At Home Reading

We are a week in to our fall at home reading program, and so far have had great participation from the students. Most of them earned the free recess for the first week's reward. Slips returned on Monday will earn the students some delicious and nutritious snack mix. Remember, as the letter sent home stated, students must return at least 3 out of the 4 reading slips to get to attend the trip to Jefferson County Park on October 24. Reading more is the best way to become a better reader. Please encourage your child to read at least 20 minutes every day. It's a great way to spend some time together. Read with your child, or just read your own book while they read their own book. It's wonderful for them to see you enjoying a good book. The goal is to teach them the joy of getting lost in a story and to become life long readers!

Go Trojans!

Look at the school pride displayed by 3rd grade students! Go Trojans!

Playground Multiplication

Wednesday, September 28 was such a beautiful day we decided to take math outside! Working cooperatively with students from Miss Smith's 3rd grade classroom, we completed a "Playground Multiplication" activity. Students had to determine the number of bases on the kickball fields and the number of chains on the swing sets by creating and solving multiplication number models. It was a fun way to get them moving and learning at the same time!

Be Proactive!

Congratulations to Kevin Kretz! He was selected as the Be Proactive award recipient in our classroom. A proactive student takes charge of his/her own actions and attitude. He/she chooses to work hard, be kind to others, and has a positive attitude about school. Kevin is a great example of being proactive!

Shopping Trip

Today in Math we went on a shopping trip. Students worked with a partner. One was the customer, and the other was the shopkeeper. The customer chose items from a store ad to “purchase”. They had to estimate the number of dollar bills needed to purchase all of the items and pay the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper then calculated the exact amount of the items and made change for the customer. Each student got to play each role.

Please work on this skill with your child. When you are at the store, encourage them to estimate the cost of your purchase. Talk to them about how much change the cashier should give you. You can also “play store” at home and have your child count back change for you. This is a rather difficult concept for 3rd graders, so the more practice the better!

Coniferous or Deciduous?

Today we took our science lesson outside! After reading about the difference between coniferous and deciduous plants, we went outside to find examples of each. The students were fantastic nature detectives and scoured the playground for the right kinds of plants. Upon obtaining their specimen, they returned in doors to define each type of plant and glued the sample to the definition. The papers came home in your child’s backpack today. I hope it led to a good discussion in your home about these two types of plants.

Here’s your challenge: Together with your child, try to find examples of a coniferous and deciduous plant in or near your yard. Have your child bring them to school to earn a bonus coupon. Happy hunting!

Parts of a Plant

On Tuesday, September 6 we explored the parts of a plant. The students "dissected" soybean plants. We described and illustrated the stem, roots, leaves, and seeds. The students were surprised by how fuzzy the stems were and how many seeds were on each plant. This was a great way to reinforce information we had read about in our Science textbook. A big thank you goes out to Mr. Hoskins for donating the soybean plants to our class!