Hello everyone!

This is going to a be a busy week. We have next week off of school for the break. Towards the end of the week, students will be getting some reading and math homework assignments to complete online over the break. It will consist of 5 Read-Theory stories with correct answers only, and they already know they need to be at or above 50% on Khan Academy 3rd grade by the end of the week. They have been working on this for months and this has always been the date it was due, they are aware. The students that are already over 50% should practice on Khan Academy for 1.5 hours total.

STEM club starts on Wednesday this week. It will be limited to the first 20 students to register and it will be fun. I hope to see some of the students there. Those sheets came home on Friday with the boys.

This week:

Spelling: /are/ words: fare, spare, aware, hare, mare with content words perimeter, area, line, line segment, angle

Math: We are starting our unit on geometry. A large part of this unit is learning vocabulary for more in-depth geometry units in the future. They also are going to be working on multiplication and division two-step story problems. Keep practicing those multiplication facts at home.

Science: In PLTW, the boys are building their gilders this week. We are using them to study balanced and unbalanced forces. They are also being used to learn about drag, thrust, lift and weight.

In other science: We are starting our life science unit. The boys will be digging into the world of plants and animals to learn how they survive in different places.

Writing: We are increasing our writing stamina and we will be doubling our content in a realistic fiction piece. We are continuing to make sure that the boys are hand-writing appropriately, using basic conventions and capital letters. These skills must be mastered before consideration for 4th can be made. We will be moving on from these very soon so please check your students writing for capital letters, correct ending marks and generally correct grammar in their sentences.

Social Studies: This week is our social studies district assessment. The boys will be bringing home their study guides tomorrow and will be taking the test on Thursday. There will be a constructed response that needs to be written using all of their best writing skills. A study guide for that will come home as well.

Valentine’s Day-Students do not need to bring in a decorated box unless they would like. They will be getting brown paper bags to decorate. We will be doing a STEM activity and watching a movie to celebrate. If you wish to send in snacks or drinks for the boys, please send in enough for 18 students. They may also bring in any candy or cards to hand out to each other if you wish.

Thanks and have a great week!