Mrs. Andriski's Third Grade Classroom

Monday, May 2, 2016

May 2-6

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May." Edwin Way Teale

We enjoyed our first Monday in May together. Our Reading Buddies visited from PEA. Students read the African American folktale, The Black Snowman, by Phil Mendez in small groups. Each student also chose the famous Black American that he/she will be studying in preparation for our Wax Museum. More information on this fun experience will be forthcoming.

We reviewed for our Unit 7 math test today. I decided that the class needs one more day of review after a long week off from school, so the test will be given on Wednesday morning. Students will not have math homework tonight or tomorrow, other than to review for their upcoming test. A one sided assignment will be sent home on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings for homework.

Our spelling rule this week involves split vowels. Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Miles in May begins this week in honor of National Fitness Month. Classes will have the opportunity to jog or walk the line outside on the playground during regular school hours. The class or classes in each grade with the highest amount of laps at the end of May will earn a free PE time!

Have a wonderful week! :)

Monday, April 18, 2016

April 18-22

"April is a promise that May is bound to keep." Hal Borland

We were lucky to have author and illustrator Maris Wicks visit our third grade classes this afternoon. She is on a promotional book tour and spoke about her newest book, Coral Reefs: Cities of the Ocean. Students enjoyed the presentation very much.

Our spelling rule this week involves the -igh and -eigh patterns. Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

We will continue working with fractions this week. Students partitioned distances to locate fractions on number lines today. They will make and justify fraction comparisons and solve fraction number stories later this week. Students will have a Home Link each night for homework.

Have a wonderful week and a fabulous vacation! :)

Monday, April 11, 2016

April 11-15

"There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye; There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by." William Bryant

Students enjoyed reading The Patchwork Path - A Quilt Map to Freedom with their Reading Buddies this morning. This book by Bettye Stroud is based on a story given to Jacqueline Tobin by African American quilter Ozella McDaniel Williams. It describes how slaves used quilts to communicate on the Underground Railroad and was passed down orally from grandmother to mother to daughter.

Our spelling rule this week involves sounds of ie and ei. It is a tough rule for students to master. I encourage students to practice their words regularly at home. They will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

We will continue working with fractions in math this week. Students will represent fractions on number lines and identify fractions that are greater then, less than and equal to one on a number line. They will also compare fractions using visual models. Students will have a Home Link each night for homework.

Please sign and return your child's gold report card envelope at your earliest convenience. Thank you to those who have already passed it in. Thank you to my parent volunteers as well!

Have a fantastic week! :)

There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye; There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/april.html"

Monday, April 4, 2016

April 4-8

"Sweet April showers do spring May flowers." Thomas Tusser

<snow> :)

We had a wonderful start to our week with a visit from our PEA Reading Buddies. Students read Martin Luther King, Jr's I Have a Dream book based on his famous speech. We also worked on Food Alliterations and a health quiz. Students enjoyed using different size beakers to measure water as part of our volume lesson. Other math lessons this week include identifying equal shares, number stories involving time, mass volume and length and comparing fractions. Students will have a one-sided Home Link each night for homework.

Our spelling rule this week involves changing the y to i when adding a suffix. With the exception being a word that has a vowel before the y. Students will have a Spelling Cafe assignment each night for homework.

Thank you to parents who have already returned their child's Lego Land field trip permission form and $20. I really appreciate your prompt response. Permission slips and money are due by April 18th. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Have a fantastic week!

Sweet April showers do spring May flowers. Thomas Tusser
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/april.html

Monday, March 28, 2016

March 28-April 1

It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before...
There is a blessing in the air,
Which seems a sense of joy to yield
To the bare trees, and mountains bare,
And grass in the green field...
We from to-day, my Friend, will date
The opening of the year.
Love, now an universal birth,
From heart to heart is stealing,
From earth to man, from man to earth:
—It is the hour of feeling.
~William Wordsworth

We will finish Unit 6 in math tomorrow. Students will study for the test on Wednesday and a review packet will go home for homework that night. The test will be given the following day. Please look for the Unit 7 Family Letter in your child's folder this week. Our next unit involves fractions.

Our spelling rule this week focuses on the sounds of y. Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Thank you to all my parent volunteers this week as well as to those who have donated to Operation Lesvos. I really appreciate the support and generosity of everyone involved. Thank you to Erin Pastore for her help with this special project as well.

Have a wonderful week! :)

Monday, March 21, 2016

March 21-25

"March, when days are getting long,
Let thy growing hours be strong
To set right some wintry wrong."
~Caroline May

We had an exciting morning due to the spring snowstorm. The class did an excellent job settling down after all the buses had arrived safely. Students learned the rule of PEMDAS or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally this morning. They practiced using parentheses in number sentences. We will continue to work on the Order of Operations this week. All homework will be done in class due to Smarter Balanced Testing.

No spelling this week. We will continue with our regular spelling program next week when the testing is complete.

Have a wonderful week! :)

Monday, March 7, 2016

March 7-11

March, when days are getting long,
Let thy growing hours be strong
To set right some wintry wrong.
~Caroline May, 1887

We had a busy start to our week. Students participated in a dress rehearsal to practice for tonight's music concert. They worked on an inferencing activity that asked them to make predictions about various images. We also watched a Bill Nye video about nutrition.

I did not give math homework today because of the concert. However, students will have a Home Link each night for the rest of the week. We will be working on multiplication and division diagrams as well as geometry.

Our spelling rule this week involves silent letters. Students will have a Spelling Cafe choice each night for homework.

Thank you to my parent volunteers this week! I look forward to seeing everyone tonight at the concert!

:)

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