February 10, 2017

February 10, 2017

Dear Families,

We survived the cold, blustery weather this week!  The students had indoor recess twice this week due to the wind chill.  Hopefully, it will warm up next week so we can get outside.  

The students began practicing for our rainforest performance in music class this week.  As part of our performance, the children will make “binoculars” to wear.  We will be making them from empty toilet tissue rolls, so if you have any that you can send to school, we’d love to take them off your hands.

In addition, the Student Council is collecting goods for the Hinesburg Food Shelf.  Families can donate non-perishable food items along with dish soap, body wash, feminine products and toothpaste.  If you would like to donate, we will have boxes outside of our classrooms to collect items until February 24th.  

Math: In math, we finished unit 3, which involved addition and subtraction strategies for multi-digit numbers.  The students have been practicing the standard algorithm for both addition and subtraction, which is likely the method you learned in school.  We first built the conceptual knowledge, examining why this method works, prior to learning the technique.  We have begun unit 4, which explores measurement.  Our unit begins with a review of telling time, so that skill is a great one to practice at home.  We are also exploring fractions in Number Corner as well.

Literacy:  We are continuing to explore nonfiction text as a means of gathering information.  We’ve linked our literacy instruction to our rainforest unit, so we read various books about the rainforest.  We even discovered how monkeys are involved in the process of making chocolate!  We discussed why the rainforest is important to us in our daily lives.  Feel free to ask your child why the rainforest is sometimes referred to as the “lungs of the earth.”  We’ve also continued writing our rainforest animal reports, which have really begun to take shape.  The children are very enthusiastic, and they have loved sharing their facts with each other.

Science:  Continuing with our rainforest theme, we’ve been examining interdependence among species in an ecosystem.  The children created webs linking together different plants and animals, and we explored how the elimination of one species impacts other plants and animals.  The students continued to work on a habitat map, which displays where their animal lives in the world.  This activity helps us to link science and geography together.

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay warm!

The Third Grade Teachers

February 3, 2017

February 3, 2017

Dear Families,

We had a wonderful week!  A few notices went home with your child, including information regarding the PiE Basket Fundraiser.  The third grade will be working as a team to create our basket(s), all fitting the theme of “movie night.”  Please feel free to contribute any items that fit the theme by Friday, February 24th.  We’re excited to see what we can put together.

If requested, we also sent home order forms for the yearbook.  Orders can also be placed online using the link on the HCS homepage.  If you would like an order form, please let us know so we can send it home with your child.

Finally, we sent home a letter explaining an optional project related to our rainforest project that the students can do at home.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you,

The Third Grade Teachers

January 20, 2017

January 20, 2017

Dear Families,

This week, we have started our rainforest unit of study!  Your child has selected a rainforest animal to research. They will be gathering information to write a report, creating a map to show where their animal lives, and making a paper stuffed animal.  The unit will culminate with an open house and musical performance. We are trying to solidify a date for our rainforest open house, which will likely take place on the week we return from February break.  Once the date is set, we will send out the date and time.  

Literacy

The students have been continuing to practice reading nonfiction texts to gather information.  The students have each selected a rainforest animal to study, and we’ve been discussing how to use reference materials and the internet to research their animals.  The children have been putting those research skills to use by taking notes and transferring those notes into a report-style document.  

Math

This week, the students took their mid-year district math assessment, called the CRAM.  The students worked hard, and we are proud of their perseverance.  

Science

In science, we have begun our ecology unit, which has a focus on the rainforest habitat.  We broadly discussed a variety of habitats around the world.  We’ve also started discussing food chains and food webs, demonstrating how energy flows from producers to consumers, ending in decomposers and beginning the cycle again.  

Have a wonderful weekend,

The Third Grade Teachers

January 13, 2017

Dear Families,

We’ve had a busy week wrapping up our social science unit and moving into our new ecology unit.  Our ecology unit will become our theme for our reading, writing, and science lessons.  We will be sending more information home next week about the projects we will be completing in school and optional projects your child may choose to do at home.  

Reading:  In reading, the students have been learning about how to read nonfiction text.  We explored some of the features of nonfiction text, such as headings and photographs, and discussed how they aid in our understanding of the topic.  We practiced these strategies by reading biographies about Martin Luther King.

Writing:  Students had the opportunity to practice writing a basic paragraph this week.  All students were expected to begin with a topic sentence, include 3 detail sentences, and add a closing sentence.  We will use this structure to help us write pages (paragraphs)  for our informational books about rainforest animals over the next several weeks.  

Math: In math, we practiced strategies for subtracting larger numbers, including two- and three-digit numbers.  These strategies include number line strategies such as the “take-away” method and the “difference” method.  We’re also practicing with time telling, including using a number line to determine elapsed time.  If you are looking for a skill to practice with your child, telling time using an analog clock is a great choice.

Science / Social Science:  We wrapped up our mini-unit on Explorers this week, and we’ve  moved onto to our Ecology unit.  Our first lesson was about habitats.  Each student had the opportunity to create their own personal habitat explaining how their survival needs are met. Next week we will learn about food chains/webs.     

Enjoy the weekend,

The Third Grade Team

December 16, 2016

Dear Families,

Brrr!  This was definitely our chilliest week this year.  We are glad to see students coming prepared for the cold. Students will go out to recess everyday unless the temperature drops below zero.  

Reading  This week we focused on summarizing.  Students often like to retell the whole story so we’ve worked on just telling the important parts.  We use a graphic organizer called, “Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then.”  Students use this to explain what the character wanted, what the problem was, and how it was resolved.  

Writing

The students are working on writing complete paragraphs with a topic sentence, supporting details and a conclusion.  These skills are the building blocks for our writing to inform unit.  In this unit, students will be writing informational pieces about a variety science and social science units.  

Math

In math, we are continuing to work with rounding to the nearest ten and hundred.  We’re also learning efficient strategies for adding larger numbers.  Number Corner this month is all about fractions, so students have also been working to identify different fractions as well as equivalent fractions with different denominators.  

Social Science  We’ve begun our discussion of why European explorers explored North America.   Students will gather information about who the explorers were, why they were exploring, and noting what they found.  This week we introduced the Vikings.

On January 19th, PIE will be hosting a learning event called “Proficiency Based Learning - Part 2.”  More details should be listed in an upcoming edition of the Viking, which can be found online at http://hcsvt.org/Page/4487.

Have a great weekend, and stay warm!

December 9, 2016

December 9, 2016

Dear Families,

We had an enjoyable week, albeit chilly!  Here are some of the things we worked on this week:

Reading

We have continued to work on comprehension strategies during reading.  This week, we practiced visualizing, which is creating a picture in your mind based on the author’s words.  We drew pictures and found text to support our thinking.

Writing

Students have been enjoying having time to work on a writing piece of their choice.  While students were free writing teachers had the opportunity to conference with each student on goals for our next unit:  Writing to Inform.  

Math

We kicked off our new unit, which began with rounding.  Students have begun to practice rounding numbers to the nearest ten.  As the unit progresses, students will also learn about rounding to the nearest hundred.  We’ll also begin developing strategies for adding multi-digit numbers in an efficient way.

Also, students had the opportunity to problem solve while learning to code with the Hour of Code.  Students needed to demonstrate spatial recognizing while maneuvering an object with a series of commands.  They can practice at home via the HCS website.

Social Science

This week, we focused on Native Americans who lived in the Plains region.  We discussed the importance of the buffalo in all areas of their lives.  This week, we will be comparing and contrasting the Eastern Woodlands region with the Plains region.

Enjoy the weekend and keep warm!

December 2, 2016

Dear Families,
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We look forward to getting back into a routine for a few weeks before the winter break.  Take a peek at what we have been doing.

Math
In math we have finished Unit 2.  Students learned a variety of strategies and models to help them build a conceptual understanding of multiplication.  We will now move into Unit 3 and focus on adding and subtraction strategies for computing with larger numbers.  Use the link below for more information on Unit 3:
http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/sites/default/files/documents/family/PAR-BR3-U3.pdf


Reading
Students have been participating in book groups/clubs.  Each group is reading a book at their instructional level and meeting weekly to discuss the story.  While reading students are using a variety of strategies to help them understand the text.  Some of the comprehension strategies are asking questions,  making connections, inferring, visualizing, determining importance, and monitoring for meaning.

Writing
Students have published their narratives and will be sharing them with their peers, buddies, and of course their families.  We hope you enjoy reading these stories.  Next we'll move onto informational writing.  We'll begin with paragraph writing and then move into writing reports.

Word Study
Word study will resume this week.  Students should have brought a new word list home with them in their folder on Friday.

Social Science
We will be wrapping up our study of Native Americans and how the environment of the region impacted the way of life of the tribes living in that region.  We will begin our mini unit on European Explorers.  Our lessons will focus on helping students discover why Europeans explored North America.