Mr. Wasil’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.

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.

Friday- Scholastic book orders due if ordering

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, March 8th -  Spelling- pages61-63  due by Thursday.  Math- Pages 258-259

Tuesday, March 9th - Math- page 262 and Reading- read Papa Tells Chita A Story on pages 16-31.

Wednesday, March 10th - Reading- study for vocabulary test.  Spelling- due tomorrow. Math- look over review guide completed in class today for Fractions test tomorrow.

Thursday, March 11th - Spelling- study for test Math- simple solutions 100-101. Science- bring in a slinky if you have one for science.

Friday, March 12th-

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.

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 later this week 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

Thursday- Store from 2:45-3:30

Friday-Waiver Day-No School

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday,  March 1st-  Reading- look over skills pretest from class today and study for tomorrow’s test and bring in book for tomorrow’s Read Across America Day.  Math- page 254 worksheet. Science RS51-52 due by Wednesday and bring in 1 or 2 match box racing cars if possible.

Tuesday, March 2nd -Reading- look over pre-writing test from class today for persuasive writing test tomorrow. Science- due by tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 3rd - Math-

Thursday, March 4th - Math-

Friday, March 5th- No School Today- In-Service Day for Teachers

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 whichfriends 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 andFables, 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.

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.

Extras

Friday- Cultural Arts Assembly at 2:00 PM

No School Next Friday, March 5^th due to Teacher In-service Day

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, February 22nd -  Spelling- pages 56-58 due by Thursday.  Math- homelink 8.1 . Science pages RS49-50 due by Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 23rd -Math- Reading- read Sayings We Share Story on pages 390-403. Science due tomorrow.

Wednesday, February24th - Reading- study for vocabulary test.  Math-

Thursday, February 25th - Math- Spelling- study for test

Friday, February 26th-

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 by Thursday. 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! Mrs. Yantorn, our reading intervention specialist, will be reading to the students the story of Ruby Bridges for Black History month.

Extras

Monday-No School President’s Day

Tuesday-Open House 6:30-7:30

Thursday- Crazy Hair Day Today for Ramona Quimby Age 8 chapter book

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, February 15th -  No School- President’s Day

Tuesday, February 16th -NO HOMEWORK due to Open House Tonight- 6:30-7:30 in Mr. Wasil’s Room

Wednesday, February 17th - - Math-Simple Solutions pages 94-95. Language Arts Page 50. Look over review guide for test tomorrow.

Thursday, February 18th - Math-

Friday, February 19th -

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 whichfriends 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 on, 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.

No School Next Monday the 15th- President’s Day

Next Tuesday the 16th- Open House from 6:30-7:30- all welcome

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, February 8th -  Spelling- pages 53-55 due by Thursday. Math- Simple Solutions pages 86-87. Social Studies- study for quiz on Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 9th - Math- Skills Link 88-89. Reading- read Ramona Forever Pages 358-381. Social Studies- study for quiz.

Wednesday, February 10th - Math- skills link 90-91 Reading- study for vocabulary test

Thursday, February 11th - Math- Spelling- study for test

Friday, February 12th-

Reading/Language Arts

This week we will be reading Centerfield Ballhawk on pages 332-349. In this realistic fiction story, young Jose Mendez is a terrific centerfielder but a weak hitter.  When his father calls him a “born outfielder”,  Jose realizes he is a hit with his father. As we read the story, students will be: learning new vocabulary, sequencing, summarizing, compound words, antonyms, drawing conclusions, following directions, and combining words. Pronouns will be the subject of our grammar lessons this week. This week our spelling pattern will be: words with the “oo” sound.

Our end of selection test and vocabulary test will be on Thursday and our spelling test will be on Friday. Students will bring their books home on Tuesday night to reread the story. You can access the spelling words by going to the left side of this page and click on the category spelling lists. Remember, students can also listen to the story at home by clicking on the category- reading stories read aloud on the left side of our web page.

Math

We will be starting a new unit in math on Monday with division and multiplication. Unit 7 extends the basic multiplication and division skills children learned in the first half of the year. The skills developed in this unit are useful in their own right, but are also important requisites for the use of estimation and calculators and for the development of multiplication and division algorithms. Unit 7 has four main areas of focus:

· To review multiplication and division patterns

· To extend basic multiplication facts

· To practice making estimates of costs

· To explore ratios and geometric figures

We will cover the following sections: 7.1- patterns and products, 7.2- multiplication facts survey, 7.3- fact power and 7.4- number models with parentheses. Also, we will be time testing over the factor of 12. Students need to know up to 12 x 9. We will be learning how to do cross multiply as the week goes on.

Social Studies

Students will be able to describe how the past, present, and future are all connected and identify how communities change over time. The class will also be able to understand how people help communities grow and identify how people create change. We will be working on projects that will be displayed during Open House. On Thursday the students will understand that inventions cause changes in many different areas. We will also identify inventions that have changed communication, transportation, and daily living.

Extras- Friday- Scholastic Book orders due by if ordering.

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, February 1st -  Spelling- pages 50-52 due by Thursday. Math- Simple Solutions pages 78-79. Report Card Envelopes- sign and return envelope only.

Tuesday, February 2nd -Math- Simple Solutions pages 80-81. Reading- read Centerfield Story on pages 332-349

Wednesday, February 3rd - Math-.simple solutions 82-82.  Social Studies- page 45 sheet Reading- study for vocabulary test

Thursday, February 4th - Math-simple solutions pages 84-85. Social Studies- pages 50-51  Spelling- study for test

Friday, February 5th-

Reading/Language Arts

***There will be no spelling words or story this week due to Open House activities, the 4 day week and our Read-A-Thon day on Friday. This week we will continue with our Koko’s Kitten book reports. The students are doing a nice job writing a five paragraph report on this book. You will see all of their efforts on this displayed at open house on February 16^th from 6:30-7:30.

We will also start a writing assignment called If I Were President. Each student will write about what they would do if they were President. This is always entertaining and fun to read. These too will be displayed at open house.

Math

We will complete chapter six this week and test on Wednesday. The class will complete a review guide on Tuesday and bring it home with them to study.

Social Studies

Students will be able to describe how the past, present, and future are all connected. Identify how communities change over time. We will also create colonial alphabets on a horn book!

Gumball Reward

Our class has reached their goal of 100 gumballs! We will have our big day Friday. Students may, but are NOT required to, bring in sleeping bags, pillows, pajamas, slippers, stuffed animals, and LOTS of books! Games are also allowed on this day and please remember that students are responsible for their own items. If you would like, you may also donate snacks for the class to eat in the afternoon with the movie. This should be a fun day!!

Extras- Friday - Family Bingo Night- 6:30-8:30

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, January 25th -  No School- Record’s Day For Teachers

Tuesday, January 26th -Math- look over review guide for tomorrow. Reading- page 17 subjects and predicates

Wednesday, January 27th - Math-. Simple Solutions pages 74-75. Language Arts- Balto edit worksheet.

Thursday, January 28th - Math- Simple Solutions 76-77. Language Arts- Julian Tells edit sheet

Friday, January 29th- Read-A-Thon Day Today

Reading/Language Arts

There is no spelling words or story this week due to the 4 day week. This week we will be reading the story Koko’s Kitten by Dr. Francine Patterson. Children love pets, and Koko the gorilla is no exception. When her keeper asks her what she wants, Koko insistently replies–in American Sign Language–”Cat, cat, cat.” Enter All Ball, a tiny kitten abandoned at birth, who isn’t afraid of anything–even a 500-pound primate. This amazing true story captivates young listeners.

Along with this story our class will be writing their first book report. As we begin the second half of this school year, we continue to emphasize the importance of writing in the third grade curriculum. Beginning with this third-quarter grading period, all third grade students will be required to complete a monthly written book report. A letter will be coming home shortly to describe the criteria as to what must be included in each book report. The first book report will be due the first Friday of March.

Math

Students will be able to review the meaning of symmetry; and to explore properties of symmetric shapes. They will also explore congruent figures. The class will work with 3-D shapes and prisms.

Social Studies

Our social studies test will be on Thursday. Please use the half sheet review guide  sent home today so that you know which pages to look over. We will also be working on our timelines this week. Please make sure all pictures are in by Wednesday.

Extras

Friday-End of grading period. Report cards will come home next Friday the 29th.

No school next Monday due to records day.

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, January 18th -  No School

Tuesday, January 19th -Math- Simple Solutions pages 68-69. Social Studies- start studying for test on Thursday. Use study guides that came home today.

Wednesday, January 20th - Math-. Simple Solutions pages 70-71.  Social Studies- study for tomorrow’s test.

Thursday, January 21st -Language Arts- review page 46 and Math- Simple Solutions pages 72-73

Friday, January 22nd- NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY THE 25th- Records Day for Teachers

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 The Talent Show on pages 306-321. In this realistic fiction story, Beany is anxious about the upcoming talent show. After a talk with her father, Beany realizes the most important thing is to have fun.

As we read the story, students will be: learning new vocabulary, prefixes and suffixes, sequencing, and drawing conclusions. Abbreviations will be the subject of our grammar lessons this week.

For writing this week, we will be doing descriptive paragraphs. We will create a class sculpture and describe it. What is different about this is the students are not allowed to say it is a chair. They must say something like, “It is a yellow four-legged object that you sit on.” When the class is all done, these descriptions will come home to you for you to draw! You will all get an opportunity to see the sculpture and drawings at Open House.

Math

We start the week off by exploring different types of triangles. Next, we will work with quadrangles by discussing right angles, parallel, and equal at length. We will also review the characteristics of polygons, emphasizing regular polygons. The rest of the week will be spent with angles. The students should continue to study their multiplication facts. We will be on our 9’s this week.

Social Studies

Landforms will be our discussion this week. Landform maps show mountains, valley, plains, plateaus, lakes, and other physical features.We will discuss why a landform map would be useful planning a trip to a lake or mountain range. We will identify ways that physical characteristics of the environment affect and have been modified by the local community.

Extras

Monday-PSO meeting today.

Wednesday- Scholastic book orders due today if ordering

Wednesday-Students in the arts entry deadline if participating.

Martin Luther King Day**No school on the 18^th.

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, January 11th -  Spelling pages 47-49 due by Thursday. Math- Simple Solutions 60-61

Tuesday, January 12th -Math- Simple Solutions pages 62-63. Reading- take book home and read Talent Show on pages 306-321.

Wednesday, January 13th - Math- Simple Solutions pages 64-64. Social Studies- review guide pages 29-30 and Reading- study for vocabulary test.

Thursday, January 14th - Spelling- study for test. Math- home link 6.7 and study for 9’s this week

Friday, January 15th- NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY THE 18TH- MLK DAY

Reading/Language Arts

This week we begin 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.

Our work in this unit will begin by reading The Stories Julian Tells on pages 284-299. In this realistic fiction story, Julian meets Gloria, a new girl in his neighborhood. Together they make a “wish kite” with wishes fastened to its tail; both wish for lasting friendship.

As we read the story, students will be: learning new vocabulary, sequencing, and multiple meaning words. Plural possessive nouns will be the topic of our grammar lessons this week.

Our spelling pattern will be: possessive and plurals. This pattern can be very hard for some children as we incorporate apostrophes into our spelling. Please spend a few nights with them going over their words learning the proper spelling and usage.

Math

In previous grades, Everyday Mathematics proceeded from children’s experiences with everyday world to idealized 3-dimensional shapes. Children were asked to identify 2-dimenstional shapes, edges, and vertices (corners) within these idealized shapes. Thus, the progressions in previous grades were from 3-dimensional to 2-dimensional. Beginning with this unit, the order is reversed. Children start with points and then move on to line segments, rays, and line. Then they explore the relations among segments, rays, and lines as well as the geometric figures that can be built from them, including angles, polygons, and frames for prisms and pyramids. Unit 6 has three main areas of focus:

· To investigate line segments, rays, and lines

· To explore polygons, including triangles and quadrangles

· To draw and measure angles.

Social Studies

Students will identify the location of the equator, Arctic Circle, Antarctic Circle, North Pole, South Pole, Prime Meridian, The Tropics and Hemispheres on maps and globes. The class will also be able to describe the relative location of places. We will finish the week with identifying and describing landforms, climate, vegetation, population, and economic characteristics of our local community.

Homework: Will be updated daily as assigned.

Monday, January 4th -  Spelling pages 44-46 due by Thursday. Math- Simple Solutions pages 56-57.

Tuesday, January 5th -Math- home link 6.1 and Reading- take book home and read Julian Tells on pages 284-299.

Wednesday, January 6th - Math-home link 6.2 Reading- study for vocabulary test.

Thursday, January 7th - Spelling- study for test. Math- Simple Solutions 58-59 and study for 8’s this week. Social Studies- page 24.

Friday, January 8th-