| From the Teacher's Desk | | Dear Parents, Well, this is it! The last third grade newsletter for the year. It doesn’t seem possible. Perhaps the old saying, “time flies when you’re having fun,” still applies. Your children have given us the respect and rewards for which any teacher would be proud. We will truly miss them! We look forward to watching them grow in the years to come.
We also want to thank you for all your kindness and support this year. Being parents, we know the time and demands school adds to our already busy lives. You are certainly going to be your child’s biggest asset. They are so lucky to have parents who take an active but loving part in their education. We will truly miss you, too! Sincerely, Melanie Gekas
Natasha Nikitina Jordan Chaffman |  |
| Extra! Extra! Extra! Read All About It!  | | The children are busy using numerous resources to complete the research packet about their African animals. Reading for information continues to be our main focus as we move towards the end of the school year. Writing a short report and creating a diorama to present their animal’s habitat will complete the theme about animal habitats. In the next few weeks the students will be reading about different adventurers and their voyages. They will continue to develop and extend the reading skills and strategies that they have learned throughout the year. This is an excellent cross-curricular connection with social studies as we focus on African explorers such as Mary Kingsley. We will kick off our Pippi Longstocking independent novel unit shortly. We hope the children will be excited to read about Pippi’s adventures, which contain elements of exaggeration. No formal book report is required for the month of May. Instead, as part of our Explorers Unit, in class the students will read nonfiction books and articles about his/her explorer to complete our last research activity. | |
| Math, Math, and More Math | | Everyday Mathematics believes that knowing the basic facts as a reflex, without having to “figure them out,” is an essential prerequisite for mental arithmetic, estimation, the use of the calculator, and pencil-and-paper computations. One of the program’s goals in third grade is for children to memorize all the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. We are working to meet this goal. Most of the class now knows their multiplication facts both quickly and accurately. We will continue to drill the facts for the remainder of the year until everyone has met with success. Coming events: - We will review the uses of fractions, fraction notation, and comparing fractions.
- Students in both classes will continue to develop their multiplication and division skills.
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| Where in the World Is...? | | The children are totally immersed in our study of the amazing continent of Africa. They just completed their maps to show important landforms and waterways and are ready to work in a small group to create a model of the grasslands, desert, or rainforest. Learning about the Maasai tribe of East Africa is also keeping us busy. Our children are excited about the explorers that they will soon research. In school we will be concentrating on library skills using encyclopedias and books. We will be introducing and developing their ability to isolate and organize important information. The students will use their notes and research to create a timeline and prepare for the Explorers’ Museum. In addition to researching their own explorers, the students will continue to study explorers and exploration as a class. Keep the evening of June 2nd open as the curtain rises to unveil our awesome Explorer Museum. | |
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| | Upcoming Events | | - Friday, May 6th: May Day, 10:30 a.m.
- Saturday, May 7th: Spring Gala and Auction
- Wednesday, May 11th: "Young Performers" production, 7:00 p.m.
- Thursday and Friday, May 19-20th: Middle School Musical
- Thursday, May 26th: Arts & Academics Night, 7:00 p.m.
- Friday, May 27th: noon dismissal (Professional Development)
- Monday, May 30th: Memorial Day (school closed)
- Thursday, June 2nd: Third Grade Family Night 6:30 p.m
- Monday, June 6th: Move Up Day
- Tuesday, June 7th: Beach Day
- Tuesday, June 7th Variety Show
- Friday, June 10th: Graduation (Noon Dismissal)
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| Spanish | | The month of May third grade will keep reviewing the alphabet in Spanish and get ready for “ Noche Latina” and in June we will be learning the months of the year. | |
| Physical Education | | Third grade is proving that they want to be the best! Over the past month and into May we will be finishing our Presidential Fitness Testing. We will be taking the Mile Test as well as the Sit-n-Reach test. Throughout this time, the third graders will be working as a team to learn about lacrosse. They will be exposed to the different mechanics and movements of the game of lacrosse. As the weather breaks, please be sure that your has appropriate shoes on PE days; we will be using the outdoors to learn and play new games! | |
| Music | | In Music Class, the Third Grade students have been listening to the sounds of sixtets and septets. The sixtet presented to them the unusual, "ear-stretching" sounds of avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Kreuzspiel" (meaning "Crossplay", a method of composing atonal music). They plan to welcome Spring with May Day festivities, including celebratory singing and dancing, on May 6 beginning at 10:30 a.m. You are all invited! | |
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