Next week we are having Parent/Teacher Conferences. Let me know as soon as possible if you need to reschedule. I want to get together with every parent to share the many advances each student has made. You can share with me personal insights to help your student reach the many goals of third grade. Today, we had a fascinating hands-on science lesson about DNA. The students worked with codes to figure out how DNA contributed to the attributes of life. In this case the attributes belonged to different breeds of dogs. The third graders will have one more Reed Biology Outreach class.

On December 7^th we will take TriMet to release our salmon. We will need chaperones for this outing. Please let me know if you can accompany our class. It will be bittersweet to say goodbye to the little salmon, which the students studied closely as they emerged from their eggs. At the same time our third graders have been doing an amazing job of researching their particular stage of the salmon cycle. Next, they will create a three-dimensional representation of each stage of the salmon’s life cycle.

We are also writing, reading, and performing poetry this week. Finally, we are enjoying working with two digit addition and subtraction problems. The students quickly understood how to round numbers to the nearest ten in order to do estimation and double check, verify, their computations. In addition, during calendar math the students are examining polygon patterns, and they are using Fahrenheit and Celsius measurements.

Students here are in the tech lab working on the "Master Key" word processing program and practicing their typing skills.  All Room 22 stuedints will be in the lab like this every Monday at 12:30.

Tomorrow, all the teachers will be working on progress reports or report cards for the upcoming Parent/Teacher Conferences.  On Friday, schools will be closed to honor our veterans. Here are some activities for your student:

1. I am sending home today another math homework assignment. It is Bridges Activity 6- Subtraction.

2. I am also sending home a challenge extra credit science project.

3. On IXL, try practicing with two digit addition and subtraction. If ready, move up to three digit addition and subtraction. Other activities to practice would be patterns, time, and money.

4. Your student should still be reading every night at least twenty minutes. Improving reading comprehension is the most important criteria for success in later years.

5. We started working on our classroom Salmon Cycle Projects in technology this week. I shared the websites, which would be helpful for the students to research, and Mr. Lauer placed the websites on the student page for future research.

This assignment extends the work that Reed College Biology Outreach has started by providing us with salmon eggs.  We have been keeping records of the many changes that are taking place in our aquarium. When our salmon Alevin lose their food sacks, we will release them in the Willamette River so they can continue their journey through the many stages of their life cycle.

Congratulations third graders for reaching your goal of 25 marbles!

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     Lewis’s Run for the Arts was a great success last Thursday. It is a great way to raise money for the arts. Plus, the camaraderie and school spirit was palpable.

The students finished painting their portraits last Thursday. They learned proportion and symmetry of the face. Then they experienced the challenge of mixing paint to look like their complexion. Later, I hope to introduce the shading that light produces on the face, which helps to create the three dimensional form of the face.

     In reading, students are practicing summaries of what they are reading in order to improve comprehension. In writing, the children are learning how to write introductions and conclusions for their writing.

    In math, it is very interesting teaching the third graders about a different place value system. This system is based on the base five instead of base ten value system, which gives students many more chances to change from units, five, twenty-five, and then to hundred twenty-five. In addition, the students have to explain what a number’s value is in the base five number system. I sent home on Monday the usernames and passwords for the IXL math program. I hope that you will encourage your child to use this website two or three times a week to improve his or her skills.

     Monday, October 3 is my daughter’s birthday. Well it will be, but more importantly the third grade team have decided that a fall celebration would be great to acknowledge this time of the year. If you could send a small apple with your child on Thursday or Friday before Halloween, I will know how many apples that I will need to pick up over the weekend. We will be dunking the apples into liquid caramel for the occasion.

    The salmon are coming! The salmon are coming!

Yes, the Reed College students are bringing the salmon eggs to our classroom this week. Our class will observe the life cycle of a salmon, taking place right here in our class.

    On Monday students changed seats, moving 

to different table groups. This gives the children many opportunities to work with a variety of their peers.

   Leveled spelling groups started this week. This is a hands-on program, which provides daily practice with the spelling patterns that your child missed on a pretest.

    The next math homework will go home Thursday, October 6^th.  This will be due on Monday, October 9^th. It is an addition challenge game with a worksheet that explores the relationship between addition and subtraction.

    Finally, our class is volunteering for “Cafeteria Duty” this week. We will have a new group of students participating in two weeks because we exchanged these time slots with a fellow teacher.   

         Thank you for coming to Lewis’s Open House last Thursday. It was a pleasure to meet with all the parents. I had the opportunity to learn more about your child while you learned more about your child’s classroom.  Above are some examples of poetry and watercolors created by our third graders displayed in the hallway outside of our classroom.

One question came up the most, which was concerning homework. I appreciate your patience regarding math homework, but with the new math adoption, it was important that the students had covered all of the aspects of the first homework assignment. On Friday I will be sending home the first math assignments in booklet form. Solving Addition Facts. The book is designed to be informative for the parents while reviewing what your child has done in class. The parent letter asks you to read the booklet with your child. Then send the Home Connection Sheet back to school after you have signed it. There are some story problems to be done in the booklet. The completed booklet will be due the following Friday, October 7^th.

This month our independent reading focus was “Biographies”. If your child has not handed in a reading response sheet for this month, this sheet will go home with the math booklet. 

On Wednesday I used the new Dibels reading fluency assessment. I will use the results to form updated reading groups. I also gave baseline spelling tests. I will analyze the results and then form spelling groups.

       I will post what is our regular schedule outside of the classroom. Please look it over. Monday and Thursdays are P.E. days. Please check that your child has appropriate shoes. Finally, I suggested that the students bring a large towel for our stretching activities, which are done on the gym floor.

The link to my new website above is incorrect. The correct link is:
www.aletarossthirdgrade.posterous.com
Sorry for the error. Aleta.

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Last week I posted my notes on my new web site.  If there is no link on the Lewis website, you can to there directly via this link: www.aletarossthridgrade.posterous.com

The new website will be fun because I can share pictures of what the students are doing in the classroom and on field trips.  If you do not want your child’s picture shared, please let me know at our Open House this Thursday night starting at 6pm.

Your student should be coming home with a letter today inviting you to the Open House.  Please do come, as it will mean so much to your child.  At the Open House I will share our new math program (Bridges), updated homework and classroom rules and schedules. 

Last Friday, the third grade students were very excited when I brought a pig’s brain into the class to share.  Many of the students were fascinated; a few were repulsed at first. However, none of the students will forget the day their third grade teacher brought a pig’s brain to class.

In Writing, the students are learning to identify and write topic and supportive detail sentences.  In addition, they are writing poems called “I Remember”.   They are using laptops for word processing.  I am hoping to have all the poems ready to share at Open House.

I have given the students the math baseline assessment and this week each student will demonstrate his or her accuracy and comprehension during an individual reading assessment.  I will use these evaluations to help place students in reading groups and to send home focused math homework.

This month the third graders are studying all about their brains. This science unit is an introduction for all of our upcoming health lessons. Our school counselor will start the health lessons next Monday, making connections to the brain.

    I am teaching P.E. this year on Mondays and Thursdays. My grading for this class is based on participation and good sportsmanship. (It should be sportspersonship.) The students spend ten minutes stretching, five minutes running around the field, then twenty minutes playing or learning a new game.

     If you have not turned in the registration forms, please get them in as soon as possible. I will be out of the classroom for part of next Wednesday and all day next Thursday for the new required fluency assessment called DIBELS. I missed the classes last year because I was teaching a fourth/fifth grade class.