Snapshot for January 8

Here is this week's snapshot if  you are unable to get the e-mails. You can download the pdf file by clicking beneath the snapshot picture the below. All snapshots will be available in pdf form on the "Weekly Snapshots" page {here} once they are sent out and posted!

Click {here} to direct download this week's snapshot!

Week of: January 8, 2018

Dear Parents,

We have a lot coming up these next few weeks of school! Report cards were sent home last Friday. Please make be to sign and return report card envelopes. You can keep the report cards. Information about Explorers will go home this week in Tuesday folders. Please see the list of dates below for what we have going on at school over the next few weeks as well as dues dates for next week’s scheduled homework.

Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, January 9	Timed Test (all facts so far)
Tuesday, January 9	College Shirt Day
Monday, January 15	NO SCHOOL - MLK
Tuesday, January 16	7s Timed Test
Wednesday, January 17 & Friday, January 19	Midyear MAP Testing
Monday, January 22	Tutorials begin (3:30 – 4:00)
Monday, January 22	Explorers begin (4:00 – 5:00)

Upcoming Assignment due dates
Wednesday, January 10	Science classwork: Energy Reading Passage
Thursday, January 11	Math classwork: Planned and Unplanned Spending Decisions
Friday, January 12	Science classwork: Exploring Energy Assessment
HOMEWORK: Tuesday, January 16	Math and Science homework due! Math: Countdown to the Math STAAR, Series 1 P3 and P4 {front and back} Science: Unit 5 Guided Practice/Science Vocabulary Builder {front and back}

*number of classwork assignments may change throughout the week based on classroom needs

THIS WEEK IN MATH:

In math this week we are continuing personal finance literacy. Students will be learning about economics and keeping a budget. They will also be learning about how a budget can help to manage money that is earned, how credit is used to buy things you may not otherwise be able to afford, how money borrowed must be paid back and other skills.

On Thursday, we will start one digit by two digit multiplication.  This will be the start of our unit on multiplying two digit numbers and equations.  

Students should continue to review their Personal Finance Literacy Vocabulary Words from the previous week until these have been mastered.  These terms will be used in questions on assignments.

**Showing Work: Please double check to make sure your child is showing their work on their math homework.

Students have gotten much better at showing work on classroom assignments, but a reminder from home will help to reinforce that justifying our answers is an expectation.

Math Resources to Help at Home

Division Math Practice – In this drag racing game, your child can practice division facts while racing against the computer or other players.

Students in third grade must master their multiplication facts with automaticity.  This means they are to recall these facts quickly.  Each Tuesday, we have a two minute test over the facts we have studied for the previous week.  Notes have been sent home each week before our upcoming test to explain this. This week, we do not have a timed test.  We will have our timed multiplication test Tuesday, January 9 over all of the facts we have tested over so far. These are facts in the 0s, 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 8s and 10s. Next Tuesday, January 16, we will test over 7s.

SKILL PRACTICE WEBSITES

Free Training Tutorial - Division - This link will take you to the division page. If you would like to practice other skills with your child, you can search through them on the website’s home page.

Regrouping is definitely a skill that needs to be reviewed often in addition and subtraction.  Many of our students are showing a need for this.  Under Subtraction, there is a two-digit with regrouping basketball game that would be a great practice if your child wants to strengthen this skill.

That Quiz  - Under Integers, click Arithmetic.  Adjust length, level, and time as needed.  Click the box for multiplication to let your child practice their facts.

Multiplication – Lots of free and entertaining games to practice multiplication facts.

Education Galaxy – Use the skills practice section for math to practice multiplication facts.

Turtle Diary Division Games - Use these games to practice division and multiplication facts. Change the topics or grade level to review different skills, or bump up to a more challenging level!

Personal Financial Literacy – In the game. Road Trip to Savings, your child will make decisions about income, expenses, and savings.

Hands on Banking – In this game, your child will learn about managing their money using a budget. This is a great review of the money managing game that we played before the break.

BrainPOP - Budgets – This video about budgets is another great review with plenty of useful vocabulary to help your child as we move through this unit. There are also a few games that go along with this video that can be found here, or by clicking on the games box on the right side of the screen where the video loads.

  

THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE:

In science this week, we will move from discussing forms of energy, to discussing force. We will be looking at pulling and pushing objects and how gravity affects the force used on an object.

Extra practice has been assigned in Flocabulary if you would like to have your child do that at home. You can access Flocabulary through the GISD Ready Hub. We will be watching the Force and Motion video in class before beginning our science lessons. The Force and Motion assignments are the video, read and respond, and the quiz. The extra practice assignment will be open from Monday, January 8 through Friday, January 19.

We have also been looking at different topics and questions for Science Fair. The main areas that 3^rd grade has focused on are motion, force, living organisms, physical properties, forms of energy and natural resources.

RESOURCES FOR PRACTICE

Science Kids - Force in Action– Using a car on a track, test out different slopes, weights and parachutes to see what it takes to get the truck to the end of the ramp. There is even a place to record your observations on a table! You can find the full list of science games on their homepage {here}.

Study Jams - Force and Motion – Play the video on force and motion, and test yourself over various force and motion questions. There are also other videos and slide shows that talk about other related to force and motion (Newton’s laws, simple machines, gravity and inertia) that you can find {here}.

Education Galaxy – On the top right, have your child go up one level on the drop down menu. Then go to My Study Plan and choose science.  Practice Force.

Discovery Education – There is a large supply of video, interactive learning, questions, and an interactive glossary for vocabulary that is always helpful for whatever we are learning in science.  All content in this resource is searchable.

Thank you so much for your dedication to helping your child learn.

Forms of Energy

During this short, 3 day week of school we have been looking at different forms of energy! The 4 types that we have been looking at are light, sound, mechanical and heat/thermal energies.

The kids have a quick "homework" tonight where they are discussing those 4 different forms of energy to an adult at home. They are bringing home their science note books to help them explain the different forms of energy that we have talked about in class. I am also linking the Energy Made Easy book from TEA that we read in class today (Thursday).

Click {here} to view a copy of the book that we used in class for to discuss different forms of energy.

We read this book in class and wrote down important information about each form of energy in a way we could remember it.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know!

Snapshot for January 3

Here is this week's snapshot if  you are unable to get the e-mails. You can download the pdf file by clicking beneath the snapshot picture the below. All snapshots will be available in pdf form on the "Weekly Snapshots" page {here} once they are sent out and posted!

Click {here} to direct download this week's snapshot!

Week of: January 3, 2018

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone has had and wonderful 2 week break and was able to stay warm!

Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, January 3	First Day Back!
Friday, January 5	PRIDE Parties
Tuesday, January 9	Timed Test (all facts so far)
Tuesday, January 9	College Shirt Day
Monday, January 15	NO SCHOOL - MLK
Week of January 16	Midyear MAP Testing
Tuesday, January 16	7s Timed Test

 THIS WEEK IN MATH:

In math this week we are continuing personal finance literacy. Students will be learning about economics and keeping a budget. They will also be learning about how a budget can help to manage money that is earned, how credit is used to buy things you may not otherwise be able to afford, how money borrowed must be paid back and other skills.

Vocabulary cards for personal finance literacy will be sent home in your child’s daily take home folder for them to study throughout the week. Please be sure that your child keeps these in their take home folder, as we will need them in class throughout the week, as well.

**Showing Work: Please double check to make sure your child is showing their work on their math homework.

Students have gotten much better at showing work on classroom assignments, but a reminder from home will help to reinforce that justifying our answers is an expectation.

Math Resources to Help at Home

Division Math Practice – In this drag racing game, your child can practice division facts while racing against the computer or other players.

Students in third grade must master their multiplication facts with automaticity.  This means they are to recall these facts quickly.  Each Tuesday, we have a two minute test over the facts we have studied for the previous week.  Notes have been sent home each week before our upcoming test to explain this. This week, we do not have a timed test.  We will resume timed multiplication testing January 9 over all of the facts we have tested over so far. These are facts in the 0s, 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 8s and 10s. The following week, January 16, we will test over 7s.

SKILL PRACTICE WEBSITES

Free Training Tutorial - Division - This link will take you to the division page. If you would like to practice other skills with your child, you can search through them on the website’s home page.

Regrouping is definitely a skill that needs to be reviewed often in addition and subtraction.  Many of our students are showing a need for this.  Under Subtraction, there is a two-digit with regrouping basketball game that would be a great practice if your child wants to strengthen this skill.

That Quiz  - Under Integers, click Arithmetic.  Adjust length, level, and time as needed.  Click the box for multiplication to let your child practice their facts.

Multiplication – Lots of free and entertaining games to practice multiplication facts.

Education Galaxy – Use the skills practice section for math to practice multiplication facts.

Turtle Diary Division Games - Use these games to practice division and multiplication facts. Change the topics or grade level to review different skills, or bump up to a more challenging level!

Personal Financial Literacy – In the game. Road Trip to Savings, your child will make decisions about income, expenses, and savings.

Hands on Banking – In this game, your child will learn about managing their money using a budget. This is a great review of the money managing game that we played before the break.

BrainPOP - Budgets – This video about budgets is another great review with plenty of useful vocabulary to help your child as we move through this unit. There are also a few games that go along with this video that can be found here, or by clicking on the games box on the right side of the screen where the video loads. 

THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE:

In science this week, we will begin looking at force, energy and motion. Over the course of this week, we will be focusing on looking at different forms of energy, including mechanical, light, sound and thermal and how we see those different forms of energy in everyday life.

We have also been looking at different topics and questions for Science Fair. The main areas that 3^rd grade has focused on are motion, force, living organisms, physical properties, forms of energy and natural resources.

RESOURCES FOR PRACTICE

Turtle Diary - Energy Games – Turtle diary has 2 different sound energy games to choose from. In I Spy Sound, choose different scenarios and listen to sounds that are being played. Match the sound you hear with the object it belongs to in the scenario. In Musical Water Glasses, hit different water glasses that are filled with different amounts of water, creating different pitches. The pitches go along with a song that lights up the words as you hit the correct water glasses.

Study Jams - Heat Energy – Play the video on heat energy and test yourself over various heat energy questions.

Study Jams - Sound – Play the video on sound energy and test yourself over various sound energy questions.

Study Jams - Light - Play the video on light energy and test yourself over various heat light questions.

Education Galaxy – On the top right, have your child go up one level on the drop down menu.  Then go to My Study Plan and choose science.  Practice Forms of Energy.

Discovery Education – There is a large supply of video, interactive learning, questions, and an interactive glossary for vocabulary that is always helpful for whatever we are learning in science.  All content in this resource is searchable.

Thank you so much for your dedication to helping your child learn.

Unit 3 Science Review

This week in science we have been reviewing all of our Unit 3 concepts from the past few weeks. We focused on states of matter, how heating and cooling changes matter, properties of matter and mixtures and solutions. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the kids moved through 6 different stations to practice in each of these areas.

One of their first stations was Matter Around the Room. The went around the room and found different task cards with different questions about states of matter on them. Once they figured out the answer, they wrote it down on their record sheet and moved to the next question. There were 20 different questions the kids had to find in various spots all over the room.

They also created and separated their own mixtures using various substances, cups, measuring cups and spoons, funnels and magnets. The iron filings were a class favorite! Last week, we mixed them with salt and watched how they could be separated. Most of the kids couldn't wait to try it this week!

In addition to making their own mixtures, the kids used beans and water to create either a mixture or solution (they had to determine which it was), then video a partner while asking several questions about their mixture or solution.

They also sorted different items in a t-chart based on whether they were a mixture or a solution. There were 9 different items they had to sort. Once they got their t-chart finished, they chose 1 item from the mixture category and 1 item from the solution category and wrote a sentence justifying their choice.

At another station, the kids did a unit 3 review with question about everything we have been talking about in unit 3. There were questions in 2 different formats: matching, true or false, and fill in the blank.

Their 6th and final station of the review was a unit 3 vocabulary puzzle. I took most of the vocabulary words we studies in unit 3 this cycle and put the words along with the definitions onto little triangles. The kids had to find the vocabulary word and definition that matched up together to finish their puzzle. If they were successful, their puzzle was in the shape of a triangle with the perimeter of the puzzle being completely blank. Some of the kids worked with a partner while others chose to work by themselves. We have a lot of little wordsmiths! Some kids even wanted to create their own puzzle! {If your child is one of them, I have inserted a link to the blank puzzles down at the bottom}

Here are some of the different activities we used in class for our unit 3 review:

Click {here} to visit Jennifer Findley's TpT page for this file

Click {here} to visit The Classroom Nook's TpT page for this file

Click {here} to visit Mary Keveren's TpT page for this file

Click {here} to download this file from Google drive

We will have our Science Unit 3 assessment next Tuesday, December 12. The listed resources would be great to continue to practice at home with your child before our test!

Weekly Snapshots

Snapshots are now ready to be downloaded in PDF form from our blog page! Click {here} or head on over to the "Weekly Snapshots" page to view and download snapshots from each week as they are emailed out!

Snapshot for December 4

Here is this week's snapshot if  you are unable to get the e-mails. You can download the pdf file by clicking beneath the snapshot picture the below. All snapshots will be available in pdf form on the "Weekly Snapshots" page {here} once they are sent out and posted!

Click {here} to direct download this week's snapshot!

Week of: December 4, 2017

Dear Parents,

Just a reminder that the last day of tutoring for the semester will be tomorrow.

Here is a snapshot of our learning this week in math and science.

THIS WEEK IN MATH:

In math this week we are continuing to review multiplication and division with a focus on problem solving.

Our Unit Assessment over Multiplication and Division will be on Monday, December 11.

Be looking for the Unit 3 & 4 Review that will be sent home for your child to practice questions that are similar to those they will be faced with on this assessment.  

**Showing Work: Please double check to make sure your child is showing their work on their math homework.  

Students have gotten much better at showing work on classroom assignments, but a reminder from home will help to reinforce that justifying our answers is an expectation.

Math Resources to Help at Home

Division Math Practice – In this drag racing game, your child can practice division facts while racing against the computer or other players.

Students in third grade must master their multiplication facts with automaticity.  This means they are to recall these facts quickly.  Each Tuesday, we have a two minute test over the facts we have studied for the previous week.  A note was sent home before the break to explain this.  Tomorrow’s timed multiplication test will be over 3s and 6s through the twelfth multiple. Next Tuesday, we will have our timed multiplication test over 4s and 8s. Letters will be sent home this week in take home folders about next week’s 2 minute timed test.

SKILL PRACTICE WEBSITES

Free Training Tutorial - Division - This link will take you to the division page. If you would like to practice other skills with your child, you can find a snippet of choices below!

Regrouping is definitely a skill that needs to be reviewed often in addition and subtraction.  Many of our students are showing a need for this.  Under Subtraction, there is a two-digit with regrouping basketball game that would be a great practice if your child wants to strengthen this skill.

That Quiz  - Under Integers, click Arithmetic.  Adjust length, level, and time as needed.  Click the box for multiplication to let your child practice their facts.

Multiplication – Lots of free and entertaining games to practice multiplication facts.

Education Galaxy – Use the skills practice section for math to practice multiplication facts.

Turtle Diary Division Games - Use these games to practice division and multiplication facts. Change the topics or grade level to review different skills, or bump up to a more challenging level! A snippet of where to find the selection bar is below.

THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE:

In science this week, we are reviewing everything we have learning in Unit 3. This includes states of matter, heating and cooling and how this affects matter’s physical state, physical properties to describe matter, as well as mixtures and solutions.  Students will be participating in lab investigations to help them learn this content during hands on experiences. We will be having our Unit 3 Science Assessment next Tuesday, December 12. Practice questions were sent home as homework this week.

RESOURCES FOR PRACTICE

ABCYa! States of Matter - A nice review of many of the definitions and content knowledge regarding states of matter.

Study Jams - Properties of Matter - Properties of Matter

Study Jams - Solids, Liquids & Gases – Solids, Liquids, & Gases

Study Jams - Mixtures - Mixtures

Education Galaxy – On the top right, have your child go up one level on the drop down menu.  Then go to My Study Plan and choose science.  Practice Properties of Matter and Mixtures & Solutions.

Ready Hub – Go to Flocabulary and watch the Mixtures and Compounds video that has been assigned.  This is above level, but your child is welcome to practice the questions and read and respond if they would like to further their understanding.

Discovery Education – There is a large supply of video, interactive learning, questions, and an interactive glossary for vocabulary that is always helpful for whatever we are learning in science.  All content in this resource is searchable.

Thank you so much for your dedication to helping your child learn.