Week of 10/1/12 - 10/5/12

Thank you for all the delicious apples that went into the applesauce crockpot. It was delicious! Thank you, also, to Jackie's mom for bringing in the bowls and spoons and Ben's mom for bringing in the applejuice. Johnny Appleseed's birthday was a success!

Sign up for conferences if you haven't already done so! A link was sent to all my homeroom parents for "sign-up genius."

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 6 on Monday. The cursive worksheet is homework on Monday. On Tuesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 2 challenge activities or ABC order and 2 workbook pages. The homework assigned on Tuesday will be due on Thursday.  The final test is on Friday. The students will only be tested on the regular spelling words; challenge words will not be tested.

English: Our “Me Bag” presentations will start on Monday. A rubric went home today. Students should practice!! I told the children that if they can't get their 5 paragraphs typed, it's fine if they write them out NEATLY!

Reading: We will focus on inferencing this week. The story Ballad of Mulan will be read in conjunction with this reading skill. We will also work with similes this week.  October calendars are going home on Monday. Happy Reading!

Social Studies: We will continue discussing continents and oceans.

Science: There will be a graded lesson review on Tuesday. I will work with the students to find all the corresponding page numbers for each question. They will then find the answers using their text books. The chapter 9 test will be on Friday. A study guide is in each child's homework pocket.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: There have been some changes. I will introduce lesson 5 on Monday, which is rounding to the nearest thousand. A checkpoint quiz will occur on Wednesday, final test for chapter 2 will be Friday.

Important Dates:

10/8 – Columbus Day, no school

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 9/24/12 - 9/28/12

Johnny Appleseed's birthday is on Wednesday, September 26.  Two of our parents have graciously volunteered to bring in juice boxes, bowls, and spoons. Thank you! Don't forget the send in the cored, peeled, sliced apple on Wednesday.

Picture day is Thursday. Large flyers are going home today with collection envelopes. Send them in before Thursday if you want to purchase pictures.

Friday is an early dismissal day. Our dismissal time is 11:00.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 5 on Monday.  The cursive worksheet is homework on Monday. On Tuesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 2 challenge activities or ABC order and 2 workbook pages. The homework assigned on Tuesday will be due on Thursday.  The final test is on Friday. The students will only be tested on the regular spelling words; challenge words will not be tested.

English: We have completed chapter 1 on The Sentence. Look for the graded test on Monday. There will be a DOL quiz on Friday. The study guide will come home on Tuesday. Then we will begin a project called The Me Bag.  Directions will be coming home about this project on Monday.

Reading: Parents, your child has a MAP test goal worksheet in their reading pocket.  This paper will remain in their reading pocket for the duration of the year.  I've indicated your child's recent reading MAP score as well as their Lexile level on this worksheet.  The Lexile level is one way of leveling books according to difficulty.  When looking for a "good-fit-book" for your child, it might be helpful to log onto www.lexile.com to enter the title of the book.  This website will provide you with the lexile level of many books.  On Tuesday, students will be tested on the current story we are reading The Lost and Found which is in their volume 1 reading book here at school.  This is an open book test.  Students can take this book home at any time and return it to school the next day.  They also have a vocabulary test on this selection on Thursday.  We will continue working on sequencing and summarizing.

You may start sending in your completed September reading calendars at any time!

Social Studies: I am going to incorporate some social studies lessons into this week - we will begin discussing continents and oceans.

Science: There will be a graded lesson review on Tuesday. I will work with the students to find all the corresponding page numbers for each question. They will then find the answers using their text books.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: The Chapter 1 tests went home today. You can find them in the back of your child's binder in the “Keep at Home” pocket. We will be starting Chapter 2 on Monday. The chapter includes comparing, ordering, and rounding numbers. Just a few things coming up: a graded “checkpoint” will be on Wednesday on the first 2 lessons, another will follow on Tuesday, 10/2, on lessons 4 & 5. A tentative test date for Chapter 2 is 10/4; however, that can change as I watch the progress in math class. Thank you for being so flexible!

Important Dates:

9/26/12 – Johnny Appleseed's Birthday

9/27/12 – Picture Day

9/28/12 – School Improvement Day, early dismissal (11:00 PV)

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 9/17/12 - 9/21/12

A few reminders: Johnny Appleseed's birthday is on September 26.  Two of our parents have graciously volunteered to bring in juice boxes, bowls, and spoons. Thank you! Don't forget to send in the cored, peeled, sliced apple on 9/26.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 4 on Monday.  The cursive worksheet is homework on Monday. On Tuesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 2 challenge activities or ABC order and a workbook page. The homework assigned on Tuesday will be due on Thursday.  The final test is on Friday. The students will only be tested on the regular spelling words; challenge words will not be tested.

English: We will wrap up chapter 1 with run-on sentences on Monday. Wednesday will be a short quiz on the lessons, review on Thursday, and our chapter test on Friday. I will be sending home a review sheet/study guide on Monday.  Has your child told you about Mr. Morton?

Reading: We will be wrapping up our introduction of the reading strategies on Monday.  Students have note cards of each strategy with definitions in their binders.  They will be given a quiz covering these strategies on Wednesday, 9/19.  Reviewing those note cards will prepare them for the quiz. There is also a study guide coming home today.  Our class will practice sequencing and summarizing using the story Lost and Found in our reading series.

 Please make sure your child is reading nightly and keeping track of their reading on their September calendars!

Social Studies: Will continue next week.

Science: We will be learning all about the water cycle this week.  Our plans include making a water cycle bracelet and discussing the three states of water.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: If you read my email from earlier, you know that I pushed back the chapter 1 test to Thursday. We will spend this week reviewing. Please consult the study guide I sent home and have your child study from the text book, the math packet (in their math pockets) and the homework (workbook.)

Important Dates:

9/26/12 - Johnny Appleseed's Birthday Celebration

9/28/12 – School Improvement Day, early dismissal (11:00 PV)

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 9/10/12 - 9/14/12

We are truly getting into our 3^rd grade curriculum and are starting quizzes and tests. Watch the blog for news in each subject!

When sending an envelop to school, please indicate your child's name, grade, my name and what you are sending.
Also, please check your child's planner everyday this quarter.  I'm seeing a lot of signatures - thank you!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: This week, we will be taking a pretest on LESSON 3 on Monday.  The cursive worksheet is homework on Monday. On Tuesday, depending on what group your child is in (challenge or non-challenge) the homework will either be 2 challenge activities or ABC order.  The final test is on Friday.

English: We will continue working in unit 1 - the Sentence.  There is a D.O.L. quiz on Thursday, 9/13.  Your child has a study guide in their homework pocket in their binder.  This quiz focuses on capitalizing beginning of sentences, adding punctuation to end of sentences, abbreviating days of the week correctly and capitalizing proper nouns.

Reading: Our exploration of the strategies continues as we focus on making connections, questioning and summarizing this week.  Students will find out an interesting way to summarize nonfiction text.  Please make sure your child is reading nightly and keeping track of their reading on their September calendars!

Social Studies: We will go in groups on a treasure hunt throughout the building to practice our direction skills.

Science: We will be working in chapter 9 on the weather cycle.  On Thursday, there will be an open book/open note graded review.  We will take this review together so I can model how to use the book to find answers.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class: I've been enjoying getting to know your children! We will continue to work on chapter 1, focusing this week on place value, writing numbers in standard and expanded forms, and problem solving. Due to MAPs testing, there will be no math on Wednesday. There is a test planned in my classroom for Tuesday, 9/18, on chapter 1.

Important Dates:

9/10/12 – Reading MAPs test (11:45-12:45)

9/28/12 – School Improvement Day, early dismissal (11:00 PV)

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza