Week of November 1

 Highlights from last week:

• The pajama / fall fun day was a hit! I took a few pictures and sent them on ClassDojo.

Moving into November:

• There will be no school on Wednesday, November 10, for staff professional development.  (We're going to train on a new supplemental math software that I'm really excited about!)
• There will be no school on Thursday, November 11, for Veterans' Day! 
• Thanksgiving break will be the week of November 22.

Important academic notes for next week:

• We're moving into the 5 times table, so you might want to provide extra recitation of the threes, fours, and fives, or flashcard practice at home. We recite them in class frequently and play games with flash cards.  While I do not assign much homework, those are so important in math.  You could play "Minute to Win It," seeing how many math fact flash cards your student could answer correctly in 60 seconds, then try to increase that number over time.  Just a suggestion. 
• Science quiz Monday.  (study guide in center of take home folders)
• Language quiz Tuesday 

1. adding apostrophe -s as in "dog's bone" 
2. abbreviations for days of the week, months of the year, titles of respect such as Mr., Mrs., Dr.

• History quiz Tuesday
• History test Thursday, chapters 10-13.  Watch for study guides.
• Spelling trial on Thursday, list 11.
• Spelling final on Friday.
• Bible memory:  "I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High." Psalm 9:2

Week of October 25

Important notes for this week:

• Masks still needed.
• Water bottles still encouraged.
• Report cards Monday.
• Fall Festival this Friday, the 29th.  Each class will give out treats to the other classes as they visit from room to room.  I'll be passing out baggies of Swedish Fish. The Bible verse to go along with them is Matthew 4:19  (the "fishers of men" verse.) I have this covered;  just letting you know.
• Pajama Day for fall festival.  (Be sure that your kiddo still brings shoes for PE and recess.)
• The students will not have school on Wednesday, November 10 and Thursday, November 11. (Professional development and Veterans' Day, respectively)

Academics (subject to change, as needed):

• Language Test Monday 
• History Quiz Monday (study guide went home last week)
• Spelling List 10 homework Tuesday, trial test Thursday.  Final test Friday, as usual.
• Bible memory:  "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart:  I will shew forth all thy marvelous works."  Psalm 9:1
• Science quiz Friday (study guide should come home ahead of time)

Week of October 18

 Highlights from last week:

• Batman visited us and told us to never give up and always do the right thing.
• We finished our reading book, "My New Song."  The class seemed to enjoy it and frequently volunteered to read aloud.  
• The class earned a special "movie time" for next week, by entering the classroom quietly and following procedures like walking quietly in the hallway. (More on that later.)

Quizzes and tests coming up this week:

Monday:  Language quiz (singular and plural nouns, common and proper nouns)

                Science quiz (review sheet came home Friday)

Thursday:  Science test on chapter 4 (review sheet coming home Monday over chapter 4. The curriculum often schedules a quiz with a test 2 lessons later.)

                 Spelling trial, list 9.  Here's the link to the spelling city list:   https://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=77323452

Friday:  Bible memory (Psalm 56:11  "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.")

              Spelling (for those who didn't earn an A on trial)

              Math test (Be sure to be working on the 2, 3, and 4 times tables!)

Other important things this week:

• fundraiser calendar due Monday!
• early dismissal Wednesday!
• end of first 9 weeks Thursday!

Week of October 11

Happy fall!  I hope you've had the chance to enjoy the pleasant temperatures.  Here are a few notes about third grade:

The first real "big" test in history went pretty well.  It took a while for most to finish, but that should improve with experience.  Kudos for helping your child prepare at home for things like that!  I do as much as I can at school, and we're busy all day long.  Sometimes, a little extra studying at home is needed.

This week:

• Language test on Monday.  It will cover distinguishing singular from plural, and  making plural nouns with the -y to i and add -es rule, as well as the -f or -fe to -ves rule.
• Math quiz on Thursday. (the usual cumulative material that includes multiplying by 2,3, and 4, as well as division.   It also has a couple of questions on calculating perimeter.)
• Bible Memory on Friday: "for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b
• Spelling test, list 8, on Friday. (trial still on Thursday)  These are words from previous lists.

On Friday, I sent home a paper with the new Bible verse and spelling list. I'm planning on new take home folders with a section in the middle for the current Bible memory and spelling list.  

Our in-school literature fair is this Wednesday.  Though it isn't required until fourth grade, I will take them to see the displays so that they can have an idea of what they'll do next year.

🍂 Calendar fundraiser papers are due back on the 18th. Please help!

🍂 2-hour early release on October 20.

🍂 October 21 is the end of the first 9-week period.

🍂 Please continue to send a water bottle with your child.  We're still trying to avoid the water fountain.  

Week of October 4

 Memory Verse:

"For by it the elders obtained a good report."  Hebrews 11:2

Spelling list is number 7.  I had been having the students make flash cards in class, but since many weren't using them, and some said they didn't help, we won't do them this week.  If you want, you can make your own at home with 3"x5" index cards. 

Spelling City is a website you may already be familiar with.  There are games to play that have our words in them.  It's now ready to go.  Here's the link:

https://www.spellingcity.com/users/MrsBrammer

Other quizzes and tests:

• Language quiz 3 on Monday.  It will cover making plural nouns with the -y to i and add -es rule, as well as the four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative)
• Science practice quiz on Tuesday over pages 59-80.
• Science practice test on Thursday over chapter 3.  (As a reminder, if labelled "practice," it is not intended for a full-weight grade; however, if all goes well, I may use it for a classwork grade, so that they get credit for doing the work.)
• Math test on Wednesday (the usual cumulative material that includes addition, subtraction, some money counting, parallel lines, perpendicular lines, and shapes of pentagon, rhombus, and trapezoid).
• History practice quiz on Wednesday over pages 70-90 in book, mostly about Benjamin Franklin.
• History test on Friday, over pages 55-90.  The continents and oceans will be on it, too, but we've been over and over those in class. Note: This one is NOT labelled "practice." The students will bring home a copy of this study guide, but here it is again in a link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TofnBsFDx-nvYNOQnDzfCOn4NQjaJYa4fGN_j6bz-9w/edit?usp=sharing
• Bible Memory (above) on Friday.
• Spelling test, list 7, on Friday. (trial still on Thursday) 

Other important dates:

• October 6: t-shirt and hoodie orders due.
• October 13: NLCA literature fair (optional for third grade. If your child is participating, please send me a Dojo message or email.)
• October 18:  school fundraiser (the calendar format) due.