December 5 Mid-Term Progress Reports Go Home
December 9 Holiday Program 7:00 p.m.
December 22 - January 4 School Closed
January 5 School Reopens
Welcome to a new school year and to Mrs. Bonenberger's 3rd grade classroom! I am looking forward to an exciting and wonderful school year with your child! If your child has me as a homeroom teacher, I will be teaching him/her Reading, Language, Science, and Social Studies. For Math, your child will be placed in a group according to level and need. Please ask your child who he or she has for a math teacher.
Special Schedule:
A Day - PE (Don't forget your sneakers!)
B Day - Media
C Day - PE and Music
D Day - Art
E Day - PE
F Day - Music
In order for a classroom to run effectively, a behavior program must be established. Children need to know what is expected of them in terms of behavior, and they must understand the consequences when they have made the wrong choices. Your child’s success is very important. To create and maintain a positive learning environment for all students, I will be folowing Westside's PBIS program.
On a more positive note, I am always looking to promote and reward positive behavior. Students who demonstrate those positive behaviors will receive PBIS merits. These merits accumulate each marking term and those students who earn enough will be invited to participate in a grade level incentive. Also, these mertis are redeemable for items in the school store!
Homework is an important part of your child’s school experience. Supporting good work habits requires a joint effort. I will support your child and encourage good work habits at school. Your child will benefit greatly from your support and encouragement at home. If your child has not completed his/her homework, I will be stamping their agenda with a MISSING HOMEWORK stamp as a quick means of communication to you. Please encourage your child to complete his/her homework as it is a reinforcement of the skills taught in the classroom.
Reading:
We will be using the Houghton Mifflin reading series where we will be concentrating on six themes this year:
* Off To Adventure
* Celebrating Traditions
* Incredible Stories
* Animal Habitats
* Voyagers
* Smart Solutions
THIS WEEK IN READING:
We will wrap up our theme of Celebrating Traditions. We will be reading two stories: Miss Rumphius and Celebrating the Chinese New Year.
The strategies that we will be focusing on are Evaluating, Summarizing, Questioning, and Predicting and Inferring. Some of the vocabulary words that your child will focus on this week are: bloomed, lupines, bushels, headlands, hollows, unity, hosts, elaborate, feast, and chef.
The skills that we will be reviewing are: Author's Viewpoint, Categorize nd Classify, Noting Details, and Topic, Main Idea, and Suporitng Details.
Good readers use strategies whenever they read. Different strategies are used before, during, and after reading. As readers learn to use strategies, they must think about how each strategy will help them. The Reading Strategies that we will be focusing on this year are:
On D Days, we will be visiting the computer lab at 11:10 to work on our Reading/Language skills. This is also our scheduled time to take SRI ( Scholastic Reading Inventory). The SRI will be given once each marking period. Stay tuned for more SRI information as we get closer to our scheduled test date.
Your child will receive Reading homework on Monday each week, to be completed and turned in on Friday. This homework is a reinforcement of the reading skill that we are focusing on that particular week. Please encourage your child to read the story and answer the comprehension questions.
Language:
Language encompasses many skill areas:
*Information and Study Skills - using a dictionary, graphic organizers, print features
* Test Taking Skills - answering multiple choice items, completing fill in the blank items, and writing an answer to a question
* Spelling and Word Work - Building words with both short and long vowels and understanding word structure
* Vocabulary - Alphabetical order, Antonyms, Synonyms, Homophones, Multiple Meaning Words, Connotations, Analogies, Word Families
* Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics - Punctuation, Capitalization, Types of Sentences, Subjects/Predicates, Possessives, Nouns, Plurals, Past/Present/Future Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Pronouns, etc.
* Writing - Journals, Letters, Descriptive Writing, Instructions, Personal Narrative, Research Report, Persuasive Writing, Expository Writing, Personal Essay
THIS WEEK IN LANGUAGE:
We will be focusing on the following skills: compound words, plurals, contractions, rhyming words, word families, and plurals with -es.
Math:
We will be using the McGraw Hill Math series this year. The units of study are as follows:
* Place Value
* Money
* Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers
* Time, Data, and Graphs
* Multiplication Concepts
* Multiplication Facts
* Division Concepts
* Division Facts
* Multiplying by 1-Digit Numbers
* Dividing by 1-Digit Numbers
* Measurement
* Geometry
* Fractions and Probability
* Relating Fractions and Decimals
Your child will have Math homework each night, Monday -Thursday.
THIS WEEK IN MATH:
Chapter 5 will focus on gaining proficiency with various multiplication concepts, including properties and strategies. We will also promote the mastery of multiplication facts to 5. Some of the vocabulary words that your child will be introduced to are: factor, multiplication, product, multiplication sentence, multiple, array, commutative property, identity property, and zero property.
The emphasis in Chapter 6 is on gaining proficiency with various multiplication facts using a variety of strategies and properties.
On D days your child will be visiting the computer lab in Math, where he/she will be taking the YPP (Yearly Progress Pro) test. This is a computer based test that monitors the mastery of individual math skills. This is a great means of assessment, as we can see which skills your child has mastered and which skills they need more practice with. Based on YPP results your child will have individualized computer based practice exercises to help them attain mastery of those skills which they may only currently have partial mastery.
First in Math
Our school now has access to a new math program called First in Math. Your child should receive a card with a username and password so they can access this site at home, as well as at school. This is a great place to practice facts. Be sure to check it out!
Spelling:
Your child will be responsible for studying spelling words each week and completing spelling homework. Your child's spelling homework for the first marking period is as follows:
1st night - Choose 10 words. Use dictionary to look up the part of speech.
2nd night - Choose 10 words and write definition
3rd night - Write 10 SUPER sentences (A super sentence has more than 8 words!)
4th night - Study for Spelling Test
Your spelling words for the week of December 1st are:
We will be alternating marking periods of Social Studies and Science. The 1st and 3rd marking periods will be Social Studies. The 2nd and 4th marking periods will be Science.
Social Studies:
Units of study:
* Rules and Laws
* Map skills/Geography
* Landforms
* Economics
* Government
THIS WEEK IN SOCIAL STUDIES:
We will begin our unit on Economics! Your child will learn about scarcity, consumers, producers, interdependence, wants and needs.
THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE:
We will revisit science mid marking term when we will be learning about space and weather.
Science:
Units of Study:
* Classification
* Matter and Its Changes
* Cells
* Environmental Issues
* Forces in Motion
It is important to review and sign your child's agenda every night as this is the primary means of communication between the classroom and home. I update my school notes website at the beginning of each week. Please visit as often as you wish to get updates, spelling words, homework assignments, or to see what is going on in your child's classroom. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to call me (410) 677-5118 or email me at dbonenbe@wcboe.org.
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