No homework this week!

Due to MCAS testing this Tuesday and Thursday, there will be no homework this week. Just get lots of rest, and eat yummy breakfasts!

Check out the Gazette!

Wow, what a great article in the Gazette tonight. Check out www.gazettenet.com - front page!!!

Homework for week of May 6, 2013

This our final week before math MCAS, so our homewok is a packet covering skills review. Your child can either do each night's homework that night, or all at once, but it is all due Friday. Also due Friday is the Music Maker project - looking forward to seeing (and hearing) all of instruments.

Upcoming MCAS practice

The third grade math MCAS is Tuesday, May 14, and Thursday, May 16. One skill that students could always benefit from practicing is their times tables. Try quizzing each other in the car, or even make a game of it. You could play the traditional "War" with cards, but the person who multiplies the two cards together first wins both. I will send home some other game ideas for practicing in the homework folder tomorrow.

Poetry Cafe

Wow! What a night! I am so thankful for the wonderful families who attended the poetry cafe, brought snacks, equipment, came early/stayed late, and enjoyed a wonderful evening of third grade poetry. This night couldn't have been done without all of you. Our focus this week was getting ready for this evening, so just a reminder, we do have MCAS practice homework - it is a packet focused on geometry. It is due Friday. Thanks again!

Amherst Cinema Permission Slip

A permission slip for the See, Hear, Feel Film Program at Amherst Cinema went home today. The field trip is Thursday, April 25, two weeks from today. I challenged the students to have their permission slips signed tonight in order to receive the extra recess they have been requesting. Please sign and return tomorrow. Thank you!

Catch Up

Ahhh, my poor neglected blog, I am so sorry! I am vowing to blog daily to update you with class activities and assignments. This week, we are focusing on finishing up our Color Poems Poetry Booklets, which should be coming home with your child when they are finished. I would love to have them back for the Poetry Cafe night April 30, to display for guests. In addition to the color poems, students are compiling the poems they want to publish in the classroom poetry book and choosing which ones they would like to read at Poetry Cafe.

We are also working very hard on fractions and MCAS review in math workshop.

We are discussing themes and historical time periods in our Historical Fiction Unit in Reading Workshop. We just finished reading "Bud, Not Buddy," and we are now reading "Number the Stars."

Community Meeting is this week, and next week is Spring Vacation!

Snow? Really?

Wow, sometimes I still forget I am back in New England, and we can get snow in almost-Spring. What a day! And it would have been the first day of MCAS. MCAS will now be this Thursday, and next Monday, the 25th.

Homework for MCAS week

The only homework coming home this week is word sorts for Words Their Way - our schedule is on track. Thank you!

MCAS Week

Well, the time is upon us - MCAS week! Testing for Reading Comprehension will be Tuesday and Thursday. My suggestions are to have your child have a nice breakfast with lots of protein, and get plenty of rest the night before. Our students have had lots of practice with sample tests and I think they all feel confident going into the test. It is normal to be nervous, but I just ask each student to do his or her best. Good luck!

Homework adjustment

Due to the day off today, I am sending home a homework page in your child's math folder with the assignments for this week. Hope you all had a nice, safe long weekend!

Homework, Week of February 11

Hi folks, here is the math homework for the week of February 11. In addition to these math pages, I will be sending home a weekly MCAS Reading practice test and a writing prompt for students to respond to their reading at home. My expectation for the reading response is half of a page. It is due Friday.
Monday: Page 18
Tuesday: Page 21
Wednesday: Page 24
Thursday: Valentine's Day Math

Happy Snow Day!

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, fun long weekend. Enjoy the snow!

Homework, 1/30/13

We are starting our unit on multiplication and division and thinking about things that come in equal groups - such as 4 legs on a dog, 12 eggs in a dozen. Homework tonight is page 2. Students will think about things that coime in groups of 2 to 12. 7 and 11 are challenging!

Dance Showcase

Wednesday, January 30, at 1:15, our third grade (along with the fourth and fifth grade) will present all the work they have put into interpreting the Dreams Poem series by poet Langston Hughes. We hope you can make it - the presentation will be in the cafeteria.

Homework, Jan. 28

Homework tonight is page 48 in your math folder - finding quadrilaterals at home - good luck!

Leopard Landscape Design

Today, each student was the head of Leopard Landscape Design and practiced area and perimeter by designing gardens and fences for a pretend client. This discussion will also lead to multiplication facts, factors and arrays!

Sedimentary Rocks

Today, we made our very own sedimentary rocks! We gathered rocks, dirt, sticks, leaves and other sediments from outside, placed them in a mason jar, added epsom salt and water, shook it all together, and waited ... and waited, which is of course, what happens in nature. Students will take their rock home tomorrow after it has hardened completely.

Homework, 1/8/13

Tonight's homework is page 29 and 30 in the math folder. Also, students should have their new words packet for the week.

Words Their Way

The words for this week will be coming home tomorrow, Tuesday. Thanks!

Welcome Back - Homework, 1/7/13

Hello families! Well, I know what my New Year's resolution will be this year - blog more!! I am so sorry I have neglected this blog - my goal is to make it more exciting and student-centered. Homework tonight is page 31 and 32 in the math folder. We are continuing our studies of perimeter and area. We will attempt to finish this unit by next Friday, January 18, then begin our next unit on multiplication and division!