Mrs. O'Neil
Eli Terry School
Grade 3, Room 17
Happy New Year! I hope each family enjoyed a festive holiday season and got some rest and relaxation over our lengthy break. It is good to be back!
Congratulations to our class for 100% participation in the December Reading at Home program. Every child in our class will receive a special gift from "Sonar" of The Hartford Wolf Pack! Stay tuned for more information... Please remind your child to record the title of his or her nightly reading in the planner. I appreciate keeping track of this information, but many children are not recording it each night and will benefit from a reminder.
This month, our students officially reach the "Half way to fourth grade" point in the year. With that milestone comes midyear assessments to help monitor progress, as well as increased expectations (both socially and academically). At this point in the year, most of the students have mastered the Core list of grade three spelling words. I am beginning to focus on grammar and mechanics lessons with them in class. They will not be taking home a list in the coming weeks (unless there are Core words to be mastered still). Children will be doing word study exercises in class, which will help them with decoding as well as spelling. Instead of spelling homework, you will notice practice pages in English to be comleted. This will keep you informed of the grammar and mechanics lessons we are having in class. I wanted to let you know about this shift and will be happy to provide more information if you wish.
The children have been stuck inside for most of the week due to the cold snap we are experiencing. Let's hope this long weekend brings with it some warmer temperatures! Take care.
Sincerely,
Mrs. O'Neil
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Curriculum Update:
January 5-16, 2009
Math~
Geometry Unit:
Points, lines, segments and rays
Parallel and Intersecting lines
Polygons
Measuring Polygons
Review of Perimeter
Timed basic fact quizzes
Townwide Midyear Math Assessment
Reading~
Independent Reading
Making Connections: Text to Self
(Analyzing Caharacter Traits and Feelings)
Summarizing Text
Reader Response Time
Townwide Midyear Reading Assessment
Writing~
Spelling: Weekly Individual Spelling Lists from Grade 3 Core spelling words and frequently misspelled words
Friday Spelling Tests
Using Quick Word Dictionaries as Spellers
Compositions: Writing Reader's Response Journal Entriesusing the "Oreo" technique: a topic sentence stating the answer to a question, details from the text to support the answer, and a concluding sentence.
Reflection Journals: Working in TRIBES
Daily Language Review: for various language skills
Writers Notebooks~
Students planned and wrote narratives based on personal experiences.
Townwide Midyear Writing Prompt
Social Studies~
We are going to focus on map skills this month.
Science~
The next unit of study will be the Earth's Motions.
Other~
TRIBES: The Four Agreements~
*Mutual Respect
*Attentive Listening
*The Right to Participate and Pass
*Appreciations / No Put - Downs
Students are working in their TRIBES throughout every content area in the curriculum.
Reminder:
Check the calendar online and in your child's planner for important dates to remember.
