Tag Archives: writing

Oops….I forgot!!

In all our busyness and excitement of the last day, I forgot to send home the students’ writing folders. OOPS!
In this folder is a collection of writing pieces from the year and there’s a cute first day of school picture too!

I will be at open library on Tuesday from 10:00-Noon. Please stop by and pick up your folder. I hope you will check out a book too!!  🙂

Looking Ahead…

Our Just Write Celebration will be held on Monday, June 1 at 9:30.

We will be sharing our writing from this year and will especially be celebrating our biography writing.

There will be more information to come about a special way we will celebrate the people your child learned so much about. Please look for this information coming home soon.

 

 

Public Issue Opinion Homework

This week we have started discussing public issues and core democratic values. We are combining this  social studies unit with our opinion writing unit and will learn how to write about a public issue.  We have learned that a public issue is something that people disagree on. A homework paper was sent home today.
Your child will need to find an article that pertains to a Michigan Public Issue. Once they find an article, they are to read the article with you and pull out the opinions shared by others concerning this issue. Also, I would like them to get your opinion on this issue, as well as, one other adult not living in your home.  This assignment must be returned by: Tuesday, April 22.

Once all the facts and opinions are gathered, your child will be writing an opinion paper based on their  public issue question.. Some ideas are: recycle laws, killing of the swans and snow owls, year round school, school uniforms or issue of their choice.

Thank you!

 

 

Third Grade Happenings!

Here’s what’s happening in third grade!

We will have our sentence test tomorrow. As a reminder, our word work words are:  learn, many, continue, school, future, little, important, world

In math, we have been working on addition and subtraction methods with proof drawings. Please review 3 digit addition and subtraction with your third grader. We have also been working on rounding to the nearest 10 and 100.

We are beginning our writing unit on realistic fiction. We are in the process of generating ideas and thinking about how our stories could go differently by adding new characters and a problem. 

Conference appointment times went home last week. I look forward to meeting with you next week!!

Tonight’s Homework

Hi Parents,
Tonight’s homework will involve you joining in a discussion with your third grader! We have been studying public issues and how people take a stand and share their opinion with reasons why. Our goal is to generate an opinion writing piece. One of the Michigan issues we have been learning about is wind farms in the Great Lakes. We have discussed the reasons for building them and also the possible problems.  The homework for tonight involves you and your child discussing your opinions on this and sharing reasons why. Ask your child his/her opinion and why and then offer your ideas on the homework sheet.
Please review the opinions of both sides with your third grader. We will be having a small check for understanding quiz tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!     Miss Van Arkel

Economics Test and Research

Hi Families,

We will have our Economics Test tomorrow. A review page went home tonight. Please help your third grader study for this test and review vocabulary. Thanks!

Also, we are beginning research writing. Your child will need to think of an animal or a person that they could research, gather information about, and write about. A note will be coming home about research homework. Please look for that soon. Thanks!

Miss Van Arkel

3rd Grade update

We have had a great week back at school. I have been complimenting the students all week. We have even clipped up as a class. We have been learning about our brains and have learned how the parts work together to help us focus, think, and do our best. We have also discussed what it means to be mindful and think before we respond to a situation or an emotion.

Here’s what’s happening in third grade:
Writing: This week we learned to write a peer response. We read a piece of writing and identified a trait of writing that needs a little work. We gave examples from the story and explained what the writer could do to improve.  We will be working on peer response writing a few more times this year. Monday we will begin writing personal narratives again.
Reading:  We have been working hard on making inferences as a reader. When we read a story there are things that the author does not always explain. We use the details and clues the author gives to make inferences. We have been making inferences about characters.
Math:  We have finished up unit 9 on multiplication and division. It is very important to continue practicing the math facts as we will continue to use them in our math concepts. I have paused on the Math Fact logs for now so those will not be coming home for a bit. We will begin a new unit on measurement, time, and graphs.
Social Studies: We are back to our social studies lessons and are currently studying Economics.  We will switch again for science in a few weeks.
Spelling: We will not have new spelling words for a little bit as we are studying nouns and plural nouns and possessive nouns. We will be taking some time to learn the different spellings and do some practice work in class.

3rd Grade update

Hi Families! Here is what’s happening in third grade:

Math: We are completing unit 1. We will review today and have our test tomorrow (Wed.). The review page will come home tonight. Please help your child to review addition and subtraction. Help them to understand how addition and subtraction relate. Example:   123+245= 368   and  368-245=123.    We will be moving on to unit 3 next.

Writing: We are working hard on our personal narrative writing. We have learned that personal narratives are true stories about ourselves and include a bold beginning, mighty middle, and excellent ending. We are working on planning for our stories and using the writing process. 

Reading: I have enjoyed reading with many of the students lately. I have noticed many great strategies being used. They are becoming great readers. We have talked about some of these strategies that we use as readers and will be discussing a few more later. The students have built stamina for Read to Self and have recently started on Read to Someone. 

Social Studies: We continue to learn about Michigan geography. We have learned about the natural characteristics of landforms and bodies of water. Now we are learning about the vegetation and climate of Michigan. We’ve learned that many forests are in the upper peninsula and many orchards are in the lower peninsula. We have also learned that the lower peninsula has cooler temperatures than the upper peninsula and that more precipitation occurs near the lakes. 

Have a great week!    Miss Van Arkel  🙂