Classroom Update – September 15th
September 14, 2008 by James Hendricks
It really is hard to believe that we are in the fourth week of school already. We are already into the thick of many things!
Reading – We have finished reading two selections in our anthology: The Lost and Found and The Ballad of Mulan. Both of these selections have centered on the theme of adventure stories. We have worked on summarization and inferences in our reading focus. In addition, students have been working on making personal connections to our stories. In addition to our anthology, students began chapter book reading groups this week. These chapter books are geared toward your child’s reading ability and allow students to take the skills we have learned in anthology lessons and apply them to their chapter books. We will start this week off with another selection called The Waterfall by Jonathan London. Family newsletters have been posted by clicking on Reading above or by visiting http://www.teamhendricks.com/reading.
Spelling – We have just completed an assessment of the second grade muscle words. Students will receive a copy of their test this week and they will be required to write the words 10 times to practice them. In Cast-A-Spell, students are working on the vowel-consonant-e pattern. Some examples include close, late and fuse.
Math – In our first unit of Bridges in Mathematics, we are looking at addition strategies for mental math and patterns. Last week, students worked on repeating and growing patterns, an analysis of addition fact strategies, and working with calculators! Students will receive their first Math Home Connection Activity Pack on Monday. This pack reinforces the activities that we are completing in school. I urge you to spend time working with your child so that they can practice the math concepts we are working on.
Beginning-of-the-Year Assessments – During the month of September, third grade students take several different assessments to assist students with the development of classroom instruction. As was previously stated, students have taken a traditional spelling test of the 100 second grade muscle words. Last week, students took something called the DRP test. DRP stands for Degrees of Reading Power and this test gives teachers a look at how well students read with difficult vocabulary. The DRP has passages on a topic and students fill-in missing words from a multiple choice selection. This week, students will take a comprehension test which includes multiple choice and open-ended questions on two passages that they will read. In addition, students will complete a writing prompt where they write on a specific topic and it will be scored by third grade teachers across the district. All of these assessments give me a good idea of how your child learns in the area of langauge arts.
Constitution Day – Saturday, September 20th is Constitution Day. We will participate in some activities to learn about the United States Constitution.
That should be it for now! I hope that you have a great week! Jamie Hendricks
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