Mega-Deets, comin’ at ya!

Hello wonderful 3rd grade families!

I hope your surprise snow days were awesome. It sounds like your students had a good time! 

Lots going on these next few weeks, so please forgive the longer-than usual post.

1. CMAS is literally right around the corner. We will begin testing on the Wednesday after we return from Spring Break. Students have been preparing and practicing in class, but may feel even more comfortable if they practice at home. You can follow this link to find practice tests online for both the ELA and math sections of the test. For each test, you'll first need to select the subject (ELA or Math), then select the grade level on the left menu. Students don't need to sign in, they can just login as "guest." If you'd like to practice with them, I suggest trying out a few of the units yourself! The link is: http://download.pearsonaccessnext.com/co/co-practicetest.html?links=
2. Keep up on those moon trackers! You may want to set a reminder on your phone to help your student remember to check each night. If your student runs out of space on their self-created moon trackers, they can simply make a new one at home. These will need to be turned in after Spring Break.
3. The Izzi B auction is tonight! So exciting! I'll be there, and I hope to see many of you there as well! The teacher experience I'm auctioning off is an excursion to the Museum of Outdoor Arts to learn about the art there, and to gain some photography skills! I'll have my DSLR and an antique film camera as well that one lucky student will get to use to take some really cool photos, which I'll then print out for them as a keepsake--and hopefully turn them into a little photo bug like me. Maybe it'll be YOUR  student! Have fun bidding!
4. Students should be reading 20 minutes everyday, and completing their paired text packet for homework. They will have until next Friday to turn this weeks' homework in.
5. We are in need of some more emergency snacks. I have put up some preferred items on my Amazon wishlist, found here: http://a.co/36IMNxF

Here is what we've been working on lately:

Geometry: Learning about the attributes of polygons. Our extended learning includes studying the art of M.C. Escher and creating our own tessellations. 

Space: learning about our solar system. Our extended learning includes going through the steps of research to work towards building a moon rover with recycled materials and getting them to have some component of movement through battery power, which is an application of our last science unit on electricity.

Reading/Writing: Beefing up our vocabulary, learning about roots, suffixes, and pre-fixes, practicing for CMAS, explaining our thinking more thoroughly, and building stamina for writing. Extended learning includes using similes, metaphors, and higher level vocabulary in our writing on a consistent basis. 

Social Studies: Continuing our study of wolves in fact and in fiction. Extended learning will soon include writing our own fables that involve a wolf, writing a realistic fiction story from the perspective of a wolf, and hopefully some more surprises involving wolves. Stay tuned!

Have a wonderful weekend! Thank you for all of your support!

--Olivia