If you are an early Christmas shopper like I am, you will want to pick up a $5 book for the Christmas gift exchange that we will have during the classroom Christmas party. Girls will trade with girls and boys with boys. It should be wrapped and labeled for girl or for boy. Happy shopping!
Our first field trip is December 2nd to Skidaway Marine Institute. This is a 10-12 program, leaving the school a little after 9:00 a.m., with a picnic lunch at the tables outside, or back here if it's too cold. They allow 1 chaperone for every 10 students, so 1 parent can go for free, but all other adults are charged $5, due when we get there. The teacher is responsible for collecting the money and turning it in to Ms. Edgecombe before the program begins. Students will wear their blue field trip t-shirts, jeans, and tennis shoes. Their lunch should include a drink (NOTHING carbonated), and they should also bring a snack. You are welcome to sign your child out after the program or after we have lunch. No siblings are allowed due to space limitations inside the facility. If you are going to sign your child out, please let me know in advance so I can make sure he/she brings his/her book bag on the bus.
Congratulations to Molly, Taylor, and Zadie who have already met this quarter's reading challenge!!! The reading challenge is to get 150 Reading Counts points by December 17th, the end of the second quarter. Getting 150 points by this date will put them on the right track for making it to the end of the year sleepover. For those who meet the challenge, I will be providing pizza for lunch when we come back to school in January. If anyone could send dessert, that would be wonderful too.
November book report: All the children have chosen a book report book for November. When he or she finishes reading the book, he or she should take the Reading Counts test. After that, I will give him or her the book report materials. The book report is due December 1st. Students should be finished reading their book.
Reading: If your child has Mrs. Slaughter for reading, then you can go to her website at http://mrsslaughter.weebly.com to find out what they are doing in reading each week. If your child goes to Mrs. Chambers for reading, then you can go to her website at http://mrscchambers.weebly.com to find out what they are doing in reading each week. The accelerated group is reading The Best Christmsa Pageant Ever.
Cursive Handwriting: We have reviewed all the letters. Some students need extra practice at home as well. I will continue to write notes on the tops of paper for the children who are still finding it a challenge to form the cursive letters correctly.
Language: We will learn about verb usage, synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms this week.
Spelling: We will be learning the words in Lesson 15 this week.The test is on Thursday. You can go to www.spellingcity.com for online practice of the spelling words each work. Just go "Find a List" and then for the teacher type in "SCPS Third Grade." All the lists for the entire year will appear. Just choose the one for this week.
Writing: This quarter we will focus on organizing our ideas so that they flow together smoothly. Paragraphs should still be indented, have a topic sentence, three or more detail sentences, and a concluding sentence. We will continue to work on making sure all sentence are complete thoughts and not run-on sentences or fragments.
Timed Tests: Timed tests are on Wednesdays. Next week will be 100 subtraction problems in 4 minutes. Students should be studying addition and subtraction math facts every night.
Math: Diagnostic Checkpoint 4C is on Monday, November 29th. The Chapter 4 test will be on Tuesday, November 30th. Students will do the practice test in the book on Monday night. Here are the answers to 18, 19, and 20. 18. Start at 0. Move 7 spaces to the right and then 11 spaces up. 19. Sample answers: Noon is the warmest part of the day in both months. January temperatures are colder than February temperatures. 20. Students should finish the bar graph. Apple trees; The tallest bar is for apple trees.
Chapter 5 is all about multiplication. Students will be learning how to multiply by 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10. It is a good idea to purchase a set of flash cards and begin practicing now.
Multiplication timed test dates:
December 1st - zeros
December 6th - ones
December 8th - twos
December 15th - fives
Science: We will continue Unit A Chapter 2 called "Types of Animals." We will learn about reptiles, hibernation, migration, camouflage, and mimicry.
Bible: The verse this week is Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things."