Welcome back! I hope you all

had a very relaxing and enjoyable spring break. The class definitely earned it!

March was a very busy month for the third graders. They put forth a lot of effort in studying for and taking the ISATs, and I am very proud of all their hard work. We had a great time celebrating our achievements and the culmination of the state testing during our ISAT party.

Thank you to everyone who brought in movies, activities, games, and electronics to share with the class. The students certainly had fun!

Classroom News from 3-1

During the last few weeks of March before spring break, we took a brief break from our Treasures reading program. We focused on delving deeper into a single piece of literature, using all of the reading strategies we

In this issue: Reading 1 Cursive 2 Writing 2 Grammar 2 Math 3 Science 3 Student Challenge 4

Reminders 4 Dates/Events 4

Crandall Chronicle

April 2013

Reading What We’re Studying

I enjoyed meeting with all of you during Parent/Teacher conferences before spring break. It was nice sharing all of the successes and progress the children have been making throughout the school year.

An exciting opportunity will soon be coming to our class. The school has a grade level set of iPads that are being shared throughout the grades. It is our turn to incorporate them into our daily instruction over a three-week period. Ask your child to share with you the engaging ways we are using them!

have been learning throughout the school year.

We will continue to use a variety of comprehension strategies along with some wonderful digital tools as we begin reading some iBook novels in guided reading.

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As we approach the end of the school year, students will be completing a greater number of assignments in cursive. I will also be using only cursive in the classroom to help ensure that students are able to read things that have been written in cursive.

Please encourage your child to use cursive regularly at home. Ask him or her to help you write out a grocery list, address an envelope, or even jot down a note for another family member. This additional practice will help the children to improve their cursive writing skills.

The students are continuing to work on their writing using the Writers’ Express program (WEX). They recently finished the second unit, which focused on writing responses to literature. Please look for a copy of their final published piece and a rubric explaining how it was graded. They did a very nice job combining their own ideas with details from the novel, My Name is Maria Isabel, by Alma Flor Ada.

This week we began the third unit, which teaches students how to write well-developed realistic fiction stories. The students began by selecting a photograph on which to base their first character. They used their observations of the children in the photographs to develop an understanding, based on inferences, of that character’s personality traits and the setting. I look forward to helping them create adventures for these new characters to experience!

Writing

Grammar In grammar, we are currently learning about pronouns and their correct usage. Through the use of the iPad app “DoodleBuddies,” the students will be able to remain engaged during the lessons and actively participate by writing answers on the iPad and

revealing them to their classmates and teacher. After practicing to identify and correctly use pronouns in a variety of sentences, students will learn about other types of nouns and parts of speech.

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During March, we concluded Unit 6 and spent a couple of weeks preparing for the math portion of the ISAT. Students were required not only to correctly solve a math problem, but they then had to describe the steps they took toward solving the problem and also explain why they did each step.

This was challenging for the students, but they worked hard and showed tremendous progress each time that we did the exercise. I am extremely pleased with all their efforts! Our current unit in math focuses on multiplication and division. In prior

units, the class was introduced to several of the basic multiplication facts, and this unit introduced the remaining facts along with some more complex concepts.

Please continue to have your child practice not only his or her math facts that correlate with the weekly timed fact tests, but practice all of the multiplication facts as well. I am very pleased with how the students are improving their timed fact test scores and are progressing through the math facts. Way to go!

Math

Science The students have really been enjoying our new science unit. We began studying habitats this week with an emphasis on organisms and their basic survival needs. The students learned about the different organisms that live in and around an oak tree and how they have an impact on one another. Each student created an organism to add to our oak tree bulletin board and we had a rich discussion about how each of them either provide a survival need or receive a survival need from another organism.

Perhaps the most excitement in our class came from our three new class pets. Our hermit crabs arrived to help teach about habitats, organisms, and survival needs. The students have been so eager to observe their every move. We voted on names for our new critters and the winning names are Sandy, Little Claw, and Mr. Fill. The students will take turns caring for the crabs and making sure that their survival needs are being met accurately. Visit our class blog to see photographs of our hermit crabs and updates on their activities.

Student Challenge Research the plants and animals that live in one habitat. Create a food web that involves a total of at least 20 plants and animals. (20 total, not each)

Use pictures cut out of magazines, printed from the computer, or your own drawings.

Label each picture (tell me what type of plant or animal it is) and don’t forget to draw the arrows showing where the energy is going!

Remember to use only plants and animals from a single habitat. Turn your food web in any day in April.

Some habitats you might choose from = desert, ocean, grasslands, rain forest, tundra, forest, marsh, lake, etc.

* I am sending home the last Scholastic book order for the year. Please return any order forms to school by Friday, April 12th or online by Saturday, April 13th.

* The students’ assignment notebooks are communication tools that help keep the students organized and the parents informed of homework assignments and upcoming tests or projects. Please check your child’s assignment notebook each night. This is a great way to stay involved and informed.

* Don’t forget to return your child’s report card envelope. Thanks!

MONTHLY REMINDERS

IMPORTANT DATES & UPCOMING EVENTS April 8 – Bus Evacuation

April 8 – Robert Crown Presentation

April 11 – Dryden Roller Skating Party (Orbit)

April 13 – Just Move it Challenge

April 16 – Robert Crown Presentation

April 22 – Earth Day

April 23 – Robert Crown Presentation

April 23 – MAP Testing Begins

April 29 – Arbor Day / Walk to School Day

April 30 – Robert Crown Presentation

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