Monday, May 26, 2014

May 26, 2014

Dear Parents,

We will have the third grade picnic and I will send home the details this week!

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and the nice weather, the children have enjoyed getting outside for recess and we have had extra recess on several days.

The children are working on their book groups and have enjoyed reading, answering questions and discussing the books. We have switched books and will continue to work in book groups. The children might need to take their reading work home if they are behind in the assignments. If the book and reading notebook go home, please be sure everything is returned the next day.

In writing we are continuing to work with persuasive writing. The children are working on adding evidence to their writing. The class has done a great job working with their writing partners.

In math please continue to have your child work on X-tra math each night. I have noticed on the reports that I receive, a big decline in the overall class participation.  This web site is wonderful for the children to develop fluency with their math facts.

We are having a great time learning about the planets and completing projects to go along with each planet.

On another note, please be sure to check that your child has enough pencils!

Thanks again,

Sue Fitzpatrick

Thursday, April 24, 2014

April 24, 2014

Dear Parents,

  I hope everyone enjoyed the week off! The children came back from vacation ready to work. 
      In math we are reviewing for the NYS Math test and working on our geometry unit. The children have done a great job learning the many new vocabulary words and concepts. I have encouraged the children to use the Reteaching Page that we do in class to help with their Practice homework page. I have also continued to assign X-tra math for homework each night. Please continue to have your child work on X-tra math each night.
     We have begun our persuasive writing unit and today the children wrote speeches persuading the teachers  to give the class extra recess. The class will present their speeches tomorrow! We will continue this unit for the next several weeks.
     We are working on making inferences while reading and are using exciting nonfiction pieces as our guide. We will begin book groups in the second week of May. The children should continue to read each night for 45 minutes.
     In science we are working on the planets and are completing activities to go along with each planet. We are currently learning about Mars and designing aliens, the children are having a lot of fun with these projects.
     Please remember to send a healthy snack to school each day with your child. Also, please check to be sure your child has a supply of pencils and erasers.
    Here are some pictures of our Earth Day activities with volunteers from 5 Rivers. The children had a lot of fun learning about habitats through playing a game!

Thank you once again and as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Happy Spring,

Sue Fitzpatrick

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

April 1, 2014

Dear Parents,

Today was the first day of ELA testing and everyone worked hard and to the best of his/her ability. I was proud of the efforts that the children put forth.  I have reminded the children that all we expect is that they do their best work, which is what is expected in everything not only state tests!

Our language arts block is changed because of the testing. Our reading time will be spent on free choice reading, we are also working on cause and effect and making inferences while reading. The children should go on Raz Kids each night, passwords were sent home and the children have really enjoyed the site.
We will work on the final project of our informational unit, which involves writing an expert topic piece. The children are really excited about this. We will begin our persuasive writing on Monday.

In math we will continue our work on fractions and begin preparing for the NYS math tests. The fraction unit has been a challenge for many of the children. Please have the children use the fraction strips to help with homework.  I am strongly encouraging the children to use fractions strips, number lines in order to find equivalent fractions and ordering fractions.

We are working on the solar system for our science unit. Today the children had a great time and learned a lot by creating a post card from a planet of their choice. Ask your child what they learned about their planet.

If you haven't sent in a picture of your pet for Mrs. Young's bulletin board please do so! The children had a lot of fun "fooling" me today!

Thank you once again and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have a question or concern.

Thank you,
Sue Fitzpatrick






Sunday, March 23, 2014

March 23, 2014

Dear Parents,

     I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day.  Ask your child about O'Clover the leprechaun, he came to visit us on Monday! O'Clover left the children chocolate coins and a special snack that turned green when we followed the directions he left in his letter to us.  We had a lot of fun speculating how he got into the room!

    The children are working hard on our fraction unit. The fraction unit is two chapters long and we should finish late next week. The children are doing well on this very difficult concept. We will make a "fraction museum" when we finish the unit. Please continue to have your child work on X-tra math each night.In addition to being a quick and proven way in which to master math facts,  the children love to have their certificates added to our bulletin board! 

    The children are excited to begin our persuasive writing unit, we should be ready to begin by the end of this week. Throughout this week, the children will share their informational writing with the class, they did a great job on these!

     The children are working on reading and making inferences, as well as preparing for the ELA exam. The tests will be given the mornings of  April 1,2, 3 for 70 minutes each day, please do not schedule appointments for these mornings. We have been working to read closely and answer the questions with well written responses.

Notes:

We are in need of pencils, erasers and crayons or colored pencils! Please check with your child to see if their supplies need to be replenished.
   
I will no longer send home book orders, they will be available on line and I will send a reminder when a new catalogue is available.  There is a link to Scholastic book site on the blog.

A big thank you to Mrs. Gallagher and Mrs. O'Malley for their help in coordinating the project for Emma and her family!  We truly are lucky to be such a part of a caring community, the compassion your children have shown over the past few weeks has been heartwarming.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Thank you,
Sue Fitzpatrick

Sunday, March 2, 2014

March 1, 2014

Dear Parents,

     I hope everyone had a great weekend.  It was wonderful to see so many families at the BCCF Wacky Olympics and basketball game on Friday night. It really was a lot of fun in addition to supporting a great cause.
  
We will celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on Monday with several activities.  The children will also have a visit from a special Dr. Seuss character! In reading we have finished our book groups and will begin working on new book groups, responding to passages using evidence from the reading, and using the strategy of inferring to determine unfamiliar words in context.
 
 In writing we are finishing our informational writing unit. The children have done a great job with their nonfiction pieces, and the writing pieces are including many of the features we have studied in class.  We will begin our persuasive writing unit. The children will also practice writing to a prompt in preparation for the ELA tests. For homework each week the children will be given a writing assignment to be completed and returned to school. Although the assignment is not graded, the expectations at this point in the school year are: the children should indent a new paragraph, use complete sentences, write at least 5 sentences on the topic,  and the writing should be neat.
  
 In writing, the children will finish the short unit on time on Monday, and a test will be given on Tuesday. At home, please encourage your child to determine elapsed time whenever possible (ie how many more minutes until we need to leave for practice, etc) We will begin our fraction unit this week. The children should continue to practice their math facts on X-tra math each night. Congratulations to Leah, Alicia, Jacob, and Lulu for completing and receiving the multiplication certificate for X-tra Math.
 
We are almost finished with our electricity unit and will begin studying the planets. We will also work on map skills for our SS unit.  

Please remember to:
Send a snack each day
Check with your child about his/her school supplies-my pencil supply is empty!
Homework is assigned and due the following day
Check over spelling words on Monday night
Contact me with any concerns

Thank you again,
Sue Fitzpatrick



Thursday, February 13, 2014

February 13, 2014

Dear Parents,

Thank you for making our early dismissal go so smoothly; all of the children knew their plans which really helped.

The children have done a great job on or electricity unit and really look forward to our science time. The children are also researching their self-selected space topics and will complete their final copies after vacation. The children are incorporating non-fiction text features into their pieces and teaching their readers about the topic. The class will work on persuasive writing when we finish our non-fiction pieces.

We are finishing our Beverly Cleary reading unit. The children are writing summaries and comparing characters in the books they are reading in their book groups.

We have finished our division unit 8 and the class did well on the test. We will complete a short unit on telling time and begin fractions. The children should practice their math facts on X-tra math every day. The program is very short and extremely effective, please be sure your child is practicing daily.

Our Valentine's Day party is scheduled for tomorrow. If you would like to join us you are welcome to do so, but please do not feel like you have to! We made our card holders today, we will pass out the Valentine cards in the morning, and open them at the party!

Please remember that each night the children should be reading for 40 minutes  and completing their reading logs
. The children are also expected to  complete a writing assignment each week. The children should write at least a paragraph (more is great!) in their  writing notebook. The paragraph should be indented, written neatly, and include proper punctuation and capital letters.

Thank you once again and I hope everyone has a great vacation!

Sue Fitzpatrick

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

January 22, 2014

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! The children are happy to be indoors for our recess time, but are looking forward to getting back outside.

I want to remind you that the report card format has changed from previous years and that the children should not be alarmed to see many "2s" on their report cards.  The Common Core curriculum is very rigorous and what might have been a "3" in the past is now considered a "2."  I just wanted to give everyone a reminder about these changes.

In math we have begun division and the children will have a unit 7 test on Friday. Please remember that the children can "earn back" questions they have missed on math tests by making corrections. I have the children make the corrections when they have missed many test questions, this why some papers go home with a grade crossed out and notes on the questions. If your child would like to make up the test questions (even if he/she did not miss many questions) please write a note on the top of the math test or have them tell me.  PLEASE sign the math tests and return the test to school.

In writing we are working on our nonfiction unit. the children are working hard to learn the features of nonfiction and will use these features in their work. We will also have writing homework once a week. The children are excited to write at home about any topic they select. The children should complete the writing homework in their writing notebooks, and be sure to return the notebook the next day. The writing assignment is due each Thursday.

In science we are working on electricity. Today the class created flashcards with the various parts of the light bulb. The children should practice the definitions and we will have a test next week. We also helped our first grade buddies with  their science by going outside and helping  them to read their thermometers!

In reading we are working in book clubs with a variety of Beverly Cleary's books.  Please ask your child the title of the book they are reading and to summarize the book. Our read aloud book is E.B.White's Stuart Little. We have compared Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, and are enjoying  hearing another beautiful story by such a wonderful author. It  has been a delight to see how many families are participating in the One Book- One School!

Thank you once again for your support,
Sue Fitzpatrick