Saturday, August 27, 2016

I hope you are all enjoying your last weekend of summer!
I am VERY excited for our year together in third grade.

I will see you all on Wednesday!

Monday, August 8, 2016

Happy August!

Here is some information for you about our year!

Welcome to Third Grade!

Dear Third Graders and Parents,
I am so excited to be your teacher! We are going to learn some new and exciting things.
I love third grade and I know you will too! 

In third grade these are some of the great things you will learn:

Reading/Writing
We read daily and write daily. You will read in groups, partners, and independently. Third graders will do book project, reports, and response journals. 
You will also write daily. We will also focus on opinion writing, narrative writing, research, and writing stories. I will be using Lucy Calkins and 6 Traits Writing programs. The students also have a Daily Language Folder to help with grammar usage.

In third grade we still do read-alouds. It is one of my favorite parts of the day! Some of the book I love to read are: The Humphrey Series, Nikki Powergloves, Indian in the Cupboard, Ivan, Castle in the Attic, Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, and many more. I have found some great new books over the summer. I can’t wait to share them with you. We also do units on Fables, Folktales, and Poetry. I will be adding lots of new things to our reading and writing programs.


Math
We still use the Everyday Math program in third grade. Along with this program we will use robotics/lego kits. The kids learn to create and program. It is an awesome experience for everyone!

Social Studies
We will alternate between science and social studies throughout the year. The topics we will cover in social studies are: Maps/Veazie, Jamestown, European Explorers, and Native Americans (Inca, Maya, Aztec).
In all these units the kids will be actively involved with projects, research, and role playing. 

Science
As you know we have an awesome science curriculum. We adopted Stemscopes this year and we love it! This program is very creative and challenging. I love how it pushes our students and makes them curious about the world around them. Some of the scopes we cover are:
Inheritance and Variation of Traits, Environment Traits, Plant and Animal Extinction, Fossils, Survival of the Fittest, Adaptations, Environmental Changes and Effects, Weather and Climate, Life Cycles, Processes and Impact of Natural Hazards, Social and Group Behavior, Objects and Motion, and Electric and Magnetic Forces. 

Third Grade is a great year. Children are starting to become much more independent. It is a great year to start making them a little more responsible for their homework and packing their backpacks. It is so much fun to watch them come in as “second graders” and leave with more confidence and a little more independence. I love their sense of humor and their love for learning!

When you start to see the “Back to School” signs here are some things you can look for to help your child and our classroom get ready to start our year!

Your child will need:
a small storage box for their personal supplies(they do have their own desks)
markers
pencils
colored pencils
erasers(toppers and square)
6 Composition Notebooks(used for all subjects/interactive notebooks)
1 or 1 1/2 inch three ring binder
Sturdy Folder (this will go back and forth)

For our classroom:

clorox wipes
scissors (larger/medium)
kleenex
glue bottles

I hope you have taken advantage of our summer school online. If you have not it is not too late!

Important:
I do have a classroom blog. Please check it out! I update once a week during the school year. This is a great way to see what we do during our day and look for important information. You can find our third grade blog at: vcshh3.blogspot.com or go to veaziecs.org.
I will be looking forward to a wonderful third grade year! If you think of any questions or concerns please email me at:

Have a wonderful summer!
Mrs. Humphrey