In reading students took an assessment on using context clues. Authors have different purposes for writing. One purpose is to inform. Students read an article from Scholastic News about ants, and the book Ant Cities to sample some writing by authors whose purpose is to inform. Students used information from these two sources to complete a graphic organizer to prove that ants have the 5 traits of living things that we learned about in science. Students wrote paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. These paragraphs will soon be on display in the stairway leading to our classroom.

In spelling students worked with words with spelling patterns that make the s sound and took the Unit 8 Review. Students played a homophone match game, idenitified homophones in reading books, and completed assignments to learn about homophones. Students took the Unit 9 review on January 20.

In math students learned about the attributes of quadrilaterals and practiced identifying different types of quadrilaterals. We reviewed lines of symmetry and congruence.

The regions of the United States will be the focus of Social Studies for the next couple of months. Students are learning about the geography, history, culture, economy of each region beginning with the northeast. They are identifying the states in this region. Learning the capital cities is extra credit.

In science we explored the traits of living things, ecosystems, and environments.

The second quarter ended on Friday, January 20. Conferences will be held on February 9 and 13. 

Our next public library visit is Friday, February 10.

Welcome to 2012! 
This week in reading class students practiced using context clues to figure out the meanings of words and to comprehend. Students were guided to practice this strategy when reading Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. We listened to Carole King's musical version of this story about the months of the year written in rhyme. Thanks to Grace B. for sharing this music with the class! Students created illustrations for a class calendar. Each student will receive a copy of the calendar.  We also read Baloney (Henry P.) by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. This story is filled with words from other languages. Students practiced using context clues to determine the meanings of these words. Ask your child if s/he needs a new zimulis! Students practiced the strategy of using context clues when reading books of their choice. Students will be assessed on their use of context clues next week.

In math students explored regular and irregular polygons. An assessment was given on Thursday. Students were introduced to isosceles, scalene, equilateral and right triangles through a brainpop video and SMARTboard activity on Friday. Keep practicing math facts at home and remind your child to listen to the skip counting CD regularly to help reinforce his/her understanding of multiplication.

In spelling students analyzed words and discovered that words with the ce, ci, cy pattern usually have the soft s sound.

In handwriting students are nearly finished learning all of the lower case cursive letters. Students are now using cursive handwriting in most of their journal writing.

In Science students reviewed ways to practice conservation. We built an igloo in our classroom using a wooden frame, PVC pipe, and plastic milk cartons. All of these items are being reused! Students will take turns reading in the igloo during our self-selected reading time. Stop in and see our project!

In reading class students have been reading the chapter book, Who Is Stealing the Twelve Days of Christmas? by Martha Freeman. In the first three chapters students reviewed story elements. In the next three chapters students learned about using the main idea and supporting details in a chapter to write a summary. They learned that a good summary is not too long, not too short, does not include the reader's opinion, but DOES tell the characters, setting, and most important events from the passage. In the story, Yasmeen is a very intelligent girl who uses advanced vocabulary. Students are learning to use context clues to understand the story and Yasmeen's vocabulary!

In math we completed our study of addition and subtraction with regrouping. We started working on geometry. Students took a quiz about lines, line segments, points, rays, right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles, intersecting lines, parallel lines, and perpendicular lines.

Students wrote paragraphs about the clouds they researched and created last week and added these paragraphs to their Memory Books! Students wrote a topic sentence with the main idea for their paragraphs and added four supporting details. We made a connection between our summaries in reading and paragraph writing
in our Memory Books! That was an Aha! moment!

In spelling students took Review #6 and started Unit 7. In chapter 7 students were introduced to 4 rules for adding suffixes. This skill will not be assessed on the Chapter 7 Review, but will be a focus of several units to come and will be assessed at that time.

In science students made solar ovens. We made s'mores in our solar ovens to experience that the sun is a renewable energy resource that really does work! Students learned about fossil fuels and renewable energy resources including hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, solar, and biomass. Students also learned about conservation and the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Students will take a test on Chapter 7 on Wednesday, December 21. A study guide was sent home on Thursday, December 15.

Students continued their study of Woodland Indians in Social Studies.

On Friday, December 16 we walked to the public library and checked out books. Please keep track of the due dates on these books. Some students selected NEW books which are due on December 30. Please return these books to school by Thursday, December 22 if you would like them to be returned by the custodians. If you wait until January 3, you will be responsible for the overdue fines. Other books are due on January 6.

We will have a holiday celebration in the afternoon on Thursday, December 22. We will NOT be exchanging gifts. Mrs. Sundstrom and Mrs. Osnacz will be providing treats. Thank you!

Happy Holidays to all!

In reading students completed The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola. They worked on identifying the main idea and supporting details in different sections of the book. Students also discussed the author's purpose in writing this book. While the book is entertaining, it is also very informative!

Each student gathered information about one type of cloud from the book and wrote a weather report from the point of view of a weather reporter for an audience of children and families who might watch the news. The writing process was used and students planned, wrote, shared with a peer, revised, shared again, and then edited with me before writing a final copy of the project. These will soon be on display in the hall. Be sure to stop in and take a look!

Students are applying their knowledge of the clouds they studied to create clouds to hang in our classroom. This project also reinforces our study of natural resources in science. We have learned that water is a natural resource that is renewable. Clouds are a part of the water cycle! Students also compared and contrasted renewable and nonrenewable resources in science this week.

We are completing our review of the long vowel sounds and will take Spelling Review #6 next Tuesday.

In math we took a quiz on addition with regrouping. Students learned about properties of subtraction, the relationship between addition and subtraction facts, fact families, and using estimation to solve problems that don't need an exact answer and to help determine if an answer is reasonable.

Native American Indians of the Woodlands are the focus in Social Studies.

Thank you to all for attending Parent Teacher Conferences on November 17 and 22! We had 100% attendance! YEA! It was wonderful to meet with each of you to share information about your child's progress and success!

Remember to use the blue MAP goals sheet in your child's conference folder to help your child select appropriate activities on the MAP Test Resources Link on this page. These leveled activities will help your child achieve his/her MAP goals.

Students have new Accelerated Reader levels and goals for the second quarter. The new goals need to be met by Friday, January 20.

In reading this week students read What Do You See In A Cloud? and identified the main idea and supporting details in the book. Students created a diagram of the water cycle using the text features and a following directions assignment. Students began reading The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola and started identifying the main idea and supporting details in the early passages in this book. Students watched a DVD about clouds to enhance their understanding of the subject matter.

In spelling unit 6, students are learning about the patterns of letters that make the long e sound.

In math students worked on addition with regrouping using larger numbers. Students also worked with function tables.

In Science students sorted objects according to the materials of which they are made. Students enjoyed a Brainpop video about Natural Resources.

We completed our read aloud chapter book, The Thanksgiving Treasure by Gail Rock. Be sure to ask your child about this wonderful holiday story!


Enjoy the long holiday weekend!

The Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination was given this week. Students started each day with a light breakfast. Students had the option of choosing peppermint candy or gum to help keep their brains sharp during the testing session, which began at 9:00 each morning.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday students completed the Reading portions of the WKCE. On Thursday and Friday the Math portions were taken. Students gave their best efforts to this test, which is very challenging! Test results will be mailed to you in the spring.

In reading students identified the main idea and supporting details of passages.

In math students worked with the properties of addition and regrouping in addition.

Unit 5 in spelling was completed. The skill focus in the lesson was the sound of o when combined with r.

Students began writing stories for the Southern Lakes Anthology competition. The theme this year is Aha!

In Social Studies students are learning about Native American Indians. Their focus is on Woodland tribes.

Natural Resources is the focus of our new Science unit.

In reading this week students reviewed reading topics for the WKCE test. Students practiced reading short passages and answering multiple choice questions in the format used on the WKCE. Students worked with dictionaries and identified words that would be found on a page using guide words. Students learned about entry words, pronunciation keys, numbered definitions, plural forms, and parts of speech included in dictionary entries.

In math students learned about probability, the properties of addition, estimating sums to help check if answers are reasonable, and regrouping in addition.

In Science students learned about the layers found in the crust of the earth including topsoil, subsoil, and bedrock. Students played a vocabulary matching game to review for the Science test, which was given on Friday.

Students wrote a personal narrative and added this writing to their Memory Books.

Friday, November 11 was the last day of the first quarter!

In Reading students have been working with text features. Students created their own resource books with an alphabetical listing of the text features we have studied and added examples from books and Scholastic News. Students practiced identifying text features in their science text book, in nonfiction articles, and in the chapter book, Rocks and Minerals by Judith Stamper. The Main Idea of nonfiction text is much easier to identify when the reader focuses on all of the text features available to help him/her comprehend!

Students reviewed story elements while reading The Witches' Supermarket  on October 31! They also observed that the text features in fiction texts are much less varied than the text features in nonfiction texts.

Students worked on words with ow/ou and have completed Unit 4 in Spelling.

In Math we have been reviewing math concepts to help prepare for the WKCE test. Students reviewed symmetry, slides, slips, and turns, measuring with inches, measuring with centimeters, the value of coins, counting money, perimeter, area, and fractions.

In Social Studies students are studying different types of maps and how to use maps.

In Science students explored fast and slow changes on Earth's surface, fossils, weathering and erosion. Students are preparing for a Science test which will be given on Friday, November 11. A study guide will be sent home on Monday, November 7.

The WKCE test will be administered during the week of November 11 beginning at 9:00 each day. Please be sure your child gets plenty of rest and has a good breakfast. Please encourage your child to read carefully and do his/her very best on the test each day! Test results will be mailed to you in the Spring.

Parent- Teacher Conferences will be held on November 17 and 22. A note reminding you of the time you signed up for at registration will be sent home on Monday, November 7. Please return the confirmation note and the preconference form by Monday, November 14. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's successes and progress in third grade in the first quarter!

In reading students learned about text features and practiced using text features to help them read and comprehend informational texts. Some of the text features include: titles, headings, subheadings, fact boxes, graphs, tables, table of contents, index, glossary, bold print, italic words, bullets, parentheses. Students read a book called What is Rock? and located text features.

In math students are reviewing math concepts that might be assessed on the WKCE test coming up in November. This week we reviewed coordinates, telling time, plane shapes, three dimensional shapes, and lines of symmetry.

Students took spelling review test #3 and began working on unit #4.

In science students explored the three types of rocks and learned how these types of rocks are formed.

In social studies students worked on using physical maps, using a compass rose on the map, and making maps using a key.

The field trip on Friday provided a great opportunity to review what we have been learning in science. Students identified rocks and used tools to break rocks into pieces. Students learned about a variety of animals including snakes, turtles, ferrets, a squirrel, birds, and many others. Students also had an opportunity to participate in team building games.

Red Ribbon Week is almost upon us! The following are the scheduled events/activities for Red Ribbon Week.

Monday, October 24th, 2011—Kickoff!
This year’s theme is "HERO”—Help, Encourage & Respect Others Drug Free. Students will be getting their red ribbons to wear all week as well as decorating their hero masks which will represent someone who is a hero to them. 

Tuesday, October 25th—”Wear your Hero Day”
Students and staff are encouraged to dress like a “hero”, either fictional (Batman, Wonder Woman), professional (police officer, fire fighter, senator), or personal (parent, grandparent). ALSO…The kitchen will be serving red jello for dessert today!

Wednesday, October 26th—”Wear Red Day”
Students and staff will wear red to show support for a drug-free lifestyle.  Small prizes will be given to each classroom teacher to hand out to all students wearing an item of red.

In reading students reviewed story elements while reading the book, Stop, Drop, and Roll by Margery Cuyler. Students learned that factual information can be communicated through fictional texts. Students used the information learned about fire prevention in this book to write their own Fire Safety Books.

Students learned the spelling patterns for the long a sound and reviewed the spelling patterns for long i and long o.

In math students worked on problem solving using graphs and completed the unit on rounding numbers. Students took the test on comparing numbers, ordering numbers, and rounding.

In science students completed their volcanoes and blew them up! It was clear that a volcanic eruption causes a quick change to the surface of Earth.

On Friday we visited the public library. Children's librarian, Sara Soukup, read a story and explained the library rules. Students who brought their library cards checked out books. Remember that books can be returned to school or to the public library. You will be responsible for overdue fines and lost or damaged books. We will visit the public library once each quarter as a class. Students are encouraged to visit the library often with their families.

Students used graphic organizers in reading this week. Students created word webs to explore the characters of Dogzilla and Kat Kong. Venn diagrams were used to compare and contrast these characters. Students created tables to compare and contrast the story elements in these two stories.

Students took the Spelling Review for Unit 2 and started Spelling Unit 3.

Students wrote personal narratives about their experiences at Agriculture Day on Friday. These personal narratives were added to Memory Books. Students from Badger High School taught third graders from our school about plants, fish, soil, bees, agricultural products, and domesticated animals at Ag Day from 9:00 to 10:00 on Friday morning.

In math class students have been rounding numbers to the tens, hundreds, and thousands. Ask your child about the poem we have learned to help remember the steps in rounding. (Underline the digit, look next door. If it's five or higher, add one more. If it's four or lower, just ignore. Everything to the left stays the same. Everything to the right becomes a zero!) Students will take a test on comparing numbers, ordering numbers, and rounding on Thursday, October 13.

In science students learned more about landforms and began constructing three dimensional volcanoes.

Remember:
Volunteers are needed for the PTO Halloween Hullabaloo. Please return the goldenrod volunteer sheet if you are available.
Thursday, October 13 - Early Release Day.
Thursday, October 13 - Meeting for Third Grade Students and Parents at 6:00 pm in the Multipurpose Room regarding the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam and suggestions for test preparation. All 3rd graders in Wisconsin take the  WKCE in November.
Friday, October 14 - Public Library Visit. Students should bring library cards.
October 17 - Permission slips for the field trip to Timber lee are due.

 
In reading class this week students read Arthur Meets the President by Marc Brown and Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey and identified story elements. Next week students will compare and contrast Dogzilla with another book by Dav Pilkey.

Students have been learning spelling patterns for words with the long o vowel sounds.

In handwriting students have completed their review of manuscript letters and are starting the introductory lessons for cursive handwriting.

Students took the math portion of the MAP test. The MAP test is given in September, January, and May. Your child can access great online practice activities focusing on areas that will help improve the MAP score by using the links at the bottom of this page.

In math class students completed the unit on place value, worked on problem solving using number patterns, and began working on comparing and ordering numbers. Please be sure your child practices addition and subtraction facts.

Field trip permission slips are due October 17.


HALLOWEEN CELEBRATIONS
Central-Denison is offering two ways that students can celebrate Halloween as part of a school event.  On Tuesday, October 25, children may wear costumes to our Family Reading Night, from 5:30-7:30 in the LMC.  Also, a costume contest and other Halloween festivities will be part of our PTO Halloween Hullabaloo on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 4:00-8:00.  Due to these special events, we will not host any Halloween parties on Monday, October 31. This information was shared in the October Central-Denison Newsletter.

This week students read The Scrambled States of America and identified story elements. Students explored a variety of ways to "Read with Someone" including sharing a book, reading page by page, reading paragraph by paragraph, choral reading, and even how to read with a partner who is reading a different book. Helping a partner check for understanding is always important. Students have also learned how to coach a partner who is stuck on a word.

Students took their first Spelling Review. These will be sent home on September 26.

Students published their "If I Were In Charge of the World" poems and created art work to enhance their writing. These projects are on display in the hall at the base of the stairs to our room. Stop in and view this great work!

In math class students explored place value through the thousands place. Students practiced using the less than and greater than symbols to compare the values of numbers. 

On Thursday Mr. and Mrs. Haywood presented pictures and information about their trip to Africa. Their presentation enhanced and reinforced our study of continents and mapping in Social Studies.

Watch for the Timber-lee Field Trip Note coming home on Tuesday. A copy of the note is also available on this web page under Class Files. Family Reading Night Fun October 25

Families that read together learn together! 
You and your family are invited to our first Family Reading Night of the school year, Scare up a Good Book! 5:30–7:30 on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the Library.   Wear costumes if you would like and read Halloween and other stories together.  Enjoy a tasty treat!  Come anytime from 5:30 to 7:30.   Students who attend may enter the raffle to win a book.  Start the school year off right by attending this great night of reading!  Mrs. Wilander will be offering a Family Reading Night every quarter.  Remember to read to your child every day! This message is from Mrs. Wilander, our school librarian.

In reading students read Pepita Talks Twice and identified characters, settings, the problem, and resolution of the problem.

Students learned to use proofreading cards to edit and correct spelling mistakes on spelling and writing assignments. Spelling patterns for words with short vowel sounds were reviewed.

Students brainstormed ideas and created poems using the pattern found in the poem "If I Were In Charge of the World" by Judith Viorst.

In math students worked on place value in the ones, tens, and hundreds places. Students practiced writing numbers with words, in standard form, and in expanded form. Examples: one hundred seventy-three, 173, 100 +70+3  This week we began using our math textbooks to complete assignments. Students learned how to record their answers in a spiral notebook. Please note that our math textbook is available online. Go to the e-books link on the left side of this page.

Students have been doing a great job with their agendas! Homework has been returned on time and students are recording their reading minutes regularly! Thank you, parents, for checking over the agenda each evening and signing or initialing.

Dates to Remember:
September 20 - Picture Re-take Day
September 22 - 5:30pm ESL Family Night
September 29 - 6:00-7:00pm Chicken Soup for the Soul
October 14 - First Public Library Visit
October 22 - Halloween Hullabaloo 4:00 - 8:00