Week of 2/1/16 - 2/5/16

We had our Science "Matter Matters" in-school field trip. It was fun! We learned all about the physical and chemical changes of matter with tons on hands-on experiments.

Looking ahead to our Valentine's Day class party on 2/11/16...If your child would like to bring in Valentines to give their classmates, we have 18 total students in our class (9 girls and 9 boys). Have your child sign their name on each one, but don't write it "TO:" anyone. We will have festive bags on each student's desk and your child can drop a valentine into each bag.

Student of the Week: Jack is our "Star Student" this week. He will be sharing a poster about himself and his favorite things. We can't wait for him to share! : ) When your child is "Star Student", they will bring home a poster to complete. They can also pick a day to bring in a show-and-tell. We pick a student's name every Thursday.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Michael took IVAN home this past week and spent some time with him. He will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class. IVAN is from the book The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. We will be reading this book during the 3rd trimester of school.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  Spelling Test #8 and homework is due/on Monday 2/1/16. New spelling words and homework menu (6 activities) will be coming home on Tuesday 2/2/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re continuing our Culture and Traditions Unit. We're reading The Year of the Dog and Throw Your Tooth on the Roof.

Our next book genre is Mysteries. Students are currently selecting "good fit" mystery books. Instead of the independent reading contract, they will be completing a book report in class.

Read to Succeed record sheets for a free Six Flags Great America ticket are due on Monday, February 1st. Participation is optional.

Keep reading for 20 minutes a night! The January Reading Log will be due on Tuesday, February 2nd. Completed reading logs are worth 10 points!

Social Science:  The open-book quiz on Chapter 11, Lesson 2 "What Are States of Matter" is Monday 2/1/16. Then we begin the last lesson in Chapter 11, "How does Matter Change?"

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   We're working on Unit 5 "Multiplication, Division, and Area". This week we'll focus on multiplication and division story problems.
The Unit 5 Summary sheet was sent home. We hope this resources will better communicate the concepts. We will send these Unit overviews home with your child when we begin new math units.




IMPORTANT DATES:

2/1 - PBIS No-Sew Fleece Blanket Event (6:30pm-8:00pm PV Multi-Purpose Room)

2/3 - Early Dismissal (Prairieview at 11:35am)
2/11 - District Spelling Bee
2/11 - Valentine's Classroom Parties, we have 18 students (1:40pm-2:25pm)
2/12 & 2/15 - No School (conferences & President's Day)

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 1/25/16 - 1/29/16

The 3rd Grade Spelling Bee will be Wednesday, January 27th, 2016. Alexa and Nedas will be representing our class! Each were given lists of words to look over, however these words are for practice only. These words may or may not be part of the Spelling Bee.

Student of the Week: Daniela is our "Star Student" this week. She will be sharing a poster about herself and her favorite things. We can't wait for her to share! : ) When your child is "Star Student", they will bring home a poster to complete. They can also pick a day to bring in a show-and-tell. We pick a student's name every Thursday.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Michael will be taking IVAN home this coming week and spend some time with him. He will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class. IVAN is from the book The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. We will be reading this book during the 3rd trimester of school.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  Keep practicing your words at night. I'm pushing back the Spelling due date to Monday since we have our "Matter Matters" in-school field trip Friday afternoon. The 6 homework activities "menu" and Spelling Test #8 will be due/on Monday, 2/1/16.

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re continuing our Culture and Traditions Unit. We're finishing up with The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco.  

Our next book genre is Mysteries. Students are currently selecting "good fit" mystery books. Instead of the independent reading contract, they will be completing a book report in class. I will be explaining this project to them this week.

Read to Succeed record sheets for a free Six Flags Great America ticket are due on or before February 1st. Participation is optional.

Keep reading for 20 minutes a night! The January Reading Log will be due on Tuesday, February 2nd. Completed reading logs are worth 10 points!

Social Science:  We are starting Chapter 11, Lesson 2 "What Are States of Matter". The students are already familiar with the vocabulary words: solid, liquid, gas, evaporation, and condensation (from our Water Cycle lesson) so we may be able to finish this lesson in a week. : )

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   We’re finishing up Unit 4. The Unit 4 Test will be Tuesday, 1/26/16. We will review as a class on Monday. We'll then begin Unit 5 "Multiplication, Division, and Area".
Watch for a Unit 5 Summary explaining the topics of Unit 5 in more detail. We hope this resources will better communicate the concepts. We will send these Unit overviews home with your child when we begin new math units.




IMPORTANT DATES:

1/29 - "Matter Matters" in-house Field Trip for Lopez, Pellin & Zurales
2/1 - PBIS No-Sew Fleece Blanket Event (6:30pm-8:00pm PV Multi-Purpose Room)

2/3 - Early Dismissal (Prairieview at 11:35am)
2/11 - District Spelling Bee
2/11 - Valentine's Classroom Parties, we have 18 students (1:40pm-2:25pm)
2/12 & 2/15 - No School (conferences & President's Day)

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 1/18/16 - 1/22/16

We are finished with our Winter MAP Testing! We will take one more round in the spring.

The District Spelling Bee will be coming up February 11, 2016 for Grades 3-8. We will be practicing the Spelling Bee process in our classrooms this week and hold our "Class Bee" to determine a winner & runner up to compete in the 3rd Grade level. There is no studying for this entry level. More information for the District Bee coming soon.

Student of the Week: Brennan is our "Star Student" this week. He will be sharing a poster about himself and his favorite things. We can't wait for him to share! : ) When your child is "Star Student", they will bring home a poster to complete. They can also pick a day to bring in a show-and-tell. We pick a student's name every Thursday.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Nedas got to take IVAN home and spend some time with him. He will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class. IVAN is from the book The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. We will be reading this book during the 3rd trimester of school.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  Students are receiving new lists this week. I'm so proud of our class because, based on the latest progress check, our students have improved their spelling skills. Therefore, you may see slightly more challenging word lists come home. Test #8 and the 6 homework activities "menu" will be due on Friday, 1/29/16. 

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re continuing our Culture and Traditions Unit. We're finishing up with The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco.  We will introduce another story by Polacco, When Lightening Comes in a Jar.

Our next book genre is Mysteries. Students are currently selecting "good fit" mystery books. Instead of the independent reading contract, they will be completing a book report in class. I will be explaining this project to them this week.

Read to Succeed record sheets for a free Six Flags Great America ticket are due on or before February 1st. Participation is optional.

Keep reading for 20 minutes a night! The January Reading Log will be due on Tuesday, February 2nd. Completed reading logs are worth 10 points!

Social Science:  We are continuing Chapter 11 in our Science textbooks learning about Properties of Matter. We will review Lesson 1 this week and take the Lesson 1 open-book quiz on Thursday 1/21/16.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   We’re continuing Unit 4, focusing this week on fractions.  At this point, it looks like our Unit 4 Test will be Tuesday, 1/26/16.
We sent home a Unit 4 Summary explaining the topics of Unit 4 in more detail. We hope this resources will better communicate the concepts. We will send these Unit overviews home with your child when we begin new math units.


IMPORTANT DATES:

1/18 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday (No School)
1/22 - "Matter Matters" in-house Field Trip $7.50 due
1/29 - "Matter Matters" in-house Field Trip for Lopez, Pellin & Zurales

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez

Week of 1/11/16 - 1/15/16

Happy New Year!  I hope you all enjoyed the 2-week Winter Break! Please make sure your child is coming to school with warm clothing for recess.  They may bring snow pants and snow boots for outside play.  I've also noticed that the children's school supplies are starting to dwindle. Please ask your child what he/she needs to replenish as we start a new year together. Thank you!

MAP testing is next week; Tuesday is reading and Wednesday is math. Please make sure your child gets a good breakfast and brings a healthy snack to school. Also, a good night’s sleep is a must!!

Student of the Week: Sam is our "Star Student" this week. He will be sharing a poster about himself and his favorite things. We can't wait for him to share! : ) When your child is "Star Student", they will bring home a poster to complete. They can also pick a day to bring in a show-and-tell. We pick a student's name every Thursday.

"IVAN the Gorilla" Student: Alana got to take IVAN home and spend some time with him. She will write in IVAN's journal how they spent the week together, add a photo or drawing, and share their experiences with the class. IVAN is from the book The One and Only Ivan. It is the true story of a silverback gorilla (told from his point-of-view) who lived most of his life in captivity. We will be reading this book during the 3rd trimester of school.

COMING UP:

Spelling:  Spelling Test #7 and the 6 homework activities "menu" will be due on Friday, 1/15/16. 

Reading & Language Arts:  We’re continuing our Culture and Traditions Unit. We're finishing up with The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco.  A vocabulary quiz (words from the story) will take place on Thursday.  The students are making vocabulary study slides on Google Classroom: Homeroom (using their Chromebooks.)  

The Independent Reading Contract #4/Non-Fiction is due Monday 1/11/16. Almost all of the students have already turned it in. Also bring back the borrowed non-fiction book on that day. Our next book genre will be Mysteries, but we're taking a little break before starting it.

Keep reading for 20 minutes a night! The January Reading Log will be due on Tuesday, February 2nd. Completed reading logs are worth 10 points!

Social Science:  We are reading Chapter 11 in our Science textbooks learning about Properties of Matter. Project instructions where sent home for the Physical Properties of Matter Poster that we will be making in class. Students need to search for small objects (pieces of matter) around their home that they could glue or tape to a poster showing the 5 Senses (see, hear, smell, taste, and touch). These 5 matter objects should fit in a ziplock bag and students should have them at school by Tuesday, 1/12/16. We will provide the poster paper for them in class & will make the posters on Tuesday. The objects will be returned home after the project is finished.

Mrs. Lopez & Mrs. Forsman's Math Class:   We’re continuing Unit 4, focusing this week on multi-step problems, unit fractions, and comparing and ordering fractions.  There will be a measurement checkpoint on Tuesday, 1/12/16.


IMPORTANT DATES:

1/11 - Independent Reading Contract #4/Non-Fiction DUE

1/12 - Reading MAP test

1/13 - Math MAP test

1/15 - Early Dismissal (11:35am Prairieview)

1/18 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday (No School)

Have a great weekend!
- Mrs. Lopez