Week of 10/3

Odds and Ends:

*Magazine Drive: A BIG thank you to everyone who participated in our fundraiser. Our class was the 3rd top selling classroom! WOW!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 10/3: Spelling:List 6 Pretest

*Wed. 10/5: English: DOL #2 Quiz
Math: Ch. 4 Test

*Fri. 10/7: Spelling: List 6 Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading:We will focus on the reading strategy inferencing. The students will use basal reading stories, supplemental short stories, and possibly novels to extend their practice of understanding what they read. Students will learn new vocabulary words from stories they are reading. We will also continue to work on an extended response where we use ideas from the text combined with our own ideas to answer a question.

*English: We will finish our ME essays and share our bags and paper next week. We will begin a new writing unit on descriptive writing.

*Spelling: We will work on list 6. Pretest on Monday and homework and final test on Friday. Keep up the outstanding work!

*Social Studies: We will continue our map skills unit with hemispheres.

*Science: The students worked in cooperative groups to create amazing ecosystem dioramas! We will continue our study of ecosystems this week.

*Math: We are finishing up subtraction in ch. 4. The test is scheduled for Wed. 10/5. Next up: Chapter 1: place value! We will continue to practice our subtraction timed tests next week.

Have a fabulous FALL weekend!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 9/26-9/30

Odds and Ends:

*Johnny Appleseed's Birthday: We will celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday on Monday, Sept. 26th. A note was sent home with your child about bringing a PEELED, CORED, and SLICED apple to class in a baggie or container on Monday. We will use it to make homemade applesauce. Thank you to the following families for donating our supplies for Monday's celebration:The Nichols family for spoons, the Messina family for bowls, and the Cigrand family for juice! Thanks!

*Magazine Drive: Turn in dates for this week: Tues. 9/27 and Thurs. 9/30.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 9/26: Johnny Appleseed's Birthday: Send in a peeled, cored, and sliced apple to school!

Spelling: List 5 pretest

*Fri. Spelling: List 5 test

September Reading 30 minutes calendar due: 20 days signed for full credit! You can also turn this in on Monday, 10/3.

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading:Next week we will continue to highlight summarizing and sequencing using materials differentiated for our classroom's various reading levels, and will be extending our knowledge through written responses. We will also assess our third graders on their ability to sequence events from text.

*English: We will work on learning about the 6 traits of writing. We will begin our 5 paragraph essay this week and present the finished product by the end of the week. Your child should be completing the ME bag at home by bringing in 3 items that represent their life and personality to school in their brown paper bag (we started decorating the bags in class on Friday). These items are due on Monday.

*Spelling: This week we will focus on list 5. Pretest will be Monday. Homework and test will be on Friday.

*Social Studies: We will focus on hemispheres, the equator, prime meridian, and poles this week.

*Science: We will continue to work on ch. 4 ecosystems this week.

*Math: We will work on ch. 4 subtraction this week. We will also begin subtraction timed tests. They will be handled in the same way as we did addition. We will spend several days practicing the tests before they are counted as a grade.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 9/19-9/23

Odds and Ends:

*Magazine Drive: Your child received a magazine drive packet this week. If you want to participate in this school fundraiser, the turn in dates are Tues. 9/20, Tues. 9/27, and Thurs. 9/29.

*PE - Soccer test "next" Thursday (study guides will go home Monday)

Intramural Games Permission slips will be sent home on Monday. They are due back by Friday. More information can be found on the PE website.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 9/19: Spelling: List 4 Pretest

*Tues. 9/20: Math: Ch 3 Test

*Thurs. 9/22: Social Studies: Continents and Oceans Quiz

English: DOL #1 Graded Review

*Fri. 9/23: Spelling: List 4 Test

Scholastic Book Orders due: order online or send in check and order to the classroom

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading:Now we will start to put the reading strategies we have learned to great use while reading various types of literature. We will always be reviewing/using all of the strategies, but for the coming weeks we will highly focus on the strategies of sequencing and summarizing. The students will use basal reading stories, supplemental short stories, and possibly novels to extend their practice of understanding what they read. As a third grade we are really highlighting oral and written responses to what was read and will integrate this throughout. We will also work on an extended response where we use ideas from the text combined with our own ideas to answer a question.

*English: We will work on 6 +1 traits of writing this week as we apply it to our own writing. We will work on 5 paragraph essays soon. We have also begun DOL (Daily Oral Language). We practice "editing" incorrect sentences as we learn about convention rules. A study guide will be sent home on Monday for the quiz on Thurs.

*Spelling: We will work on list 4 words this week. There will be a pretest on Monday. The final test will be on Friday and homework will be due on Friday.

*Social Studies: We will continue to work on continents and oceans. The students did research in the computer lab on a specific continent and will be sharing their facts with the group this week. The graded review on the location and spelling of the continents and oceans will be on Thurs. 9/22. We will study hemispheres next.

*Science: We will begin ch 4: ecosystems later this week.

*Math: We will be finishing up ch. 3 this week. We will work on addition word problems and review concepts. The ch. 3 test will be Tuesday. We will continue to practice addition timed tests this week. They will begin to count for a grade on Friday 9/23.

Have a beautiful fall weekend together with your family!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of 9/12

Odds and Ends:

*Science textbook now available online: Our class is signed up and ready to go. Please go to www.thinkcentral.com. Click on science and health. Then click HSP science. Choose Illinois and Center Cass District 66 and Prairieview School. The user name is your student's code when using parent connect. I will email you the password to use. Please let me know if you need any additional help viewing our textbook online!

*Thank you to all of the families who have donated items for our classroom! It is much appreciated!

*Scholastic Book Order: September book orders were sent home this week. The order is due online or to the classroom (please send CHECK only if not ordering online..NO CASH) by Friday, 9/23. Our class earns free books when you order safely online. Thank you!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 9/12: Magazine Drive Kick off: Look for information packets coming home Monday.

Spelling: List 3 Pretest

*Thurs. 9/15: English: Ch. 1: The Sentence Test

Band Concert

*Fri. 9/16: Spelling: List 3 Test

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: Next week we will continue to teach the students how to utilize the essential reading strategies. In our classes we will demonstrate how the application of these strategies will maximize student comprehension of a range of literary materials.

*English: We will focus on subject and predicate this week, as well as run-on sentences. The final ch. 1 test will be Thurs. 9/15. A study guide was sent home today. Your child can bring home his/her textbook any night before the test to study, as long as they bring the book back each school day.

*Spelling: This week we will work on list 3: more short vowel words. There will be a pretest on Monday and a final test on Friday. Each group will be given 3 homework assignments that will be due on Friday.

*Social Studies: We have finished up our lessons on directions and the compass rose. Ask your child about the fun scavenger hunt we had around school this week. We will begin our study on continents and oceans this week.

*Science: Coming soon!

*Math: We will continue to work on addition, focusing on adding greater numbers and regrouping. We will also continue to work on our addition facts. Keep practicing them at home! The ch. 3 test is tentatively scheduled for Mon. 9/19.

Have a wonderful fall weekend!

Mrs. Olsen

Week of Sept. 6-9

Odds and Ends

*Curriculum Night: It was so great to see so many of you at Thursday night's Curriculum Night. Thank you for sharing your night with us as we went over 3rd grade with you. If were unable to come, I will send any notes home with your child today. I will also sign you up for a conference time and notify you of that date as is gets closer. If it does not work for you, we can reschedule. Thank you!

*Donations: If you took a hand off of our "Give us a Hand" board at open house or curriculum night, thank you for your donations. You can send in your chosen item at any time. Thank you for "Giving Us A HAND!"

UPCOMING EVENTS:

*Mon. 9/5: No School: Labor Day

*Tues. 9/6: Spelling: Pretest List 2

* Thurs. 9/8: MAPS testing: Reading

*Fri. 9/9: Spelling: List 2 Test

Social Studies: Directions Quiz

A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK:

*Reading: The third grade starts off our reading curriculum by teaching the students to use various reading strategies. We model the use of these strategies while reading high interest picture books to the class. We then will spend the year extending the use of these strategies while reading a variety of literary materials to aid in comprehension. This coming week, we will learn about predicting, inferring, and visualizing.

*English: We will focus on ch 1: The sentence. We will work on subjects and predicates. We will also begin DOL (Daily Oral Language) as we focus on conventions and fixing incorrect sentences.

*Spelling: We will work on list 2: short vowel words. There will be a pretest on Tuesday and the test will be on Friday. Due to the shortened week, your child will have 2 homework assignments due Friday.

*Social Studies: We will continue to work on map skills as we focus on cardinal and intermediate directions and the compass rose. We will have a short quiz on these skills on Friday 9/9. Look for a study guide coming home on Tuesday.

*Science: We will begin our science unit on ecosystems soon!

*Math: We will work on ch 3 Addition. We will begin practicing our addition timed tests (mad minutes). I wanted to make a correction to something I shared with you at curriculum night. For each trimester, homework will be worth 5 points TOTAL (rather than 1o points). After the three "free" late assignments, a late slip will be given for each late assignment, resulting in 1 point deducted per assignment. If your child never has any late slips, they will keep the 5 points. Thank you!

Enjoy the long weekend with your summer as we say good bye to summer and hello to fall!

Mrs. Olsen