Happy SpOoooOOooky Week!

We have a lot of fun planned for the next week, but we will also be engaged in some entertaining learning activities.

Your student may have mentioned that if they have a team sport, dance recital, BMX event, etc. in which they participate, I’d love to come watch them.  I’ve asked that you take a picture of their schedule or direct me to a website so I can coordinate and make sure I get to see all students at least once during this school year.  I watched one baseball game this year and it was so awesome to see my students in a different environment.  Please let me know of upcoming events so I can swing by your student’s event as well.

Important upcoming dates:

• 10/31 – Wednesday
  • Halloween
  • Happy Birthday to Nevada
  • 1:00 PM – Grade 3 Spooky Buffet
  • 2:15 PM – Trunk or Treat – Thanks PTA!! (No weapons, masks, or face paint)
• 11/6- No school- Election Day
• 11/7- No school – Parent/Teacher Conference Day

I sent home progress reports on Friday.  Please remember that 3rd grade is a big jump up for many students.  In 3rd grade, we require students to work without assistance.  Also, many of the concepts we cover are completely new.

When you come in for conferences, if you have specific concerns, please make sure to broach them during our meeting.  I need your input on your student’s goals.  We work so much better as a team when we are tackling these new concepts.

This week, we will work on finalizing narrative drafts in writing, character traits in reading, and continue with division in math.

We took a multiplication property assessment last week and some of the students struggled. However, the majority of the class demonstrated that they understand and can apply the concept, which was my goal and why we worked on the standard for an additional week.

We graded two writing samples with rubrics last week as well, and your students are generally critical graders.  We compared those rubrics to the rubrics we used for our peers and ourselves, and reflected on whether or not we were more honest and genuine with writing when we didn’t know the author.  It was a great exercise and I hope students will apply what they learned when they check over their work before submission.  For all formal writing submissions, students receive a rubric so they can understand expectations.

Totem pole projects guidelines will come home on paper this week, and I have attached them here for reference.  Totem Pole 3rd

Thanks for all the help in making this week a success!