Mrs. Fraser’s 3rd grade classroom newsletter.
Mrs. Fraser, August 19, 2013
CHARACTER TRAIT: WISDOM
Reference: Proverbs 9:10
Verse: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Definition: Thinking God’s way
Opposite: Foolishness, leaving God out of my decisions
SPELLING
Lesson 2 Long a” a, a_e, ai, ay, ea, eigh, eye
1. they
2. lady
3. delay
4. steak
5. eighty
6. weigh
7. break
8. acorn
9. afraid
10. safety
11. maybe
12. playing
13. explain
14. mistake
15. training
16. forgave
17. neighbor
18. skateboard
High-Frequency Words
19. months
20. because
Challenge Words
* transportation
* population
PARENT CORNER
IN APPRECIATION
It was fantastic to see so many of you at Convocation on the first day of school and have you join us in our room to participate in a circle of prayer and blessing over our class for this new school year. What a joy it is to begin to grow to know and love your children! They are compassionate and tenderhearted. We are hard at work learning to work as a team to understand procedures and expectations for our classroom and school wide campus. We strive to lay the foundation for the school year anchored in Jesus and standing firm as one.
Thank you for your generosity in supplying our class with tissue and hand sanitizer. We also have a need for disinfectant wipes. I have been so encouraged by your thoughtful notes and prayers of love as we begin the year together. I have you in my heart and in my prayers.
MONDAY MORNING WORSHIP
Grades 1-6 will begin each Monday morning worshiping together in the North Lobby Chapel from 8:00-8:30 AM. Parents, you are welcome to come and join us as well!
BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT
I look forward to seeing each of you on Tuesday, August 20. We will meet at 7:00 PM in the F.C.S. gym for a general assembly with our superintendent, Mrs. Siebert, and K-12 principal, Mr. Bennett for introductions. Then we will walk over to our classrooms where I will share with you about the “World of Third Grade” and what to expect this year.
MINIMUM DAY
Just a reminder that this week Wednesday, August 21 is a minimum day with early release at 12:00 PM due to staff in-service.
WELCOME BACK MOVIE NIGHT UNDER THE STARS!
Come and enjoy our first ever “MOVIE NIGHT UNDER THE STARS! Fresno Christian invites you to join other FCS families on the FCS football field this coming Friday night, August 23. The movie “EPIC” will be viewed on a huge outdoor screen. Showtime starts at 8:20 PM. Popcorn and drinks will be provided. Don’t forget to bring your blanket. Come and enjoy our Fresno Christian family movie night and have an EPIC evening!!!!
BIBLE/CHAPEL
Every other Tuesday morning Grades 1-6 will participate in chapel from 8:00-8:45 AM in the North Lobby Chapel starting on Tuesday, August 20, 2013. Last week our class discussed and wrote class respect agreements. They included: Student to Student Respect Agreement, Student to Teacher Respect Agreement, Teacher to Student Respect Agreement, and Respecting Facilities and Resources Agreement. These agreements were then signed by your child, their classmates, and me. The respect agreements are posted in the classroom as a reminder. These agreements will be used all year long and will help to teach the reasons for and the skills required for conflict resolution.
This year we want to love God, study His word, love others, listen with our eyes, ears, and heart, learn as much as we can each day, and leave our class as neat as when we came. We have 6 Class Rules which address these spiritual goals on a daily basis:
1. Work quietly.
2. Follow directions.
3. Work and play safely.
4. Respect others’ property.
5. Keep to your own space.
6. Listen to others.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
A Parent Volunteer Sign Up Sheet for classroom helpers was posted in the hallway near our classroom door last week. Our classroom helpers will work from 8:00-10:15 AM Monday through Friday. You are welcome to alternate a day of the week with another parent. We will also have sign ups for classroom helpers, chapel speakers, field trip chaperones/drivers, and special projects at Back to School Night on Tuesday, August 20. Thank you to all who have offered to help already.
PTF FALL FUNDRAISER
Last Thursday, August 15th PTF kicked off our fall fundraiser with a rousing, spirited assembly in our FCS Gym for Grades 1-6! This fundraiser will run through Monday, September 9th. Your child brought home a variety of items for sale and there are some great prizes so SELL, SELL, SELL!! All the profit will benefit your children and the programs at FCS. Our goal is that each child would sell $60 worth of items.
LANGUAGE ARTS
This week I will be completing individual reading inventories before we can begin reading groups. We will start the year with short stories and focus on specific reading strategies. Later we will experience longer literature studies and learn how to analyze and write literature responses.
During the school year we will be doing many book projects based on different literary genres. As the instructions come home, you will also see an attached rubric to use as a guide in helping your child complete their project. There will be one project per month. The first assignment will come home in September. Students will have time during S.S.R. (Silent Sustained Reading) each day to read their books but the project itself, needs to be completed at home. I will share more about these projects at Back-To-School Night as well as tell you about our Reading Counts program.
PHONICS
Phonics is a key element of reading. It is a a letter-sound relationship and rules that affect those relationships. Phonics instruction will help students connect sounds to letters, decode words, and recognize patterns in words. It will help students move into greater proficiency and independence in reading. This year consonants, vowels, blends, digraphs, and diphthongs will be reviewed. Base words, suffixes, synonyms, and antonyms will be explored. Dictionary skills will be developed, helping students become even more independent. Reading is a life-long skill that impacts every area of learning so we will address and review important reading skills and provide an opportunity for independent practice of these reading skills.
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL
School begins at 8:00 AM sharp. Students who arrive later than 8:00 AM must report to the office for a tardy slip. Students go directly to the play area north of building 5 in the mornings. After the 7:55 AM bell and whistle, they will line up with their classmates and I will escort them to class. School ends at 2:45 P.M. Please arrange pick up promptly. Children not picked up by 3:00 P.M. will be taken to the office to call parents and wait. The pick-up location is at the People’s campus between Building 5 and the Peoples Church preschool playground. All children must wait with the teacher until an adult walks over to pick them up. For their safety, they may not go and meet you at your car.
DRESS CODE
Please review the dress code with your child. It is important to know the standard to which your kids will be held. Your full cooperation is greatly appreciated. Questions on specific items can be addressed with Mr. Bennett. Modest dress best reflects our Christian values. Uniform shorts are optional this year.
P.E.
Be sure to have your child wear appropriate clothes and shoes for workouts. With the hot weather, water bottles are REQUIRED as a condition of participation in P.E to stay hydrated and focused. Third graders have P.E. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoons.
RECESS AND LUNCH
Grades 4-6 will have a daily morning recess at 9:45-10:5 AM. Grades 1-3 have a daily morning recess at 10:15-10:35 AM. Lunch recess is from 11:35 AM -12:25 Am. Grades 1-3 eat first while Grades 4-6 play. Then a SWITCH occurs so Grades 1-3 are on the playground and Grades 4-6 eat lunch at the picnic tables. With the high temperatures, please plan on sending a bottle or two of water every day. Thanks so much for your help with this.
LIBRARY DAY
Each week our class will participate in Library Experience with Ms. Brown our school librarian. Our library time will be on TUESDAY from 2:00 to 2:40. Ms. Brown has many activities planned to familiarize students with resources in our library. Students may check out three books for two weeks and return them on or before their Thursday due date. Students may also check out one additional book as need for special project assignments.
POWERSCHOOL
You are able to access your child’s grades on a weekly basis to track their progress. I would recommend that you save your child’s work each quarter. I will try to do my best, but I may make errors so thank you for kindly sending in anything that does not coincide with Powerschool so that I can make the change. Check to see which assignments your child might be missing and have them complete them for a grade.
GRADES
Grades are as follows:
90-100% = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
59% and below =F
HOMEWORK FOLDERS
Each student was given a RED homework folder that will be sent home on Mondays and needs to be returned each Thursday. Please look in your child’s Homework Folder for your child’s graded work from the previous week, newsletters, flyers, Bible and spelling lists, and any additional assignments. Please take the opportunity to go through the work together and correct any mistakes. Please return the folder every Thursday. This will be part of your child’s effort grade for responsibility.
For any grade that is a D+ (69%) or lower, a student may re-correct the assignment and return to school in their RED Homework Folder by Thursday of each week for an improved grade of no higher than a C- (70%). Also, any work not completed in class, such as math, reading or spelling, is considered homework and needs to be returned the following day. Thank you!
WRITING
Our first focus will be to review writing information paragraphs by creating a key word outline. We will read a paragraph on a specific topic, choose and record key words in each sentence, and then write our own sentences retelling the paragraph in our own words. After practice in this area we will move on to expository paragraphs where we will write descriptions of people, places, or objects. We will learn to use concrete sensory details to present and support unified impressions of people, places, or objects.
MATH
During the next few weeks our class will be learning about place value in Chapter 1. We will be studying how to read and write numbers up to 999,999. We will also be comparing, ordering, and rounding these numbers.
Math Vocabulary Words
Estimate–a number close to an exact number
Expanded Form–a way to write a number that shows the VALUE of each digit
Standard Form–a way to write a number by using only DIGITS
Word Form–a way to write a number by using only WORDS
MATH CLUB
We will also begin practice in our timed tests of computation facts in addition and subtraction facts including 100 problems in 4 minutes. Our goal is to pass 2 forms in addition and 2 forms in subtraction to become a member of the 3rd Grade Math Club. Once those individual goals are reached, then it is on to multiplication to become a member of the 4th Grade Math Club, division for 5th Grade Math Club, and mixed facts for 6th Grade Math Club and a Lifetime Member or Lifetime Plus Member.
To become BRAIN BUFF it will require lots of practice! Students will practice with flash cards at school. It is recommended that students study facts at home with addition and subtraction flash cards on a weekly basis. Students will be tested on basic math facts twice a week.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Last week we began our study of Unit 1 “Our Geography.” We are studying about physical and human geography. We have been learning about finding locations using cardinal and intermediate directions. Chapter 1 will include physical features like highlands, lowlands, bodies of water, climate and plant life, and land form maps. We will learn about human-made features, where people build, buildings and roads, and transportation. We will also study California’s regions: coast, central valley, mountain, and desert regions along with people and their regions.
SCIENCE
As we study the geography around us and in our world, we will also study the different habitats of plants and animals and how they adapt to their environment. We begin with exploring forest habitats and learning about deciduous forests and coniferous forests along with animals that adapt to these environments. We are studying about conifers and how they keep their needle-like leaves all year. The seeds of conifers are in their cones and the seeds fall out in warm weather. We began to make bird feeders on Friday with cones, honey, peanut butter, and bird seed. You will see them coming home and may want to hang them up in your back yard to watch God’s creatures enjoy them!
COMPUTER
Wednesdays and Fridays we will have Computer class which will include participation in the Reading Counts program and MasterKey keyboarding program. We will begin next week. Each child will take the Scholastic Reading Inventory on the lab computers to determine their reading interests and lexile comprehension reading level. From this, a recommended reading list of books is generated that will help students select books that are a good fit for their reading level in the Reading Counts program.
Students are encouraged to read “Red Star” books and then take computer quizzes to measure growth in comprehension on a weekly basis. Points are accumulated for books read and quizzes passed at 70% or above. These points earn them recognition certificates at 25, 50 100, 250, and 500 points. Next week we will begin taking Reading Counts quizzes after reading a Red Star Book. Students will be required to read one book per week and take one quiz per week. Students will also be allowed to take Red Star Quizzes at home with adult supervision. You may log in to our Fresno Christian website and choose SRI under grades K-6 beginning next week once student receive their student I.D. passcode.
MUSIC
Each Tuesday morning Mrs. Ainley, our choral director, will meet with our class for music and choral instruction. Friday afternoons Mrs. Ainley will have combined music with the third and fourth grade classes.
VISITOR PASS
Please note that classrooms are locked at all times for security reasons. You must obtain a visitor’s pass to enter the classroom with an office escort.
LIBRARY HOURS
Hours
7:30-4:00 Monday-Thursday
7:30-3:00 Friday
SPECIAL BORROWERS
Parents are Special Borrowers and are encouraged to check out materials.
SPIRIT DAY
Every Friday is FCS Spirit Day! Be sure to wear your favorite FCS shirt!
COMING ATTRACTIONS
AUGUST
Tuesday, August 20 – Back to School Night Gr. 1-6 7:00 PM in the FCS Gym
Wednesday, August 21 – Half Day/Staff In-Service/Early Release at 12:00 PM
Friday, August 23 – “Night Under The Stars” Back to School Movie Night
SEPTEMBER
Monday, September 2 – Labor Day/No School
Tuesday, September 10- Elementary Picture Day
Wednesday, September 18 – Half Day/Staff In-Service/Early Release at 12:00 PM
September 23-27 – Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences