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October 11, 2013 Highlights from our week....

Field Trip Volunteers Needed! The third graders have two very exciting field trips coming up! On Thursday, October 17th, we will walk to Thompson Park to observe changes in our trees. We will leave Windermere around 9:30 and return by 11:00. On Friday, October 25, the third grade classes are going on a Field Trip to High Banks Metro Park. We will be leaving school around 9:00 a.m. and we would return around 1:00 p.m.! Please let me know if you are interested in chaperoning for either field trip. Both promise to be wonderful experiences for the students and we are very excited! The Importance of Reading Aloud.... STILL! Your child is now an independent reader! Isnt it wonderful that he/she can sit and enjoy a book independently? Yes, it is! In our classroom, we read daily and the students have time to discuss what they are reading in reading group, with me, and with classmates. However, a very critical part of our reading time is me reading aloud to them. We are currently reading Stone Fox. Reading aloud allows us to have rich conversations as a class about predicting, comprehending, inferring, vocabulary, descriptive language, etc. I encourage you to take time to read aloud at home, too! Even though your child can read independently, listening to reading is still beneficial. Any literature that is read aloud-- picture books, nonfiction books, chapter books, news articles, etc.-- is an opportunity for fluency and expression to be modeled. Discussions about the book or text that you read aloud are great opportunities for your child to predict, comprehend, and learn vocabulary words. And, what better bonding time could there be then the shared joy in reading a great book? Word Study As we read aloud and work in small groups, vocabulary continues to be a priority. Finding words within the text that are unfamiliar and unknown happens frequently in reading. Having the skills to think of and try other synonyms within the text helps us to make an attempt at the words meaning. Using context clues to help learn new vocabulary words is an essential skill in so many areas. The students are beginning to do this more independently and more automatically. Writing Have you thought about a family member or family friend who would be a great pen pal for your child? Next week, we will begin planning a letter that we will write to your childs pen pal. These letters will be a great experience for letter writing and paragraph writing. Next week, I will ask for the name and address of your childs pen pal.

Math We just finished chapter two about mental math and estimation. Students completed the end of chapter two assessment and that information will be shared next week. Chapter three is about addition up to 10,000. In this chapter, students will learn to add two four-digit numbers with or without regrouping. We will begin with hands-on experiences using base-ten blocks and a place-value chart. More information about these new math concepts will come home next week. Socks Needed Each student should bring in an old sock that can be destroyed. We will be cracking open geodes soon and putting the geode into an old sock is helpful.

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather! See you at Fall Family Night, Noelle