATH - I am very proud of how students are working hard to conceptually understand fractions. They are doing a great job using precise vocabulary when explaining their thinking.  This week we will continue to explore equivalent fractions by drawing various visual models such as fraction bars, number lines, and circle models.  I have some fun games to teach my students to help them understand fractions.

On Monday, our class will be joining Ms. Flowers' class to hear Mr. Burns read aloud while we enjoy a sweet treat.  Our two classes were the winners of the Achieve 3000 challenge among the third grade teachers.  Ms. Flowers and I would like to reward our students for their hard work in using reading strategies.  Also on Monday, we will also watch the Douglas Variety Show dress rehearsal during an afternoon assembly.

IMPORTANT DATES
Wednesday, March 23 - Variety Show - 6:00 p.m.
Friday, March 25 - Sunday, April 3 - SPRING BREAK!
Tuesday, April 5 - Math Night - 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Thank you for all of your support.  I hope that you enjoy Spring Break and have some fun times with family.

Sincerely,
Ms. Underwood

WEEK OF MARCH 6, 2016 NEWS

Dear Parents,

I hope you were able to rest and enjoy the weekend.  Spring Break is almost here!  In the meantime, here are some updates for our coming week:

Reading - This week in reading, students will continue identifying the ways in which texts are structured (chronological order, cause/effect, compare/contrast, etc.).  Students will also be practicing distinguishing their own point of view from that of the narrator, characters, or author.  Our third grade team has chosen some engaging texts on Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm to use for our lessons to engage our students.  These texts come from the Achieve 3000 program and will be on your child's reading level.

Writing - Students wrote some very creative and interesting stories during our Writer in Residence program.  We are going to further develop those stories during our realistic fiction unit as students add more descriptive details to "show" rather than "tell" their stories.

Social Studies - Mr. Otto is teaching students about why the European settlers came to America and the effect of their arrival upon the people already living in America.

Math - Students are working hard in math to understand the concepts of fractions.  Last week, we focused upon the definition of a fraction (an equal part of a whole), as well as the difference between the numerator and the denominator.  Students used graham crackers to understand that the size of the whole is important, and they also created mystery fractions to understand the difference between the numerator and the denominator.  We will continue our study of fractions this week by partitioning number lines into equal parts.

IMPORTANT DATES
Monday, March 7 - Variety Show Auditions - 4:30 p.m.
Friday, March 11 - Field Trip to Wake Forest High School to see a play 
Friday, March 11 - Mad Scientist Program - 2:15 p.m.
Friday, March 11 - March Madness Spirit Day - Dress to represent your team

Sincerely,
Ms. Underwood