December 23: Happy Winter Recess

As we say goodbye to the year 2014, I would like to thank you all for the lovely gifts and treats sent in these past weeks.  The class collection was extravagantly generous! I was especially touched by the sweet gifts children and their families made.

Wheen we return on Monday, January 5th, here's what to expect:

• We will have Dance Class on Monday.
• We will begin a new unit in Reading. Students will participate in Mystery Book Clubs. Through the studying the genre of mystery, we will try to achieve the  goals of reading with close attention to details, and forming theories based on those details. Students will also review some of the strategies used in studying characters. By participating in a book club, we will improve our ideas through talking out theories with fellow readers. In book clubs, students are expected to read the same books as the members of their club, actively listen to and discuss ideas and to start setting simple reading goals independently. 
• For the first week back, students will still work on nonfiction reading responses as we will continue to research in our social studies unit. The weekly reading response will still focus on nonfiction texts.
• We will also begin a unit on Opinion Writing. Students will learn the essay format as they write to persuade others to share their ideas on a self selected issue. Students will focus on developing a claim (ex. Sport is an important part of school.) and to support the claim with a variety of details ( facts, observations, quotes, description and data).
• We will have Family Friday on January 9th.

Have a happy and healthy holiday season! Here's to a wonderful 2015!

December 19: Happy Hanukah!

We are bringing 2014 to a close with the Winter Recess starting on Wednesday next week. Several families have already begun their travels. During the break, there will be no written assignments given out but please encourage your child to keep up their independent reading so that we can begin the year strong.

Your child has the Chapter 6 math test in his/ her test folder. It was returned to the class today and they have it in their backpacks. Please look out for it.

Here's what's happening next week:

• We will have our fourth session of Dance class. Please help your child dress for movement.
• The Winter Recess will officially begin on Wednesday. Students are expected to return on Monday, January 5th. 

On Tuesday, we will have a game and craft session to celebrate the holidays. Children may bring a treat  to share with their classmates. 

Have a wonderful sunny weekend!

December 12: Cultural Luncheon

Everyone had an amazing time at our feast this Friday! The food was top notch and there was a great balance in the dishes offered so our kids were able to make healthy choices. I really appreciate all the help the our volunteers gave us and all the work everyone put into sharing their culinary specialty. Every child went back for more and more of the yummy foods!  We could not have done it without you!

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We will have Dance class on Monday. Please have your child dressed for movement and girls should not wear footed tights. 
• Your child received their Unit 6 Mid Chapter Checkpoint today. Please review it and sign the top portion of the slip before returning it to class. 
• We will meet with our Buddies this Wednesday. Third graders have done an excellent job of nurturing the kindergarteners! 
• The Unit 6 Math test will take place on Thursday. 

Have a happy,  sunny weekend!

December 5

We were delighted to have so many of you come visit our shelter museum! The kids were excited to share the work they've done studying a shelter from a different culture. The kids were super excited to receive all this compliments from you!

Here's what's happening next week:

• We have our second session of Dance on Monday. Please have your child dress for movement. Girls were reminded on Friday to not wear footed tights as we might have to go barefoot during  class.
• Please expect your child's Chapter 5 math test returned to you on Monday. Thank you for your patience as we needed an absentee to make up the test before we could take them home. We have already begun our unit on division. Students are finding that mastery of the multiplication facts will help them greatly with division facts. We have had some great math talks about division as a concept of fair sharing and creating equal groups from a large amount. 
• Music will take place on Tuesday. Your child needs his/ her recorder in class on that day. 
• We have the Third Grade Cultural Luncheon on Friday! I really appreciate everyone's donation of a special dish from your families culture and the children are beyond excited for this! A letter went home today to families who volunteered to donate plates and utensils. Please keep an eye out for those and thank you for taking on this extra contribution! I will contact you next week if you have volunteered to help set up or clean up.
• Here is a copy of the menu from our class so far. This will be combined with dishes from the other third grade classes so we'll have plenty of choices for this feast! Most children will need only about a tablespoon sized portion, so please do not feel you have to produce a massive amount of food for everyone. If you have not already done so please send a list of ingredients so that children can make informed choices about what they are eating, especially if a child has an allergy. 

Entrées	Desserts	Sides
Lasagna	Apple pie	Southern Biscuits
Enchiladas	Israeli dessert	Irish Soda Bread
Curry wurst	Sweet Potato Pie	Potato Latkes
Middle Eastern rice	Mint Chocolate brownies	Guacamole and chips
Lumpiang Shanghai	Japanese sweet potato cake	Irish Brown Bread
Schnitzel in pita	Biscuits
Fried chicken	Chocolate chip cookies
Tamago-yaki (Japanese egg omelet)
Canadian Meat pie

Have a wonderful weekend!