Folder   Article   Weblink   Product   Message Board   Calendar   Form   Document   Album   Podcast
Gala & Auction: April 28, 2012               Family Fun Night: February 24, 2012 www.barnesvilleschool.org joy. support. excellence. From the Teacher's Desk      Dear Parents, October just flew by!  We have been so busy in third grade that it’s difficult to believe the month is over. The children are really working hard to put their best foot forward and are developing the skills needed to become confident and independent learners. November is a time to be thankful for having a wonderful group of children to teach and inspire. We’re also thankful for being a part of an excellent school like Barnesville. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Sincerely, Melanie Gekas Natasha Nikitina Jordan Chaffman   Extra! Extra! Extra! Read All About It!     The children are actively engaged in our Adventure theme. They are practicing many reading and comprehension skills including inferences, cause and effect, summarizing, and sequencing, and they will soon be ready for their next challenge. Barnesville grandparents, Bob and Betsy Wilbur, will be paying us an awesome visit at the end of November to talk about rock climbing. Mr. Wilbur's demonstration is the perfect way to enrich their reading of the story, Cliffhanger. The mystery book reports were awesome! The students were so excited to share their mysteries with their classmates. This month the students will choose their favorite picture book to read to the class. It is important to practice reading their book at home. This reading activity is a wonderful time for the children to strengthen their oral presentation skills and also to share the joy of picture books. Writer's Corner     We are starting to put the final touches on the rough drafts of our “haunted house” descriptive paragraphs. We are composing these paragraphs using the haunted houses we created from paper bags and a scary yard using both found and store-bought items. The children will continue to use this spooky setting, a 4-Square organizer, and nouns, adjectives, and exact verbs to further develop their paragraphs, describing the house and its surroundings. The students will then challenge the fourth graders to find their houses based on their written descriptions. Using a similar process, they will soon be writing descriptive paragraphs about their paper dolls in social studies. The children will read the paper doll paragraphs to their grandparents on Grandparents Day. The children enthusiastically seized the opportunity to write a letter to a soldier serving overseas. I was extremely proud of the heartfelt letters they produced and know they will bring oodles of sunshine to many a soldiers' days. We will continue writing letters to family and friends as soon as we open the Mail Center. Math, Math, and More Math     Our focus at this time is on number stories. The students are engaged in the skills of organizing information and then determining which operation will provide the solution.  We expect each number story to contain a number model and the correct answer with the appropriate unit (label). Mastery of basic math facts are essential at this time because we are solving multi-digit problems with addition and subtraction. Our next unit will be linear measurement. The children will be busy creating their own measuring unit and using metric and U. S. customary units. They will be constructing 2-D and 3-D figures from straws and connectors. They will learn how to measure a figure for perimeter and area. The students will also learn about the relationship between diameter and circumference of a circle by rolling cylinders. Does your child need a little help with basic addition and subtraction facts? Do you want to get a head start on multiplication and division? Continue working in First in Math and try this helpful websites: www.aaamath.com and www.abcmath.com. Where in the World Is...?     Social Studies is a favorite time of day for many of the students. They are actively engaged in learning about the world around them. The children did an outstanding job learning all the information about the world for their first big unit test. We are now focusing on map skills with an emphasis on cardinal and intermediate directions. We will begin our first research project using our paper dolls from around the world. The students will fill an imaginary suitcase with ten objects from their paper doll’s home and will complete their descriptive paragraphs. On Grandparents’ Day, the children will read these colorful paragraphs to our special audience. Ruth McLenaghan has kindly volunteered to come in on November 5th to give an informative talk to the children about her travels to India. As an extension to our world study, Ruth will use her connections with her friends from India to help us establish penpals for the children. Our new explorer bags are packed and ready for Explorer Friday. This very kind and generous donation from one of our families has the children buzzing with excitement. We will begin by answering the question, “What is an explorer?” The class will choose the most important character traits found in an explorer. An explorer field trip is in the making. Science     The third graders have spent the month of October learning about the changes in the Earth's surface, materials that come from Earth and solar system. The students discussed the types of rock formation and examined different kinds and properties of rocks. They learned what the sun and the planets are like and what their position in our solar system is. The students made a solar system diagram and learned about the relationship between the Earth and Sun.      Upcoming Events     November 6th: Open House November 9th: School Picture Makeup Day November 11th: 1:30 Dismissal November 12th: Paper Doll is due November 24th: Grandparents Day (noon dismissal) November 25th-29th: Thanksgiving Break November 30th: Classes Resume/ Rock Climbing Presentation   Physical Education     Third grade is "rolling" in the right direction. They started off the month mastering the scooter safety rules and practiced their skills in relay races and small games. Then we put our skills to the test in small games of scooter basketball. Currently, the third grade is working on their football skills. They have been throwing, catching, kicking and punting their way toward a Touchdown! What’s next for the third grade? Net Games, Fitness Testing and Wii Contests! Music     The 3rd Grade students have learned a song by Shel Silverstein called "Helping", since October is "Service" Month at Barnesville School.  They also sang songs about celebrated American legends such as John Henry, Casey Jones, and Johnny Appleseed;  these are cherished historical heroes who live on in song.  They sang seasonal songs as well--songs about Fall, and Halloween songs.  They listened to the sound of solo flute and solo double bass.  They also heard the sound of duets, including a french horn and harp duet, a french horn and piano duet, and a flute and bassoon duet.  Art     Third graders are just finishing sharing their imaginary culture books with each other. Next we will learn about the earliest known art of the cave painters and talk about Australian Aboriginal "Dream and "X-ray" painting and the tribal art of the Oceanic peoples.The children will work together to create a large cave painting and also do an individual drawing of a cave animal. They will see an intersting film about how to make an "X-ray" painting and will see many examples of "Dream"paintings before they try to portray one of their own.They will take traditional Oceanic symbols, such as squatting figures, fish and spirals and incorporate them into shield designs Spanish     Return To:   Home Page  |  Newsletters Section