Dear Parents,

Happy May from third grade! We have been hard at work the past several weeks, and we are looking forward to finishing the year on a successful note with Ms. Figlietti.  Among many exciting events happening in May, we have a field trip on May 19th to the Muir Woods National Monument. Inside the classroom, we will be working on the following:

MATH

In March we began division, and we are continuing to practice both multiplication and division facts daily. We are also integrating review into our lessons three days a week through “Mixed Review” warm-ups.

A new addition to the classroom is the Math Review Challenge box. Every Monday, a new Math Review Challenge packet is available for us to work on throughout the week after we have finished all of our other assigned work. The packets are put in a box every Friday and are corrected. Those that receive a 100% will be entered into a raffle, and the winner will receive a prize from the treasure chest. Not only is this helping us practice previously learned math skills, but it is also helping us get into the routine of checking our work and making sure that we read directions.

Ms. Figlietti encourages us to keep reviewing all of our addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts at home.

WRITING

In writing, we have completed our compare and contrast essays and are now working on the persuasive essay genre. We started this genre by reviewing “Step Up to Writing” basics, and then brainstorming interesting essay topics for our persuasive essays. We  chose from a list of three topics and began drafting our outlines and rough drafts two weeks ago. We will continue to work on these essays until May 18th, when the final draft is due.

ENGLISH

Unit 6 covered pronouns, contractions, and homophones. We did wonderfully on this unit and completed it on April 16th. During the remainder of the year, grammar will be reviewed and supported by means of the basal reader.

READING

We have successfully completed another literature unit. The next five stories will focus on the following target skills:

♣Steps in a process

♣Setting

♣Visualizing

♣Plot

♣Realism and Fantasy

SOCIAL STUDIES

We had a lot of social studies fun in April, covering material about local, state, and national government. We held a mock town council meeting where students (citizens) voted on what should be built on an empty lot in town. We also held a third grade census around the time the U.S. census was sent out and discovered that the third grade as a whole has 74 televisions!

This month, we are starting Unit 5 titled, “Making Economic Choices.” The big idea in this unit is to understand why people work.

RELIGION

In Religion, we have been studying the Sacraments, and just finished Chapter 13, “We Celebrate the Eucharist.” In the next chapter, Chapter 14, we will discover and put into practice what the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector teaches. We will resume taking a closer look at the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick after completing Chapter 14.