Are You Smarter Than a Third Grader?

Next Thursday, September 25, third grade teachers will host a learning night for parents here at Crystal Springs in the multipurpose room. A flyer went home about it yesterday asking for an RSVP. There will be activities in Reading, Writing, Math, and Science. So come join us for a fun night of learning what it is like to be a third grader!

Ways to Help Your Child with Reading

A very common question in third grade from parents is "How can I help my child in reading?"
The first way is to be sure they are reading every night and logging in on their reading log in their reading folder. This is a grade. There have been 2 collected so far.

Another way is to help them review reading vocabulary words and help them with the questions at the end of the story if they need help. You can look in their reader's notebook and see the focus for each week. Ask your child to explain the focus to you and how they use it in reading.

But really...the way to become a better reader is to read. So read with them, to them, or have them tell you about what they read.
Until next time,
R.O'Steen

Reading Vocabulary

We are now on the story The Ballad of Mulan in the reading textbook. You should have seen vocabulary words in your child's reader's notebook for them to study. They were to define them from the glossary in their textbook and study them for a test on Friday.

This will continue each week with the introduction of the new story. They don't need to know how to spelling them. They need to know what they mean. They could make flash cards or a matching game out of them to study through the week at home. We also do activities with them in class for practice.

Another new assignment this week was for the students to complete the questions at the end of the story. I assigned only number 1,2, and 3 this week.

Until next time,
R. O'Steen

New Weather Make Up Days

Since we had to miss 3 days of school, there is a change to the school calender. Students will come to school November 10 then be off November 11 for Veteran's Day. Students will come to school on October 20 originally planning day and the new planning day will be October 24. Students will still be off the three original days in November for Thanksgiving but miss the first 2 days of Christmas break. They will come to school December 18 and 19th.

Let's all hope that Ike and all of his friends stay away from Northeast Florida! :-)

Until next time,
R. O'Steen

New Reading Textbooks and Reading Log Grades

Today the reading textbook was issued to the students. You should start seeing them come home on Monday. They will have assignments through the week such as defining vocabulary words, reading the weekly story and answering questions at the end of the story. These assignments should be completed in their readers notebook. They will have a vocabulary test on Fridays along with a weekly test on the reading focus for the week.

Your child should be able to tell you what we are focusing on in reading each week. They should have an anchor lesson in their readers notebook so you can see the focus for the week.

A reminder...students should still be reading one chapter a day and logging it in on their reading log. They received their first grade in their reading folder today. They are graded on a rubric or guide.

Students earn an A by reading everyday and logging in according to the log. For example right now they are making predictions.
Students earn a B by missing 1 or 2 days or not logging in correctly. For example summarizing when they should be making predictions
Students earn a C by missing 3 or 4 days or having vague details when logging in the reading log.
Students earn a D by missing 5 days or only logging in title date but no thinking or details about the book.
Students earn an F by not logging in at all or turning in an illegible log.

Students should be reading a chapter book working toward their 30 book standard.

Hope you have a great weekend! Until next time, R.O'Steen

What's New? Spelling!

First off...glad so many of ya'll made it out to Open House this year. There are lots of new things to learn about third grade. If you were unable to make it please don't hesitate to write any questions you have in the planner. I check them every morning.

Now...
This week we started Spelling! Every Monday (or first day of the school week) students will have a lesson on their spelling focus then take a pretest in their planner. After the pretest they are to check their words and correct any misspelled words in the spelling column beside the pretest. This helps them focus on exactly which words they need to study through out the week.

I also had them write down 5 ways to study spelling during the week. They can choose one way each night or do the same way each night it is up to them as long as they are studying. I told them the proof will be on their test Friday if they studied or not.

One last note...part of the spelling test is the focus for the week. This should be written above the spelling list. Students should know what pattern they are studying so they can use it in Reading and Writing when they need to sound out words.
Until next time :) R. O'Steen