Week 32: NYS Math test

Our Dance Recital was so well received and the children were so proud of their performance. Many of them wanted to perform again! Thank you for coming and being such an appreciative audience! Please check out our performance on our blog video list!

Next week, we will have the New York State Exam. This exam will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Students have been reviewing math skills and concepts taught through this year and some from Second grade. Here are some links that would support some of the work your child might do on the upcoming exam:

• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-2/round-to-the-nearest-ten-or-hundred
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/match-mixed-numbers-to-models
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/fractions-of-a-whole-word-problems
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/complete-the-addition-subtraction-multiplication-or-division-sentence
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/multi-step-word-problems
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/estimate-differences-word-problems
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/estimate-sums-word-problems

Here's what else to expect next week: 

• We will have our last Dance Session with the BAX teaching artist On Monday. Please make sure your child is dressed for dancing. 
• The NYS Math test will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please make sure your child is well rested and has had a nutritious breakfast. 
• We are having Family Friday this week! This will be the planting activity for our community garden. 

Have an excellent weekend!

Week 31: Dance Share

Our partnership with Brooklyn Arts Exchange is coming to an end. For a celebration of our many weeks together, we are having a dance recital. Please join us on Thursday morning as the third grade show off their best dance moves! The show will start at 9 am in the MMR and will end around 10am.
On that day, please have your child dress in clothing that is comfortable for dancing (leggings or sweatpants). Since our class will also be dancing a salsa, it would be great to have bright colorful clothing!

As April comes to a close, we are ending some major units. China studies is over and the children have been asked to bring back any books about China borrowed from the classroom. We are also changing our library to reflect our new reading levels and units. If your child still has books from the mystery unit, please have them bring them back to school. We are missing a few key titles (The Whodunnit Mystery series books seemed especially popular) and would love it is the titles were returned or replaced (check our Amazon wishlist ). Thank you for facilitating this!

Here's what is going on next week:

• We will have Dance class on Monday and Wednesday before the performance on Thursday. Please remind your children to dress with removable socks and not footed leggings.
• On Friday, children will have the chance to participate in the school Jump-athon. Please remind your child to wear sneakers!
• We have begun Poetry writing this week and have tried out free verse and couplet writing so far. This is a fun unit as it allows children to play with writing moves like repetition and onomatopoeia in their writing. The school is holding Poetry Night on Thursday at 6pm. Children who are interested in sharing their work can sign up. 

Here are some links for extra math practice:

• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/fractions-of-number-lines-unit-fractions
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/identify-fractions-on-number-lines
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/fractions-of-number-lines-unit-fractions
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/find-equivalent-fractions-using-number-lines

Have an excellent weekend!

Week 30

One exam down, one more to go! In the next two weeks, we will review many math concepts and strategies as we get ready for the NYS math test. This exam will also be two days in length and children will be required to solve a variety of math problems. To best help your child, please encourage him or her to practice multiplication and division facts. It would also be extremely helpful to practice addition and subtraction facts to avoid making calculation errors. Please use the following links for a review:

• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-2/subtract-two-two-digit-numbers-with-regrouping
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-2/add-two-two-digit-numbers-with-regrouping

Here's what's happening next week: 

• We will have Dance class on Monday and Thursday. A note went out today regarding the Dance Share on April 26th, at 9:00am. Students will perform a dance they worked on . Please join us if you can!
• We have started Poetry for our next Reading and Writing unit. Poetry is a fun unit that kids enjoy due to some silliness in texts. We will focus on finding meaning in the poems we read by paying attention to the writing strategies poets use and how there can be a story, message, image, or mood conveyed in a poem.  We will build poems using writing strategies like similes, metaphors, line breaks, etc. Please check out our Amazon Wishlist on the right of this post if you would like to purchase some poetry books for our class. Thank you!
• We are finishing up our Unit 10 Math work (Time and Measurements) and moving forward with Unit 11's work on Area. We are exposing children to questions from previous test to help them read the problem with understanding and to decide what math is required to solve each problem.
• After wrapping up our learning about China, we will now visit the continent of Africa. This unit will focus on the resources and cultures of a few of the many countries students will learn about through reading, performances and videos. 
• The Annual Earth Day parade will start at 8:45am on Friday. PS 154 is also hosting it's first Sustainability Drive. Clothing can be brought to school so that it can be recycled. 

On a final note, thank you all for the support you have given to our children during this exciting week. ELA testing can be challenging but you have helped prepare your child to do their best and to maintain a healthy perspective. 

Have an excellent sunny weekend!