Third Grade Newsletter- Week 1

9/7 Labor Day Holiday

9/8 Ava M.'s Birthday

9/9 Robbie's Birthday

9/15 International Dot Day

9/16 Ruthie's Birthday

9/25 SPIRIT DRESS Day

9/26 Rainey's Birthday

Dear Third Grade Families,

We are so proud of how wonderfully our students are settling into our classroom routines! They are doing an amazing job learning, growing, and building a strong sense of community in our classroom each day.

This past week in chapel, the messages focused on The St. Luke’s Way and understanding each part of it as we say it. We have been especially impressed by the way our third graders are exemplifying conduct that is guided by love and respect. They are consistently demonstrating behavior that is both courteous and cooperative, and it is wonderful to see these values in action throughout our school day.

As you have conversations at home, ask your child, “What is one way you showed The St. Luke’s Way at school today?” We hope this question will spark meaningful conversations about the many ways they are putting these important values into practice.

You should all be so proud of your children! Thank you for partnering with us and for helping make our days so full of joy in our classrooms. We are grateful for your continued support and for the wonderful children you share with us each day.

Warmly,
The Third Grade Teachers

Math Focus for Next Week:

• Students will continue building their place value skills as we learn how to compare and order numbers up to 10,000 using place value charts and the symbols < and >.
• Students will practice ordering numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least.
• Students will begin exploring rounding numbers to the nearest ten and hundred. They will use number lines and place value charts to determine which numbers are closest and strengthen their number sense.

ELAR Focus for Next Week:

• Reading: We will discuss the theme of a fiction text and use details from the text to support our thinking.
• Writing: We will learn about compound sentences and practice combining ideas using conjunctions. We will also explore different ways to start sentences to make our writing more interesting and varied.
• Spelling: Students will complete a spelling inventory to help us understand their current spelling skills and plan instruction.

Science Focus for Next Week:

What is Happening in Science/STEM?

This week in science students will continue to explore Forces. Students will work with a partner to explore height versus distance in a lab setting. Students will be given a question, then write a hypothesis. Students will then set up their lab materials, test 3 trials and record their data into a chart . After analyzing the data results, students will write a conclusion based on their findings. We can’t wait to see if our hypothesis matches our findings!

Safety Contracts were signed last week so students are aware of the expectations in Science/STEM when we are doing labs and demonstrations. Safety equipment will always be provided when it is necessary to keep the students safe during investigations.

Academic Language We Are Using This Week

force, balanced forces, unbalanced forces, measurement, metric, meterstick, centimeters

Social Studies Focus for Next Week:

We began map skills! This week we are looking at the compass rose and learning cardinal and intermediate directions. Next up will be locating places on maps and globes.

A huge Hilltop THANK YOU to our wonderful parent volunteers for serving as your grade-level Class Captains! Please be sure to join the 3rd Grade Group on the St. Luke’s App to stay connected and receive important updates and communication throughout the year.

Stacie Koonhow - stacie_harris@hotmail.com

Angie Shotzberger - angie.shotzberger@gmail.com