Week of September 15 - 19

First of all, thank you so much for such a great turn out at Open House! We appreciate you coming to find out about third grade. We will be contacting you soon to set up a conference if you requested one.

Resources this week:

Monday - D: music

Wednesday - A: PE Please bring a water bottle and wear sneakers!

Thursday - B: art

BookFair: Our Fall Book Fair is coming up this week (Sept 15-19).  The book fair will be open from 9:00am-2:30pm Monday thru Friday and Thursday evening from 6-8pm for Family Night.  Students will be visiting the book fair with their class Monday and filling out "wish lists".  You may purchase books from their list by sending in cash or check with your child any day, or you are welcome to come in anytime during our open hours to browse and/or purchase.

Please join PTA! The BSE class membership contest is underway.  PTA has created a poster in the cafeteria which they will update weekly with standings.  The deadline is October 31st...so our class participation percentage on October 31st will determine our class party!  They already have a few classes nearing the 50% popcorn party.  The next level is 75% (ice cream party), 90% (pizza party), and if a class reaches 100%...it will be a surprise!! PLEASE join if you have not already - $6.

Here is the online form... PTA FORM

READING: Our standard this week is for students to be able to ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring directly to the text as a basis for the answers. We started annotating as we read Because of Winn-Dixie last week and will continue to do so. We discussed the fact that some answers will be found later in the text and some questions may never be answered. That's okay... all questions are valid and demonstrate thinking and understanding about what is being read.

Here are the question starters we will continue to use as we annotate this week. They are great to use at home also!

• Why...?
• I'm curious about...
• I wonder...
• What does it mean when...?
• Is (character name) feeling...?
• Does (character name) think...?

Students read with a pencil in hand and annotate questions that come to mind as they read.

An example of annotating as we read.

FLUENCY: Check out the Fluency tab above! Periodically, I will add a new poem. Reading poetry aloud is a great way to improve your fluency. Practice reading the poem several times to read it smoothly, with expression, and not too fast or too slow! 

LANGUAGE: Verbs in the past, present, and future tense.  The key to determining the tense is to think about what the sentence is saying and when the action is occurring... in the past, in the present (right now), or in the future.

Click below for online practice with this.

TACKLING TENSES QUIZ

WRITING: Students are completing their narrative maps for their "prequel" to Because of Winn-Dixie. This week we will plan our characters in detail by sketching him or her, describing how the character looks, how other characters feel about the character, how the character interacts with others, and how the character acts, feels, and talks. Students will do this for all major characters in their narrative stories.

Students will also decide if the story will be told in the first person - by a character in a story, or in the third person - by a narrator outside of the story.

Finally, we will begin our first drafts of our stories!

MATH: This week in Math we will focus on solving addition problems with 2 and 3 digit numbers up to 400 by breaking numbers apart and recombining them.  We will develop strategies for solving addition problems by focusing on how each strategy starts.  We will also find the difference between 2 and 3 digit numbers by using multiples of 100 as a landmark to solve subtraction problems.

Homework:                                     

Please practice finding numbers on the 1,000 chart and telling which hundreds chart it is on.  (Remember that each hundreds chart is named by the last number on the chart.) 

Assessment will be on Wednesday.

Monday: Unit 3 pg.  42

Tuesday:   Unit 3 pp. 44-45

Wednesday: Unit 3 p. 51

Thursday: Unit 3 p. 53

SCIENCE: This week in Science we will complete our Chapter 1 “Practice of Science” lessons.  

We will begin studying Chapter 3 “Matter and Its Properties”.  

September 8 - 12

Our Open House is this Thursday at 6:15. Both classes will meet in room 124 for our presentation and then students can show parents around both classrooms. We truly hope everyone will be able to attend. This is an opportunity for parents to hear first hand information about third grade from us. 

We took the first session of our reading curriculum guide assessment Friday. Session 2 will be on Monday.

Resources this week:
Tuesday: PE  Remember to wear sneakers and bring a water bottle!
Thursday: ART

Wednesday is our first EARLY RELEASE at 1:35.

Reading: As we read Because of Winn-Dixie, we will continue our focus on characters. Students will think about what the author wants us to know about Opal, Winn-Dixie, and Opal's father, the Preacher. Mid-week, we will learn a new term: 
Annotate: When we read with pencil in hand, show the tracks of our thinking, and interact with the text.

An example of annotating. This shows a page from chapter 1 of Because of Winn-Dixie with questions about what is happening in the text.

Annotating text increases comprehension by keeping students engaged while reading. It also helps them reference the text to support their thinking with text evidence.

We will talk about "question starters" we can use as we annotate. These are great to use when reading any fiction book. They are great to use at home too! This week's R.A.H. log has a back side and asks students to write 3 questions they have as they read their chapter books at home.

• Why...?
• I'm curious about...
• I wonder...
• What does it mean when...?
• Is (character name) feeling...?
• Does (character name) think...?

Language: LAFS.3.L.1.1 We will work with 3 types of pronouns this week. Pronouns take the place of a noun.

Personal (can stand alone): 
me  her  him  it  them  us  you   he  she  I

Possessive (comes before a noun): 
his  her  my  our your

Indefinite (names someone or something that is not specific): somebody  everyone  nobody  everybody

Spelling: short a and e... See Word Work tab above for this week's list.

Vocabulary: See Vocabulary tab above for our words this week.

Writing: We will begin planning a narrative related to Because of Winn-Dixie. After creating individual plans, we will write stories telling about the events leading up to Winn-Dixie entering the grocery store.

Math: This week in Math we will be using our understanding of place value to solve multi-digit math problems and to help us continue practicing rounding whole numbers.  We will be identifying and explaining patterns in math using our 1,000’s chart and we will decompose numbers into expanded form. 

Home Learning:  Practice rounding numbers to 10’s, 100’s, and 1,000’s place.

Homework:

Monday: Unit 3 pp. 13 & 20
Tuesday: Unit 3 p. 22D
Wednesday: Unit 3 p.24
Thursday: Unit 3 pp. 28-29
Friday: Unit 3 Assessment

Science: This week in Science we will continue discussing the importance of communication in the scientific process and explore our ocean biome in more detail.

Family Literacy Fair

Florida State College will host a Family Literacy Fair on Saturday, September 20th.

Time: 10:00 - 2:00
Location: North Campus - 4501 Capper Road, Jacksonville FL 32218 - Main Courtyard
Phone: 904 766-655

Door Prizes, Free Books, and Food!

Poetry - Storytellers - Reading Activities

Week of September 1 - 5

I'd like to welcome Mrs. Cox as our math and science teacher! Mrs. Cox has been teaching third grade at Bartram Springs for three years. Previously, she taught in Duval County at Bank of America Academy for 9 years and in Texas. Our transition has gone very well and we are looking forward to working together to make this a great year for all! Also, we would like to welcome our 6 new students who joined our classes this week!

Please see the post below with information about the flu mist program. A flyer was sent on Friday.

RESOURCES THIS WEEK:
Tuesday: PE Wear tennis shoes!
Wednesday: Art
Friday: Music

READING CGA BASELINE: Wednesday and Thursday

Reading: This week, we will begin our first novel study: Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. We will read this book in class. Students will not bring the book home. The novel is used for instruction of reading strategies and standards. Students will not have comprehension tests about the book, but will be assessed as they read other passages followed by questions based on the strategies we are working on.

For example, our first lessons address the following Florida standard:

LAFS.3.RL.1.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g. their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

As we read Because of Winn Dixie, we will collect evidence about the main characters to help us understand their traits, motivations, and feelings. Students will complete multiple activities based on this standard. Below are some typical question stems related to this standard. They can be applied to any fictional character or text!

•  Select the sentences in the story that show the main character is _____.
• The main character is ___ in the passage.  Select the sentences that show this feeling.
•  How does the main character feel in the paragraph below?   Select the sentences that show this feeling. 
• Which of the following phrases describes both the main character’s behavior and the author’s writing.

Language: We will review the function of nouns: to name a person, place or thing. Students should be able to identify nouns in a sentence and tell if they name a person, place or thing. Students should be able to write a sentence including three nouns using correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling of third grade words.

Writing: We will look carefully at the author of Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo and what we can learn from her as a story teller that will help us as authors. Students will also work on planning out the characters, setting and sequence of events for a story about Winn-Dixie before he came into the grocery store using a narrative planning tool. 

Math: This week in math we will be sequencing numbers to 1,000.  Using place value to determine the size of numbers to 1,000.  Estimating the sums of 2 and 3 digit numbers and recognizing and representing the groups of 10’s in 3 digit numbers.

Math Homework:

Monday: No School

Tuesday: Unit 3 page 2

Wednesday: Unit 3 pp. 4-5

Thursday: Unit 3 pp. 9

Science: This week in Science we will be learning about the tools scientists use when conducting investigations.  We will be discussing the importance of communication when conducting investigations.

District Flu Mist Program

Today, a Flu Mist Parent Consent form will come home.

From September 2^nd through the 9th, the Duval County School District will host its flu mist program serving schools throughout the district. Only students with signed parent consent forms will be permitted to receive the flu mist vaccine.  

The scheduled day for BSE is September 8th.

Below is additional information you should know about next week’s vaccinations.

·       The flu mist vaccine is completely voluntary.

·       There are no costs to parents for the vaccine.

·       Students with compromised immune systems should contact their physician for guidance - The district will accept and accommodate any medical instructions or restrictions concerning the Flu Mist Program.

Week of August 25th-29th

Woo!  We made it through the first week of school!  We had a great time getting to know each other and getting started on the 3rd grade curriculum!  Students also began CGA testing. They took the math on Thursday and Friday!  This week students will take science on Wednesday and reading baseline the following week on Wednesday and Thursday (9/3 & 9/4).  These tests help us know exactly where your student is at the 3rd grade level.  Thank you for getting all your paperwork back in on time.

Resources will begin this week:
Monday- P.E. (both classes please remember to wear tennis shoes!!!)
Tuesday- Art (both classes)
Thursday- Music (both classes)

This week we will work on...

Reading: We have started the year with informational text. Last week, we looked at several pieces of informational text and how the author organized the information. We know authors use special text features to organize the information and support readers in their understanding.

Text features:

• help us find our way around the text 
• provide visual cues to emphasize important information
• give more information about a topic.

Click on the image below to view a slide show about informational text features.

In class, we identify text features, determine what they tell us, and how they help us as readers.

We have also started to review main idea and supporting details. Using headings and text, we think about the broad main idea and find details to support it. 

Writing: In writing, we have been learning how to answer questions. We have discussed a 2 point written response rubric and looked at examples of answers that would score a 0, 1, and 2. I am very proud of how hard everyone has worked on this. As a class, we have created a checklist to help us remember to include the following in our responses:

• Use specific language from the question to begin our answers.
• Provide strong details or evidence to support our answers.
• Include correct capitalization and punctuation in our sentences and paragraphs.

We will expand on this, but it is a start. Way to go third grade writers!!!

Math:
We will continue our discussions on place value through the thousands place.  We will also discuss rounding to the nearest ten and hundreds place.  There will be homework nightly!






Science:
We will continue to learn about scientists-- including the different types of scientists, tools they use, and information they record and share with others.  We had a fun activity using our 5 senses last week, that including eating a bit of popcorn! :)

Happenings this week:
Monday, August 25th- Open PTA meeting 6PM in the cafeteria

No school on Monday, September 1st for Labor Day!  We will see you on Tuesday!

3rd Grade Orientation!

We can't wait to meet our new third graders on Thursday, August 14th at 11:00 AM. If you would like to bring your supplies in early, please bring them with you! See you then!

Bartram Springs Elementary

Third Grade Supply List 2014 - 2015

Please do not label the items.  

               

(3) 1-inch binders (white with view pocket) 
                       

(3) sets of dividers (WHITE WITH WRITE-ON TABS)
            

(3) 3-prong pocket folders (Red, Blue, Yellow)  
               

(3) pkg. of plain yellow #2 pencils (PLEASE SHARPEN)    
       

2 packages of pencil cap erasers
                                        

1 box of crayons (24 or less)       
                                      

1 package large glue sticks 
                                                

1 box of colored pencils 
                                           

(2) pkg. of loose leaf notebook paper (wide ruled)  
           

(6) black and white composition notebooks   
   

scissors     

backpack or book bag (no wheels please)

        

Boys  

                                                     

hand sanitizer
                                         

gallon size Ziploc bags   
                  

Clorox wipes    

Girls  

hand soap  

  

sandwich size Ziploc bags 

   

(2) boxes of tissues                             

Additional supplies (if able): (2) reams of copy paper, individually wrapped candy