Read for the Record Day

We celebrated Read for the Record Day by inviting a guest reader, retired Bay Port Teacher "Mrs. Anderson" ("Mom" to me) to read to us. The kids had fun! Thanks for visiting us! :)

Candy Corn Bandit

To get ready for Halloween, Mrs. Arndt and I planned a fun Candy Corn activity for our third grade classes. We each had a jar of Candy Corn (ready to go in our classrooms. We told the kiddos about it, but when we came back from lunch and were ready to do the activities... the jars were both MISSING. In their place was a "clue" and a packet of activities that had the third graders making predictions and inferences. 

We quickly came up with a list of possible suspects. We were determined to find out who did it and get our special treats back!

The first clue lead us to a place where we eat... the cafeteria! We found a second clue hidden high on a cabinet. 

The kiddos documented all of the evidence on their ipads.

The third clue was found in the place we like to play a sport... the gym!

We read the 3rd clue which lead us to a place where we like to play and play and play and play... 

 

...the playground, of course!

There we found yet another clue..

This clue told us to go to a place where we can "read a book but we don't have to buy it..."

The library! 

 

We finally found another clue hidden high on a shelf. Very sneaky!

We read the clue that told us to go back to where our "full class meets..." 

Guess what?! The last clue led us back to our own classroom. Instead of another clue, we found our candy corn again! Mystery solved! Or... was it?!

Afterwards, the kiddos got to compile their evidence and create a movie using imovie on their ipads to show off the experience. 

Junior Achievement Updates

The third graders sure are learning a lot from Junior Achievement lately! Last week, they learned about how they can make money from interest by putting their money into a savings account at a bank. They also learned that when you take out a loan, you have to pay more money. They also played a fun game in which they needed to keep track of how much money they had while landing on real-life scenarios that caused them to either earn or lose money. 

Lunch Bunch

Last week, I got to have lunch bunch with these two third graders! They earned it by saving up their Dojo points. So fun! :)

Citizenship Review

Citizenship Review

Please click on the image to enlarge. :) 

Help Wanted! :)

Please click on the image below to enlarge. Thanks! :)

Lost Tooth!

This week, David lost a tooth in class! We love making a big deal about lost teeth in our classroom. We hope the Tooth Fairy was good to you, bug-a-roo! 

Important Updates and Reminders

We are having a great week in 3rd grade so far! 

As a reminder, our class will be having our Fall Celebration next Wednesday from 2:25-3:25. Please feel free to join us! :) A big shout-out and thank you to Lori Curtis for planning and organizing this celebration! :) 

The kiddos have been busy building their fluency with multiplication and division. We have spent a lot of time working closely with story problems related to multiplication and division. Our first unit will be assessed after Halloween.

In reading, we have been continuing to build our comprehension skills by asking and answering questions about what we are reading and backing it up with evidence from the text. The third graders are also focused on adjusting and applying different reading rates to match the text.

In writing, they have been finishing up their "seed stories" by adding details, checking for correct capitalization and punctuation, and making sure that each of their paragraphs has 3-5 sentences. They have used their peers to review their writing before meeting with me to see if they are ready to publish. 

This week, we started our government unit in social studies. The focus in third grade includes the differences between the local, state and national government and who the leaders are for each of them. We have also learned about the three branches of government and their roles. Ask your child to tell you a little bit about the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches. We are also tying writing into this unit. The third graders have started writing a new piece on if they were the president. They have come up with some great ideas so far! :) In the following weeks, the students will each have an opportunity to read their writing in front of the green screen with props. 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions and/or concerns! :) 

Reading and Math Facts Homework Reminder

Please remember to have your child read for at least 20 minutes each night. I truly don't want this to seem like "work" for your child! I encourage you to make reading simply a part of your nightly routine. Every morning, I check the third grader's planners and reward Dojo points to the kiddos who have their planner signed for reading from the night before. 

I also encourage you to have your child practice his or her math facts each night. This should not be a task that takes longer than 5-10 minutes each night. As a general rule of thumb, third graders should be able to do 30 problems of addition or subtraction in 2 1/2 minutes. The expectation for our goal in third grade with multiplication and division is 30 problems in 3 minutes.

Here are some suggestions for math practice at home:

1.  Moby Fact Master (ipad)
2.  Math Bingo (ipad)
3.  Practice our math multiplication and division songs (http://mrsbeaudrysblog1.blogspot.com/p/math-songs.html) 
4. Check the math websites located on our class (blog http://mrsbeaudrysblog1.blogspot.com/p/math-practice-websites.html)
5. Check the math weebly page for ideas and websites (suamicograde3weebly.com) 
6. Worksheets that are sent home (If your child comes to school with them completed, I will happily grade them and reward your child with 5 dojo points.)

If ever your child reaches a point of frustration with reading or math, please do not push them any further. Homework should always be a review. Please also know that I believe family time is important. I completely understand that there are busy nights! I will never punish your child for not having his or her homework completed. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. 

Conferences

Thank you to all of the parents that came in for conferences last night! I enjoyed having the opportunity to sit down with you and talk about all of the great things your child is doing in third grade so far! I have always really loved conferences as I feel like I get to know the kiddos SO much better through them.  I am really looking forward to meeting with the rest of you next week. :) As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns throughout the school year... not just at conferences. :) 

Junior Achievement

Last Friday, we started Junior Achievement in our classroom. We welcomed our volunteer, Mrs. LeMere to help us out. We are learning about our community and zoning. The third graders had an opportunity to take pop up buildings or homes and place them on a giant floor map where they think they would be a best fit. Be sure to ask your child what
 Mr. Abi stands for. :)  

We are learning about the following vocabulary words. Be sure to quiz your child about them at home tonight: