This Week in Third Grade

Welcome back to another week in third grade! I cannot believe that is already April! Time is really flying by! Here's a look at what is going on in third grade this week!

Writing: Thank you so much for those of you who were able to come out to our publishing party on Friday! I have such a strong group of writers this year, and I was so impressed with their outcomes. This week we will be working together to change the world around us in a group.

Reading: This week in reading we will continue to work on determining importance of text. We are really focusing in on specific events and items that effect the overall theme or message of fictional text.

Math: This week in math we are learning about probability! We are focusing on the likelihood of events occurring, and how to predict the outcome of specific events. Hamby Homework Number 7 will be due on Friday, and so will fact log.

Science: This week in science, we will be focusing on measurement. Specifically we will be learning how to measure in standard units.

Other: 
Tuesday is pj day! 

Thursday there will be a blood drive in the cafeteria Thursday afternoon. The class with the most volunteers that donate will win a kickball game with Dr. Hamby!!!

 Election Day is on April 8th

No school on April 18 

April 22 is the first day of MAP testing. 
 

Homework 3/31

Reading: 
Read for 10-15 minutes
Hate that Cat Finish book by tomorrow with 4 TM
Ralph S. Mouse  Read all of Chapter 3 by Wednesday 
Lightening Thief read chapters 10, 11, and 12 with 4 TM 

Writing: 
Write for 5-10 minutes

Math: 
Do your circled problems 
Hamby Homework #7 due Friday 
Fact log due Friday 

Other: 
PJ day on Tuesday for Taylor's star of the week! 

Homework 3/28

Reading: 
Hate that Cat Group meets Monday. Finish book with at least 4 TM 
Percy Jackson group meets Monday. Read Chapter 9  with at least 5 TM
Ralph S. Mouse  read Chapter 2. 


Math: 
Math Fact Log over the weekend. We are back to five days of fact log. 
Hamby Homework 7 due Friday. 


Other: 

PJ Day next Tuesday! 
NO FRIDAY FOLDERS THIS WEEK! 

Publishing Party!

In writing, we have been working hard to create our persuasive speeches. Today we put our speaking skills to the test to really try to get our classmates to agree with our opinions. Students stood up at the front of class and read their speeches, while their Google Slides presentation played in the background! ALL of the speeches turned out fantastic. I am SO proud of all of the effort our class put into them! 

Mission X Ceremony

Today we had the opportunity to be a part of our Mission X closing ceremony.  Students have been working hard in gym, math, and science to learn more about space. We met with four chair holders who work along side Mission X including Astronaut Mike Finke to celebrate all of our hard work.

The Votes Are In...

The votes are in, and we can hardly wait to see who will be our March Madness winner! 

Winners of both divisions are books that were recently published in 2013! Talk about underdogs! Here's a look at winner of the Picture Books Division: 

Paul Meets Bernadette by: Rosy Lamb 

Paul Meets Bernadette is a heart warming love story about a lonely fish whose eyes are opened to the beauty of the world around him when Bernadette is literally dropped in his bowl.

Here's a look at the winner of our Chapter Books Division:

 Flora and Ulysses by:  Kate DiCamillo

 Flora and Ulysses is a fun book that we just finished this afternoon! It is a story about a young girl who finds herself questioning her every preconceived thought she had about herself when she meets a squirrel... a superhero squirrel that is.. Flora and Ulysses just recently won the Newberry Award in December! 

Homework 3/27

Reading: 
Hate that Cat Group meets Friday. Finish book with at least 4 TM 
Percy Jackson group meets Friday. Read to page 126 with at least 5 TM
10-15 minutes! 

Writing: 
Spelling Test Friday
Write for 5-10 minutes
Publishing party tomorrow! 

Math: 
Math Fact Log due tomorrow!


Other: 
SPRING PICTURES ARE TOMORROW!! 

Bring your blue ribbon shirt back to school tomorrow
PJ Day next Tuesday! 

Homework 3/26

Reading: 
Hate that Cat Group meets Friday. Finish book with at least 4 TM 
Percy Jackson group meets Thursday. Read to page 126 with at least 5 TM
10-15 minutes! 

Writing: 
Spelling Test Friday
Write for 5-10 minutes
Publishing party on Friday! 

Math: 
Math Fact Log due Friday!


Other: 
 Spring pictures are on Friday!

WEAR YOUR BLUE RIBBON SHIRT TOMORROW!!! 
PJ Day next Tuesday! 

Homework 3/25

Reading: 
Hate that Cat Group meets Friday. Finish book with at least 4 TM 
Percy Jackson group meets Thursday. Read to page 126 with at least 5 TM


Writing: 
Spelling Test Friday
Write for 5-10 minutes

Math: 
Test tomorrow! 
Math Fact Log due Friday!
Space Shuttle picture due tomorrow!

Other: 
 Spring pictures are on Friday!

PJ Day on Thursday! 

This Week in Third Grade 3/23

Reading: We will continue to look at summarizing this week. We will really start to zoom in on what makes a great summary, and what events should be included when we are summarizing a text.

Writing: We are finishing up our opinion speeches. Students will be expected to have their final copy finished by Wednesday, so we can present our writing to the class on Thursday. Parents are more than welcome to attend our writing celebration on Thursday morning!

Math: We are finishing up our unit on graphing, and we take our test on Wednesday this week. We will begin to look at measurement on Thursday and Friday of this week!

Students will have NO Hamby Homework this week, but they will be expected to fill out their fact log. I am asking them to fill it out for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We will begin Hamby Homework once again next week.

Science: This week we will be finishing up our space unit! Students will take a quiz on the solar system this Thursday. 

Social Studies: We finished up our economics unit last week, and boy did we have a blast!

Other: 
Spring Pictures are on Friday this week! Students can bring in an item that they would like to take a picture with this time.

Report cards will be sent to you electronically sometime early this week.

Tuesday is a D Day and Tuesday we have library.

Homework 3/24

Reading: 
Hate that Cat Meeting tomorrow! Read to page 101 with at least 4 TM
Percy Jackson group meets Thursday. Read to page 126 with at least 5 TM


Writing: 
Spelling Test Friday
Write for 5-10 minutes

Math: 
Test on Wednesday!
Study guide due tomorrow!
Math Fact Log due Friday!
No Hamby Homework this week!
Space Shuttle picture due Wednesday!

Other: 
 Spring pictures are on Friday!

Fourth Quarter in Third Grade 3/23

Wow! I can't believe that Spring Break was already finished! I hope that everyone was able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and relax for a little bit.

Third quarter was a little crazy with all of those snow days and winter weather. I am looking forward to the fresh start of a brand new quarter! Here's a look at what's ahead this quarter:

Math: We will continue to stress the importance of practicing our multiplication facts! Students should continue to fill out their multiplication logs every week. We will be moving forward and looking at measurement soon!
Hamby Homework will continue to be administered each Friday. Students are still expected to have it into me by the following Friday. 

Reading: Students are still going to be asked to read every night! We will start our Reading Response Journals again this week! Last quarter things were a little confusing, so I am going to really stress the importance of filling them out every other week.

Writing: We are finishing up our persuasive writing unit, and we will be moving on to writing fairy tales or poetry in the upcoming future!

Spelling: We will continue to practice our no excuse MAP words and have a spelling test each Friday.

Science and Social Studies: Science and social studies will be incorporated daily during our reading time. We will begin reviewing everything we have learned in third grade during those time periods to prepare us for MAP testing.

MAP testing: Speaking of MAP testing, third grade is the first year of map testing that our students experience. Some of my students have expressed excitement, while others seem to have some anxiety. As of right now, we will be taking the Math portion of the MAP test on the following days: April 22, 24, 25. We will take Comm. Arts portion on April 29 and 30 as well as May 1. Please make sure that your student is well rested and has received a good breakfast on those dates.

Cursive: A lot of parents and students have expressed the desire for me to teach cursive. We will begin learning cursive in the next couple of weeks.

I cannot believe that it is already fourth quarter, and April is only a few days away. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was meeting everyone for the first time at Meet the Teacher Night. I am reminded everyday just how lucky I am to have had the chance to work with such a fantastic group of students who have the biggest hearts and the warmest smiles. Thank you for giving me that opportunity.  :)

Economics Day!

For the past few months we have been working hard learning about economics and the economy. We focused on supply and demand, marketing, and different aspects of owning a business! We decided that it would be a great idea to see what it is actually like to become a business owner. We filled out business plans and became entrepreneurs of our own companies! 

Students' businesses either provided consumers with a good or service. We set up shop and other third grade classes came in and bought our products or services. We even made advertisements and  used marketing techniques to attract consumers! 

 

Students' businesses either provided consumers with a good or service. We set up shop and other third grade classes came in and bought our products or services.

 

Our entrepreneurs quickly realized that supply and demand play a huge role in how well your business does. Students were able to raise or lower their prices throughout the day.

We realized how important it was to save our money, because Miss Gardner came around and collected taxes a few times. She also made us pay rent for our spot in the Gardner Mini Mall! Starting with just $15, some students ended up with $0, while others ended up with over $100. 

Homework 3/13

Reading: NO HOMEWORK! 

Writing: NO HOMEWORK! 

Math: Hamby Homework #5 due tomorrow!
Multiplication Log due tomorrow!

Other: HALF DAY TOMORROW! 
Economics Day tomorrow! 

Homework 3/12

Reading: Read for 5-10 minutes
Hate that Cat read to page 101 by 3/25 With Think Marks  that would support a good conversation
Lightening Thief read to page 92 by tomorrow! With Think Marks that would support a good conversation

Writing: Work on your Google Slides Presentation if you have not finished yet.

Click Here to Watch Miss Handrahan's Video


Math: 1-10
Assignment 5 due Friday
Fact Sheet due Friday

Social Studies: All 25 products should be here by TOMORROW MORNING!!!

Other: 
Economics Day is Friday
Half Day Friday

Homework 3/11

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes

Writing: Write for 5-10 minutes

Math: 1-4 and 5-15 odds.
Multiplication Fact log is due on Friday
Hamby Homework #5 due Friday

Social Studies: Products due Thursday!

Other: Half Day Friday!

This Week in Third Grade 3/10

I cannot believe that spring break is almost here, and that this Friday is the end of third quarter! We have a lot of fun activities going on as we wrap up the end of the quarter. Here's a look at what we are doing this week in third grade:

Reading: We will be focusing on summarizing this week. We have talked about determining importance a lot, so we will move on to thinking about what makes a good summary.

Writing: We are finishing up our opinion speeches this week. Students are also going to make a Google Presentation to go along with their speech that they will be giving. I hope to have the students ready to present the Tuesday or Wednesday after spring break.

Math: We are finishing up our unit on collecting and representing data. Students have the opportunity to walk around the classroom and collect data, and then make their own graphs. We will test over this unit the Wednesday after spring break.

Science: We are continuing our unit on space. Specifically, we are focusing on our solar system. We will learn about how scientists classify planets, and about the different characteristics that make up the planets in our solar system.

Social Studies: This week we are going to wrap up our economics unit projects. We are going to create mini advertisements to hang on our desks, and appreciate the advertisements made by our fellow third grade peers. Economics Day is on Friday. Students must have all 25 of their products at school on by Thursday morning. 


Other: 
Friday is a half day! Please make sure that you student knows how they will be getting home after school!

Economics Day is Friday. Please make sure that your student has their product in school by Thursday!

Special Visitor: Dr. Koblitz

 Dr. Dick Koblitz teaches my Advanced Literacy course that I am currently taking through Mizzou, and he also serves on the IRA council that chooses the top 30 childrens book each year. Every year he is sent over 800 children's boks to read and judge. 

On the Thursday nights that we have class, he has all forty first year teachers sitting on the edge of our seats as he talks to us about his favorite new books that he has read. It is clear that he is the definition of a true voracious reader. 

After class one night, I decided to invite him to come to our classroom to read with us. And, he said YES! 

He came in, and talked to us about his favorite authors and read us The Sweetest Fig by: Chris Van Allsburg, and a few of his favorite poems. He then walked around and read with a few of the students in our class. 

Before Dr. Koblitz left, he presented our class with a few of his favorite new books. We could not put them down! 

Today we went outside and read under the pavilion. We ate Fig Newtons in honor of The Sweetest Fig and enjoyed the beautiful weather while we read our favorite books!

Homework 3/10

Reading: No reading homework
Hate that Cat read to page 56 by tomorrow! With Think Marks  that would support a good conversation
Lightening Thief read to page 92 by Thursday! With Think Marks that would support a good conversation

Writing: Start your Google Slides presentation
If you are having trouble with it, please remember that you can watch Mrs. Handrahan's video

Click Here to Watch Miss Handrahan's Video


Math: Dr. Seuss Pictograph Question
Assignment 5 due Friday
Fact Sheet due Friday

Social Studies: All 25 products should be here by Thursday morning

Other: 
Economics Day is Friday
Half Day Friday

Homework 3/6

Reading: None

Writing: None

Math: 
Assignment 6 due tomorrow
Space Shuttle Area and Perimeter due tomorrow
Fact Sheet due tomorrow

Social Studies: Advertisement due tomorrow!

Other: 
BYOG for a dollar tomorrow!
Tomorrow is an Early Release Day!

Data Dash!

Today we went around the room and surveyed our friends on different topics! We tallied up the data and graphed it. We drew conclusions and presented it to the class. Here's the a look into our classroom during all the fun! 

Homework 3/5

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes

Writing: Gather information for your persuasive writing piece

Math: 
Tally Worksheet 
Space station shuttle due Friday
Assignment 6 due Friday
fact log due Friday

Social Studies: Advertisement due Friday!

Homework 3/4

Reading: Read for 10-15 minutes

Writing: Gather information for your persuasive writing piece

Math: 
Area worksheet
Space station shuttle due Friday
Assignment 6 due Friday
fact log due Friday

Social Studies: Advertisement due Friday!

This Week in Third Grade 3/3

I hope everyone had the opportunity to enjoy their Snow Day today! Here is a look at what is going on this week in third grade!

Reading: This week in reading we will continue to focus on determining importance of events, and start moving into main idea by the end of the week. As always, I will continue to stress the importance of being prepared for book club!

Writing: Our writers will continue their unit on persuasive writing! Students have picked a topic that they feel passionate about, and we are going to carry it through the writing process! We will specifically be focusing on adding details to support our claim and organizing our writing in a logical sence of order to be the most effective.

Math: Students showed that they had a strong understanding of area and perimeter. As we move forward this week we will switch gears and start talking about data. We will be collecting data by surveying people and learn which type of graphs should be used to represent the data we received. We will be taking a combined test after Spring Break over this information.

Science: We will finish up learning about stars this week, and move on into planets!

Social Studies:  As we move forward in our economics unit, students will continue to learn about advertising. On Tuesday we will begin making advertisements that are appropriate for our own businesses. Students will design an for their good or service that will hang in the hallway, and a smaller one that will hang on their desk. Students are more than welcome to create a video advertisement as well if they would like to. All ads will be due on Monday March 10.  Economics Day is on March 14. 

Other: 
Pennies For Pasta Update:

Tuesday March 4 – Inside out/backwards day. Wear your clothes backwards or inside out and bring in dimes.

Thursday March 6 – Hat day. Wear your favorite hat and bring in quarters.

Friday March 7 – BYOG. Bring your own gum and collect dollars (this is a half day).

Parent Teacher Conferences are on Thursday afternoon/ evening! 

Friday is a half day early dismissal at 11:50 AM! Please make sure that your child knows how they will be getting home that day before they come to school. 

Saturday is Trivia Night! 

Great Educational Apps/ Websites

A few of you have asked me if I knew of any great educational websites for students to practice multiplication. Here are a few that we use in class that the students seem to really enjoy: 

For each of these click on the title of the website directly next to the number. 


1. Math Game Time This website includes games for different concepts that are taught in third grade. Everything from addition, multiplication, geometry, etc. There are also videos that the students can access as well. 

2. Extra Math   - Website for Math Fact Practice

3. Fun Math Games Website   -  Interactive Website 

4. Play Kids Games  -  Interactive Math Games

5. Multiplication   -  Games to practice multiplication

6. Fun4theBrain   -  Games to play for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

7. CoolMath4Kids   -  Games to play to practice different math topics

8. Math Cats   -    Use cats to help you learn about math

9. Dositey   -   Games by grade to help with math skills

10. Kaboose   -   Games to learn/review many topics
11. KId Zone  -    Printable Worksheets to help with math skills

12. Math is Fun!  -   Interactive Games to play for all topics!

13. Fun Brain  -  Silly games to teach students math skills

14. Math Dictionary  -   Defines words for students and gives examples

15. Sumdog  -   Interactive Games, requires a login.

16.MobyMax  -  Placement test and then instruction on their level

17. Tenmarks - Allows the students to practice math skills and pass skills. They get a certificate when they pass a certain skillset.