Third Grade News

Dear Third Grade Families,

It’s been a busy week in third grade!  Students enjoyed their time outside on Monday as they participated in cooperative, team building activities.  The three different activities for our students were led by facilitators from UVM.  Each activity required students to work together to solve problems. The tasks couldn’t be completed individually, so children needed to work together in order to complete the tasks. The children found that the activities promoted teamwork, honesty, and perseverance.  Fun!

Important Dates

• Wednesday, October 4th, is International Walk to School Day.  

• October 6th is an early release day for staff in-service.  Students will eat lunch in their classrooms and be dismissed at 12:30 PM.  If your child would like to eat a bag lunch from school on Friday, please complete the order form on the back of this notice and return it to school by Wednesday, October 4th.  

• October 6th is also Popcorn Friday.  Students should bring 50 cents to school if they’d like to purchase popcorn for snack on this day.

• Wednesday, October 11 is Open House from 6:30 - 7:30 PM.  Please join us at school to take a look at your child’s classroom and see some of his/her work.

Thank you to famlies who were able to send in packages of soft tissues, cleaning wipes, and pom-poms.  Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Keelin Simpson and

Kathy Buley

Third Grade News

Dear Third Grade Families,

We have been lucky to have such beautiful, sunny days this month!  Students have enjoyed playing outside with their classmates.  Here’s some information about what’s happening in third grade.

Third graders are finishing up beginning of the year assessments related to language arts and math.  Students have been reading and writing about books with Mrs. Buley as part of the Developmental Reading Assessment.  Third graders completed the 3rd Grade Baseline math assessment with Mrs. Simpson.  Some of the assessments have involved paper and pencil; while other assessments have been taken using Chromebook computers.  Students have been working hard and trying their best!

Third grade mathematicians are working hard on subtraction facts and problem solving.  We are learning to solve the basic subtraction facts (0-0 = 0 through 20 - 20 = 0) quickly by using efficient strategies.  Ask your child to tell you about the names of the different types of facts on the attached “Subtraction Table.” Please read the attached Bridges Mathematics family resource letter.  It describes some of the math concepts that your child has learned about during their study of addition and subtraction this month.  

In literacy, students are learning how to “build a reading life”, setting goals for themselves as readers, and learning to select books that are “just right”.  We have focused upon the story elements of beginning, middle, and ending. We have also read informational text and focused upon getting the main idea and supporting details. We are completing our spelling assessments, and our spelling program will begin soon.  In writing, students are learning that everyone’s story matters! We are learning to listen and respond to one another’s thoughts and ideas.  We are focusing upon how writers find topics about which to write.We have decorated our writer’s notebooks, and are learning that special people, places, and things can be the source of ideas for new writing.

Upcoming Events and Needed Materials

• On Monday, September 25th, Chamberlin School students in grades 3 through 5 will be participating in outdoor activities designed to build cooperation and team building skills.  Facilitators from The UVM Adventure Ropes Course will be here to lead the activities from 8:30 AM until 10:30 AM.  Students should wear comfortable clothes and sneakers and bring a water bottle on Monday.
• School picture forms are being sent home today.  Picture Day is on September 28th.  
• We are in need of small, colored pom-poms, cleaning wipes, and soft tissues.  Thank you to families who were able to send some in already!

Have a great weekend!  

Sincerely,

Keelin M. Simpson

Kathy Buley

Field Day is Tomorrow

Dear Third Grade Families,

Tomorrow (Tuesday, June 13) is Field Day at Chamberlin School!  Here are some reminders to help your child come prepared for the events.

Reminders

• Put sunscreen on your child in the morning before school.  We will be outside from 9:30 AM until 11:00 AM. 
• Some events involve water, so wear a school appropriate bathing suit or bring a change of clothing.  
• Bring a water bottle with your name on it. Students will be hot and thirsty.
• Some events involve running, crab walking, or jumping.  Think about which shoes would be best to wear for the different activities. 

Tomorrow will be lots of fun!  Come prepared!

Sincerely, 

Keelin M. Simpson

Third Grade News

Hello, Third Grade Families!

Third graders have been working hard and trying their best on the SBAC assessments so far this week.  Thanks for helping your child to get plenty of rest, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive at school on time. 

Students are enjoying chewing a piece of gum during SBAC testing.  If you have a pack of gum to contribute to our classroom supply, please send it in.  Thanks!

There are no homework worksheets this week.  Please remind your child to read for twenty minutes each evening and work on memorizing the x 7 multiplication facts.  We are in the home stretch.  A little more practice and we will have the multiplication facts memorized!  Keep up the great practice at home.  Practicing the facts for just 5 – 10 minutes  each day at home can make a big difference. You can do it!  You are almost there!

Mark your calendar.

The Chamberlin Fun Run will be held on May 19^th.  Third graders will be participating in the Fun Run from 10:30  AM – 11:15 AM.  Family members are welcome to attend to cheer on the runners or run together!   

The Chamberlin Family Picnic will be held on June 6^th. 

We are in need of cleaning wipes for our desks.  If you have a package, please send them in.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Keelin M. Simpson

Dear Third Grade Families,

         May has been a busy month in third grade.  I am so proud of our class for all of the hard work and effort that they are putting into memorizing the multiplication facts. The students of Room 15 rock!  We updated the multiplication table below by shading in the Half Ten Plus One More Set Facts (x 6 facts).  When we looked at the updated multiplication table below, we could see that there are only nine facts left to learn!

          So what's our next step?  It's time to learn  the x 7 facts! It's interesting that the x 7 facts are the only set of facts that are not given a special name based on a certain strategy.   Perhaps this is because there are several ways to solve the different x 7 facts.  Here are two strategies that your child might use to solve the x 7 facts. Both strategies are based on using a known fact to solve an unknown fact.  

Strategy 1:  Use a x 5 fact and a x 2 fact.

What is the product of 7 groups of 8  or 7 x 8?

Step one - I know that 5 groups of 8 (5 x 8) equals 40.                            5 x 8 = 40

Step two - I know that 2 more groups of 8 (2 x 8) equals 16.                   2 x 8 = 16

Step three - Add the products to find the product of 7 groups of 8.         40 + 16 = 56

                                                                                                           So... 7 x 8 = 56

Strategy 2:  Start with a x 6 fact and add one more set.

What is the product of 7 groups of 8  or 7 x 8?

Step one - I know that 6 groups of 8 (6 x 8) equals 48.                                   6 x 8 = 48

Step two - I need one more group of 8 to have seven groups of 8.                 48 + 8 = 56 

                                                                                                                So...  7 x 8 = 56

         Keep up the great work of practicing the multiplication facts at home!  We are in the home stretch with only nine new facts to learn!  Way to go, third graders!  Thanks to all family members for helping your students to practice at home.  Please let me know if you need your child's username and password for www.IXL.com. It's a great site to go to for multiplication fact practice.  

        We had a great final week with Miss Schweikert!  We have enjoyed learning with her this semester, and we had fun watching Because of Winn -Dixie with her today.  Miss S. enjoyed all of her gifts, cards, her teacher's bag, and her special snack.  We wish her the best of luck in her future teaching endeavors.

         Students took SBAC practice tests this week to learn how to use the computer tools and practice with the types of directions and tasks that will be on the actual tests.  The best way to help your child prepare for the testing sessions next week is to make sure he/she gets to bed on time and eats a healthy breakfast in the morning.  

        Remember that your child's homework this month is to practice multiplication facts and read each at home each day. After working hard on testing at school, our hope is that children will play outside, enjoy the fresh air, and relax when they arrive home instead of working on worksheets of homework.  

        We are in need of cleaning wipes and soft tissues.  If you have a spare package, please send them in.  

Sincerely,

Keelin M. Simpson

         

          

         

         

Nonfiction Reading and Writing Celebration

Dear Third Grade Families,

Our celebration of nonfiction reading and writing was a success! We would like to thank all of our guests (friends, family, and staff members) for coming today to take a look at our biography posters, Google Slideshows, and totem pole art. We enjoyed sharing our work with you.  

Thank you to family members who brought in snacks for us to share, too!

           

                    

     

                       

                         

                  

                   

               


We are in need of cleaning wipes for our classroom.  If you have an extra package at home, please send them in. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Keelin M. Simpson

Learning the Multiplication Facts

      

Dear Third Grade Families,

We are looking forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 30th, at 10:15 AM for our classroom celebration.  We have finished reading biographies and studying nonfiction reading strategies. Students created a biography project to share with you.  If you are able to bring in a healthy food item to share at our celebration, your contribution would be appreciated.

Room 15 is full of hard working mathematicians! We have been working towards memorizing the multiplication facts, and students are making terrific progress!  So far, students have been assigned to memorize the x 0, x 1, x 2, x 3, x 4, x 5, and x 10 facts.  We took a look at all of our hard work on the multiplication table below, and we cheered about what the chart reveals!

The facts we have learned are colored in.  The facts that we have left to learn are white.  There are only 16 facts left to be memorized!!!

This week our goal is to learn the x 6 facts. We call the x 6 facts "Half Tens Plus One Set Facts."  The x 6 facts are named that way because of a strategy that can be used to solve them.  This strategy involves using a known fact, a x 5 fact, to solve a x 6 fact.  Here's how it works: 

What is the product of 6 x 8?

Step 1  -  I'll start with a fact I know.   10 groups of 8  = 80.                  10 x 8 = 80.

Step 2 -   From there, I can figure out that 5 x 8 is half of 80.                  5 x 8 = 40

Step 3 -   6 groups of 8 is just one more set of 8 than 5 x 8.                      6 x 8 = 40 + 8 = 48

(If you know your x 5 facts, then you can start on the second step.  5 x 8 = 40, so 6 x 8 = 40 + 8).

Help your child to practice at home. Make a set of flashcards or buy a box at the grocery store.  Play the multiplication games that were sent home or remind your child to log in  at www.ixl.com and practice the multiplication facts.  Write the most challenging facts on Post-it notes and stick them on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, or a living room end table where they'll be seen more frequently. Practicing for 5 to ten minutes each night will make a big difference.  Keep up the great work, third graders!!!

We celebrated our hard work with some outside time in the snow!

We are in need of cleaning wipes and soft tissues.  If you have a package to spare, please send them in.  

Sincerely,

Keelin M. Simpson