Monica Ros School

Hello Everyone,   

Life is good and busy in the third grade! The kids have begun sifting through their state research.   Thankfully, our snails all survived our afternoon of Snart, and art, Spanish and PE are all in full swing.  The adults on campus have noticed how nicely your children have embraced their leadership roles at school; by warmly welcoming the first and second graders into their lineage groups.  The gradeschoolers will meet in their lineage groups to eat and chat at recess and lunch throughout the year. 
We will travel to the Wolves-n-Wildlife facility in Santa Paula on Thursday morning September 18 to learn about the adaptations of the wolves, Bengal tiger and black bear there.  Let us know if you are interested in joining us, and if you are able to transport kids.

Language Arts

Our class has begun to warm up those ‘ole writing muscles!  We have practiced the steps of the writing process; brainstorming a topic, organizing our thoughts, writing, revising and producing a final draft.  Our first writing piece “ My favorite summer adventure” will be posted on the publishing wall in the next few days.
It is my goal that the third graders will fall in love with many good books or a book series this year, and I see some of the children already doing just that.  As you all know, the love of reading often stems from the sense of accomplishment of completing a book from cover to cover.  With that, I want the children to start and complete one book at a time, Miss Carlson and I will meet with the children from time to time to discuss the book they have chosen with them, and monitor their progress.  Let me know if you would like me to help your child find a good book at school.
The book logs on the backside of the Homework Schedule sheet are due each Monday.  Please check to make sure your child is filling it out, and initial it before your child turns it in.  We will keep a tally of the total amount of reading time for the class. We will have an all-day reading day, complete with pillows, books and food, once all the children have reached a total of 300 hours of reading.

Math

There are many math lovers in this bunch! We will continue to compare and order numbers up to the 10,000’s place this week.  We will also practice using “greater than” and “less than” math symbols.  We will begin to review adding and subtracting 2 and 3 digit numbers next week.  The children love the Flashmasters in class; using them to review their math facts every chance they get Spanish I thoroughly enjoy watching the kids sing, talk, play games and count en Espanol!  Miss Carlson is meeting with the children 3 days a week, and is warming up their brains with Spanish on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  We are all learning the names of various items around the classroom.

Science

The Third Graders continue to study the behavior and anatomy of their snails in preparation for our Snail Olympics on Monday, September 8, after lunch.  Please join us to watch the snails compete in the hurdles, mountain climbing and sprinting events.  (Snails will do a lot, I hope, for a head of Romaine lettuce!)
We will also learn about the chaparral habitat that surrounds us here in Ojai, as well as the other habitats found around the United States. Do you still have that shoebox from last week?  Well, here’s the chance to put it to use!  Look for the habitat diorama assignment on Thursday.
 
Social Studies

Social Studies is all about geography and state research at the moment!  We will be taking our second state quiz this Thursday, and each Thursday for the next few months.  Please encourage your child to study a little bit each day.  In fact, keeping a state map in the car may come in handy.  Learning 10 new states a week is a good goal.  We will study in class as well.  We will take care of most of our state research for our state booklets in class.

Other Information

We will have weekly spelling quizzes on Friday.  The spelling list will come home each Monday.  Please review the graded work that will come home each Monday in your child’s home folder with your child.  Help your child to keep his or her home folder organized and cleaned out.

Fiesta is right around the corner! Please stop by the classroom and sign up to help out at this fun event!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Have a wonderful week!
  Sincerely, Mrs. Buddhu