I hope you've had a fantastic week. The students have enjoyed the different dress-up days for homecoming, and I know many of them are looking forward to going to the game this evening. Elian did a wonderful job serving at Mass for the first time this past Wednesday. Next Wednesday, Ty will be serving at Mass for the first time. 

Below you will find a reminders for next week, a recap of this week, and what we will be focusing on next week in class. If you have any questions, please let me know.

* Students should bring a sweatshirt or jacket with them each day now that the weather has turned much cooler.

Monday 9/26: Library; Please send back library books.

Tuesday 9/27: PE, Faith Formation, and Music; Midterms will be sent home.

Wednesday 9/28: Pride Day for Mass; Ty serves at Mass; Faith Formation

Thursday 9/29: PE and Music

Friday 9/30: Pride Day dress; PE; Early dismissal at 1:05 p.m.

Recap of This Week:

Math: Both grades spent time reviewing addition and subtraction (3rd grade up to 1,000; 4th grade up to 1,000,000) in word problems. The trickiest ones for 3rd graders were the two-step problems. We also reviewed what we had already learned about rounding, estimating, and place value. All students took their math tests this week. Their tests were sent home today. To end the week, the students were introduced to our next unit in math. 3rd graders will be focusing on how to read and interpret graphs as well as different ways to represent data. 4th graders will be learning how to multiply by 1-digit numbers.

Reading: We spent the week analyzing characters in different stories. Our class began by focusing on outside traits (physical characteristics; things you can see with your eyes about the character). Then we focused on those internal traits (thoughts, feelings, personality traits) that you can't see on the outside. Students practiced analyzing a character's thoughts, feelings, and actions to determine what character traits he/she had. They also practiced identifying a character's feelings and explaining how those feelings changed throughout the story. Over the course of the week, the students read leveled passages to practice these skills. We finished the week by playing a game called "Character Scoot". The students went around the classroom with a partner and practiced identifying character traits on task cards. Each card had a short paragraph. The students had to use what they had learned this week to identify the trait the character displayed.

Spelling/Phonics: The students continued to work on their spelling skills from last week. The favorite activity of the week was the Speed Sort. They had to beat the 1-minute timer to correctly sort their words as a group. We have now transitioned to our 7-day cycle where the daily activities will be different from group to group. All groups will complete similar activities with their different skills, but they won't all be doing the same thing each day. Each of our 5 groups took their spelling tests. If your child took his/her test on Wednesday or Thursday, those tests were sent home yesterday or today. If your child took his/her test today, it will come home on Monday.

Grammar: The students practiced singular and plural nouns. Our main focus was on irregular plural nouns where a vowel is changed or the noun doesn't change at all when it becomes plural (examples: tooth - teeth; deer - deer). 

Writing: The students planned and drafted an opinion paragraph about which animal would make the best pet. The students began by researching facts about the animal they picked on PebbleGo which is an online encyclopedia that we have access to through the AEA. They founds facts about the animal that could be used to support their opinions. Once they took those notes, we learned about how to create topic sentences and supporting reasons for our paragraphs. Last, we learned how to add a closing sentence that reminds the readers of our opinion without being identical to the topic sentence. All students have a rough draft of their paragraphs completed.

Science: We finally have four finished roller coasters! The students were able to complete their paper roller coasters, and all 4 of them passed the marble test. The marble had to go from the start to end of the roller coaster 3 times in a row to pass the test. Once all groups passed the test, the students enjoyed disassembling (aka: destroying) their roller coasters. See the pictures below of their completed roller coasters.

3rd Grade Math: We will begin our lessons on interpreting and representing data. The lessons will include: Organizing Data in a Table, Using Picture Graphs, Making Picture Graphs, Using Bar Graphs, and Making Bar Graphs.

4th Grade Math: We will begin our lessons on multiplying by 1-digit numbers. The lessons will include: Modeling Multiplication Comparisons, Solving Comparison Problems (2-day lesson), Multiplying by Tens, Hundreds, and Thousands, and Estimating Products.

Reading: Our unit on character analysis will continue. Our focus will be comparing and contrasting characters on a deeper level (ex: Not just saying: Robby is a boy, and Jenny is a girl.) We will be using what we learned this week about those internal character traits to do deeper comparisons.

Spelling: All groups will begin practicing their new skills. Skills this week include: Short "u" vs Long "u", Adding -ing to CVCe and C V V C Words, Syllables in VCV and V V C V Patterns, Short "o" vs. Long "o", and Words that End in -mp. Two groups will have their spelling tests on Friday. The remaining three groups will not have a test this week. All groups will be bringing home their word lists on Monday so they can practice at home.

Grammar: Our noun study continues. We will focus on making and using possessive nouns correctly. We will first work with singular possessive nouns and then go into plural possessive nouns (singular example: child's / plural example: boys'). 

Writing: We will be taking the rough drafts the students wrote this week and learn how to revise and edit our writing. Lastly, we will publish our writing.

Science: Our next STEM project will be learning how to build solar powered robots using STEM kits purchased through the grant our school received. The students will be working in partners for this project.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your families!

God bless,

Mrs. Amy Heisdorffer

(309) 635-5876