"Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year."  Chad Sugg

I can't believe we'll meet another October this week!  Our class was just discussing how quickly time seems to be flying by this morning.  We are finishing up our Maps and Globes Unit and moving into American Indians and Biomes.  We will begin a new chapter book read aloud this week titled Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord.  The story takes place in New Hampshire and our entire school will be reading it in honor of the One School One Book program.

Our spelling rule involves words with two closed syllables including blends.  There will only be one spelling list this week so students who score 100% on their pre-test will not be required to take the test again on Monday.  They will also be exempt from spelling homework for this week only.  All other children will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night.

Math homework this week will relate to the counting up method, trade first, and place value.  Children will have a one-sided assignment each night.

I will be contacting parents who would like to volunteer in the classroom.  Please let me know if you would like to volunteer, but haven't heard from me by Friday.

Have a fantastic week!  :)

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” Lauren DeStefano

We had an awesome start to our week today.  Students have new spelling words based on the Schwa Sound rule.  This sound is most like the sound of short u, but not equal to it.  Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Math homework this week involves ballpark estimates, the partial sums algorithm, trade first subtraction and using Base 10 blocks.  There will be a one-sided worksheet each night.

I spoke shortly with you at Open House about our student teacher, Jen Harrington, who will be spending about 15 hours per week in our classroom.  She wanted me to share the following information with you...

Hello Third Grade Families!

My name is Jen Harrington and I would like to introduce myself. I will be spending time in your student's classroom as part of my student teacher requirements for the degree I am pursuing from Granite State College. Not only am I teacher candidate, but I am also a local parent who has children in 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade. My 4th grader was a student in Mara's class last year. I have also been employed at Lincoln Street School for the past two school years as a cafeteria/recess aide. I enjoy working at Lincoln Street and getting to know the students during lunch and recess but am looking forward to getting into the classroom and working with students in an academic manner. I am eager and excited to get started on my student teaching journey.

Welcome to a New School Year! 2014-15

Welcome to my 2014-2015 blog!  Our school year has begun beautifully and I couldn't be happier with my students' hard work.  Thank you to those who attended Open House on Thursday night.  It was wonderful to see all of you.

I will post a blog each Monday afternoon with information pertaining to homework, curriculum, and special events, projects, or activities coming in the near future.   Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at any time.

Best,
Mara

mandriski@sau16.org
775-8897