SBA TESTING BEGINS
MONDAY, MARCH 22!!!!!!
Please make sure your child is in attendance on all testing days. As on any school day, please make sure your child is hydrated, has had enough sleep, and has eaten breakfast with a combination of protein and carbohydrates. These factors will help your child focus and do his/her best on this important assessment.
New this Semester:
Cursive writing has begun! Your child will begin to learn how to form letters to write in cursive by the end of the year. Please encourage your child to practice at home.
Letter grades instead of the pluses, check pluses, checks, etc. will now appear on your child's graded work and the report card.
Here is what your child will be learning through March:
Math: Everyday Math
Unit 8: Fractions
In Unit 8, we will review the uses of fractions and fraction notation and we will help the students develop a solid understanding of equivalent fractions in order to compare fractions and calculate with fractions through multiple hands-on learning experiences. The students will explore set models, region models, and number line models. There are six main areas of focus and they are as follows:
* To explore fractional and spatial relationships
* To introduce the number line for fractions
* To find equivalent fractions
* To compare fractions using region models
* To name quantities greater than 1 with fractions and mixed numbers
* To solve number stories involving fractions.
This is a very important unit, for our high school teachers have reported that of all the areas in math, fractions is the area in which kids seem to struggle the most. A child's mastery of multiplication and division facts aids in their ability to work with fractions as well, so please continue to help your child develop automaticity with the facts, 0's through 10's.
Please use the Student Reference Book at home to help your child with nightly homework. Here are some games that can be played at home to help your child establish a strong foundation in fractions:
Equivalent Fractions Game, p. 284 (your child must take his/her fraction cards home to play this game)
Fraction Top-It, p. 287
Fraction Top-It (advanced version), p. 288
Unit 9: Multiplication and Division
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has identified multiplication and division as a focus for third grade. The authors of Everyday Math have recognized this and have written three units involving multiplication and division, increasing in complexity with every unit. Unit 9 is the third and final unit involving multiplication and division. The students will learn two methods parents are not familiar with for multiplying multidigit numbers (see Student Reference Book for explanations). The students will learn the partial products method for multiplying, which focuses on place value and can be done mentally (as opposed to the method we grew up learning!). The "lattice" method is a favorite of many children--ask your child to explain how to do this method that historians have traced to India, around 1100 A.D. We will also develop readiness for long division by exploring problems with sharing money. Unit 9 has the following four main areas of focus:
* To multiply and divide with multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000
* To use mental math to multiply
* To share money
* To find products of 2-digit numbers
To help develop the concept of dividing with and without remainders, you can play this game at home with your child (directions are in the Student Reference Book):
Division Arrays, p. 282
Basic Facts Practice: Multiplication Facts to the 10's
Please assist your child in memorizing the multiplication facts from the 0's to the 10's. The goal is to recall each fact in three seconds or less. Here are some ideas for practicing:
- Fact triangles and Flash Cards
- On-line Games (see "Student Page" on Cielo Azul's home page for web site links)
- Everyday Math Games (in Student Reference Book):
Array Bingo, p. 273
Baseball Multiplication, p. 274 (beginning level) and p. 276 (advanced level)
Beat the Calculator, p. 279
Factor Bingo, p. 285
Multiplication Bingo, p. 293 (easy facts) and p. 295 (all facts)
Multiplication Draw, p. 296
Multiplication Top It, p. 297
Multiplication Algorithms: Partial Products and Lattice Methods
Your child will learn the Partial Products and Lattice methods for multiplying multi-digit numbers. See the Student Reference Book, pages 68-72 for directions for these algorithms.
Problem Solving: T-Chart, 4 Square, and/or RACED Formats
Your child will be solving challenging word problems that require a visual representation of the problem, a number model (equation/number sentence), and a written explanation to describe how the problem was solved. Your child's teacher will guide your child in using a format to express his/her understanding.
Reading: Harcourt Trophies
Our school is guiding the students in answering questions with the “RACED” format. Ask your child what each letter of the RACED format stands for. Here is what your child should tell you:
R = Restate the question
A = Answer the question
C = Cite the evidence
E = Expand your answer
D = Demonstrate good conventions (capitalization, punctuation, spelling)
These are the titles of the stories your child will be reading:
Theme 5: Good Neighbors
In this theme, students discover that people in communities rely on one another for goods and services as well as support. They take a close look at the interactions that make communities survive and thrive.
Title |
Focus Skills |
Vocabulary |
Language |
Spelling
Mrs. Crunk, Mr. Eisenberg, Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Kotila |
Leah's Pony |
Fact and opinion;
narrative elements
|
glistened
county
galloped
clutched
bid
auctioneer
|
|
|
Yippee Yay! A Book About Cowboys and Cowgirls
|
Main idea and details; references and resources;
fact and opinion
|
ranchers
profit
tending
corral
stray
market
|
|
VCCV (vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel) Words
|
|
Fact and opinion;
main idea and details; references and resources; drawing conclusions
|
stagecoach
miners
nuggets
skillet
settle
boom town
landmark
|
|
VCV (vowel, consonant, vowel) Words
|
Cocoa Ice |
Compare and contrast; paraphrasing;
references and resources
|
trading
schooner
harvest
machete
pulp
bargain
support
|
|
|
|
Main idea and details;
test-taking strategies; elements of nonfiction
|
congratulations
value
amount
receive
combinations
choices
|
|
Words with -tion and -sion
|
Writing: Six Traits of Writing; Harcourt Language and Spelling; Sitton Spelling
Your child will be guided through the steps in the writing process and applying the six traits of writing to write a persuasive essay and/or letter. See your child's teacher's web page for specific information.
Language: See skills in chart above
Harcourt Spelling (Mrs. Crunk, Mr. Eisenberg, Mrs. Gibbs, and Mrs. Kotila): See skills in chart above
Sitton Spelling (Mrs. Tripp and Ms. Vasquez):
Unit 8: Irregular verbs; spelling patterns for /s/ (s, ss, ce, ci, and cy); similes; homophones; contractions
Unit 9: Spelling patterns for long /i/ (y, igh, ind, i, and i-consonant-e); prefixes and suffixes; irregular spellings; compound
words; homophones
Unit 10: Spelling patterns for /j/ (j, ge, gi, and gy); spelling patterns for /s/ (s, ss, ce, ci, and cy); spelling patterns for /o/
( o, al, au, and aw); homographs; prefixes
Unit 11: Words with "silent" letters; r-controlled vowels; homophones
Unit 12: Compound words; possessives; suffixes; apostrophes and contractions
Unit 13: Spelling patterns for long e (e, ea, ee, and y); consonant digraphs (two letters that make one sound) ch, sh, th, and
wh; frequent spelling patterns for /k/ (c, k, ck, qu, and ch); suffixes
Unit 14: Frequent spelling patterns for /u/, pronounced "oo" (u, oo, ew, ue, and u-consonant-e); frequent spelling patterns
for /s/ (s, ss, ce, ci, and cy); suffixes; comparisons
Unit 15: R-controlled vowels; suffixes; double letters; antonyms
Unit 16: Frequent spelling patterns for long /a/ (a, ai, ay, and a-consonant-e); short vowels; compound words; irregular
spellings
Unit 17: Contractions; homophones; silent letters; prefixes and suffixes; irregular verbs
Unit 18: Homophones; compound words; prefixes and suffixes; comparison words
Unit 19: Frequent spelling patterns for /j/ (j, ge, gi, and gy); frequent spelling patterns for /s/ (s, ss, ce, ci, and cy);
homophones; irregular verbs
Unit 20: Double letters; suffixes, irregular spellings; homophones
Social Studies: Houghton-Mifflin
Students will explore topics in geography, community and government, history, and economics. The unit topics are listed below:
Unit 1: Communities and Their Geography
Unit 2: America’s Early Communities
Unit 3: People Move from Place to Place
Unit 4: How We Govern Our Communities
Unit 5: Making Economic Choices
Unit 6: Celebrating People and Cultures
Science: “CHOL” Science Kits
The students will employ the scientific method to explore through “hands-on” investigations and activities. Emphasis is placed on the development of science process skills such as measuring, observing, collecting data, forming hypotheses, and drawing conclusions. The students record their learning in a workbook and are assessed on this workbook and an end of the unit test.
The title of our science kit this quarter is "Scientific Thinking." We will learn the difference between mixtures (when two or more things come together but neither one changes) and pure substances and why we need to separate mixtures (recycling centers, sorting egg sizes and apple sizes, etc.). We are exploring how to separate mixtures by focusing on the properties of the items in the mixtures. Ask your child how to separate a mixture of sand and salt, rocks and metal washers, and sand and rocks. Ask what tools they would use to separate the mixtures and why they chose those tools.
Later, we will explore the properties of textiles that are made from natural and synthetic fibers, and we will and will learn the steps involved in the manufacturing process. The last lesson involves the concept of light energy and how light travels in waves and either is reflected, absorbed, or refracted.
