Mrs. Kucharski’s 3rd Grade Class

Reading/Language Arts
          In reading this week, we will begin working on Theme 4: Tell Me a Story. In this theme, students learn that storytelling takes many forms and serves many purposes. As they read stories and meet storytellers from around the world, they discover new ways to tell their own stories.
          The first story of our new theme will be: Papa Tells Chita A Story. In this historical fiction piece, Chita loves to hear Papa’s story of his adventures during the Spanish-American War. How much of the story is true?
          Our skills this week will include: learning new vocabulary, summarization, word structure, figurative language, word derivations, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, and antonyms. Our grammar lessons will focus on adjectives. This week our spelling pattern will be: words with /or/.
 

Math
            Students will demonstrate naming quantities greater than 1 with fractions and mixed numbers. We will also continue to work on story problems that involve fractions. On Wednesday, we will complete a study guide on chapter 8 and test on Thursday. Store will be on Thursday too.
 

Science
            We will be working with marbles this week to see what effect force will have on an object’s motion.  Students will observe the motion of different kinds of waves, define waves, and describe their motion. They will also identify parts of a wave. We finish the week by creating Leprechaun Traps! Any “junk” lying around the house that your child can bring in would be appreciated. Ideas are: paper towel rolls, empty containers, tin foil, little boxes of various shapes and sizes, scrap paper, string, sandwich bags, etc. The class will think about strategies they will use to create their trap. They will use force and motion while creating their trap!
 

Extras
Monday-PSO meeting at 9:30.
Thursday-Store
 

Reading/Language Arts

            This week the students will take a Language Arts Assessment Test. It will consist of prefixes and suffixes, drawing conclusions, following directions, sequencing, plural possessive nouns, abbreviations, singular and plural pronouns, subject pronouns, and object pronouns. We will take a pretest on this Monday and it will come home with your child to study with. Also on Monday, the students will write a persuasive letter using proper parts of a letter. This will come home on Monday along with a direction sheet on how to set up a letter correctly. (Heading, greeting, body, closing, signature) On Tuesday, we will have the Language Arts Assessment Test. Tuesday is also Read Across America Day! I will encourage the class to bring in their favorite book to share with the class on this day. On Wednesday, we will take the writing portion of this test based on persuasive and letter writing. Last week we wrote silly poems and will share these in a presentation form on Thursday.

Math

            We begin the week with working on equivalent fractions. Each child will cut out fraction cards from their journals to use as a visual when comparing. We will also play an equivalent fractions game and fraction top it to apply what has been taught. Towards the end of the week, students will take this knowledge to work on story problems that involve fractions.

Science

            Our class will compare hotwheel/matchbox cars to the cars we created in class. If you have any at home that could be sent to school for the day it would be great! They will compare strength, direction, mass, weight, movement, force, and friction. The fun begins on Tuesday when each group gets a chance to design their own car to see which one will travel the farthest and fastest. We do this in the hallway and mark the results with stickers on the floor. This information is then shared in the classroom on a graph. Another activity we will do involves marbles. Students will use 5 marbles along with a large marble to determine what effect force will have on an object’s motion.

Extras

Friday-Waiver Day-No School

**Book reports due by Monday, March 8^th.
 

Reading/Language Arts
            This week, we will complete our third theme in reading: Friends to Grow With. In this unit, students have observed how people grow and change through their relationships with others. By reading about ways in which friends and family influence real people and fictional characters, students will recognize how people influence each other.
          This week we will by reading Sayings We Share: Proverbs and Fables, by Norma Tong Lee. The sayings and fables in this selection represent oral traditions from Vietnam, Africa, ancient Greece, the United States, and elsewhere. The wisdom found in this literature has survived generations, contributing to the growth and survival of cultures all over the world. Similar messages are found throughout despite their place of origin.
          As we read the story, students will be learning: new vocabulary, narrative elements, root words, word relationships, and multiple meaning words. Object pronouns will be the subject of our grammar lessons this week. The class will also work on writing a persuasive letter this week. This week our spelling pattern will be: words with the /ar/ sound.
            We are almost done reading Ramona Quimby Age 8. Stay tuned to what our fad is going to be this week!
 

Math
            We begin chapter 8 this week in math. Students will be able to use fractions for naming a and b equal parts of an object or group of objects. We will also make predictions based on outcomes and construct situations that meet given conditions. The week concludes with more fractions by exploring fractional relationships, spatial relationships, and combinations.
 

Science
            The class will investigate the motion of an object sliding down a ramp. Next, we will define and describe force and weight. Students will design a vehicle using directions and explore K’NEX building pieces. With these K’NEX cars they will demonstrate the concept of pulling a vehicle with unbalanced forces. On Friday, we will add blocks to vehicle to investigate the effect of a load motion. Measure the time it takes for a loaded vehicle to move a given distance, add force to move the vehicle, investigate friction with a load.
 

Reading/Language Arts
            This week we will be reading Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary. Ramona begins third grade at a new school determined to do her share for the family. With her mother working and her father back at college, Ramona has to go to Howie’s grandmother’s after school; her job is to be nice to Howie’s pesty little sister, and she tries hard. She also helps older sister Beezus improvise a Sunday dinner–they’re grateful that it’s edible, despite the mess in the kitchen. But Ramona gets egg on her face in class when her mother sends a raw, rather than a hard-boiled egg with her lunch. Later that day she hears her teacher refer to her as a show-off and nuisance. Another time, trying hard not to be a nuisance, she suffers silently though feeling bad . . . until she throws up right in class. But Ramona and her teacher finally straighten out the nuisance remark, and though the family has its money worries and its cranky days, things are never so bad that a Sunday dinner at the Whopperburger can’t cheer them up. As always, Ramona’s thought processes are amusing, touching, and revealing. Once more, Cleary shows us life through Ramona’s eyes and shows her young readers that they are not alone.
 

Math
            Chapter 7 will finish this week and we will test on Friday. Look for a review guide to come home on this chapter.

 Science
            We begin our unit on forces and motion this week! We will learn WHAT IS MOTION- to investigate different kinds of motion, identify and describe types of motion, and define speed. We will also investigate the motion of an object sliding down a ramp and define and describe force and weight. Many hands on activities will be done with this unit!
 

Reading/Language Arts
          This week, we will continue our third theme in reading: Friends to Grow With. In this unit, students will be observing how people grow and change through their relationships with others. By reading about ways in which friends and family influence real people and fictional characters, students will recognize how people influence each other.
          This week we will by reading a chapter of the book Ramona Forever, by Beverly Cleary. In this realistic fiction story, Ramona’s mother has a new baby, and her concerns are cured with extra doses of affection from her parents.
          As we read the story, students will be: learning new vocabulary, prefixes, suffixes, root words, synonyms, following directions, drawing conclusions, and literary forms. Subject pronouns will be the subject of our grammar lessons. This week our spelling pattern will be: words with the /ar/ sound. Please spend a few nights with them going over their words learning the proper spelling and usage.
 

Math
            We have been working on parenthesis in number models and will continue to do so this week by applying to how you score in basketball. The students will learn to multiple 1-digit numbers by multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000 and divide such multiples by 1-digit numbers.  Another skill will be determining when an estimate is appropriate and practice making estimates. We end the week by multiplying multiples of 10 by multiples of 10. Please encourage your child to continue studying their multiplication facts.
 

Social Studies
            Chapter 5 was a short chapter in which lessons one through three were covered from our standards. The students will take a quiz on this chapter on Wednesday. A review guide will come home on Monday to use for studying with.
 

Extras
Monday-PSO Meeting
Thursday-COSI here at Highland
Friday-Valentine’s Day Parties starting at 2:30.
Next Monday-No School-President’s Day
Next Tuesday-Open House from 6:30-7:30