Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Gobble! Gobble!

Who's excited for Thanksgiving?  Room 17 and 18 will be celebrating with a pie party Friday afternoon.  Your generations donations are making the pie party possible.  Thank you so much!  Bob's class will be having a soup and salad party on Thursday.

We're jamming right along.    We're learning about state of being verbs, homophones, geometry and so much more.

We're continuing with core literature and fabulous read alouds.

If your child is stuck on their multiplication facts, please help them to commit them to memory.  Have them recite their facts while driving.  Make a game of it.

Your child should be pacing themselves on their research project.  It is due on December 13th.

Our field trip to Tree People is coming up on December 4th.  We're allowed two parent chaperones per classroom.

It has been wonderful meeting with you all during conferences.  Thank you for sharing your insight and  concerns and for your continued support.

Have a beautiful, relaxing vacation.

Affectionately,

Bob, Carol and Toby

Tuesday, October 29, 2013


Is that a chill we detect in the air,
As the sweep of bat wings rustle our hair?
Could it be shadows in dark creepy places,
And thoughts of spine tingling frightful faces?

These signs surely mean that Halloween is near,
And the Parade of Masks soon will be here.
We will see you on Thursday, don't dare to be late,
12:45 on the dot, or whooooo can guarantee your fate?






Friday, October 18, 2013

EXTRA...EXTRA...

Artistic adventure with Kandinsky...Wait until you see our inspired renditions in the style of the famous painter. Toby...

Getting lost on the freeway? Forget GPS...Ask your student to help you out with their knowledge of reading maps. Carol...

Need help finding your way in the dark? Find out how a simple circuit can get you out of a jam.
Bob...

Afraid to read a scary story before bedtime? If you are, don't read the terrifying tales your students have been composing. YIKES!

Third Grade Escapades 10.18.2013

Greetings Third Grade Community Family!

Third grade is happy to catch you up with the latest things shaking in our classrooms beginning with our exciting earthquake drill yesterday. We're pleased to report that all were accounted for and nobody was injured. In fact we got a lot of extra reading time in. That serves as a great reminder for us all to take every opportunity to read whenever time avails. Reading is the most essential skill needed to be a successful student.

In Language Arts we are involved in reading great books like The Cricket in Times Square in rooms 17 and 18 and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane in room 20. These books give us the opportunity to learn about "theme" and "author's purpose" as well as building our vocabulary and learning to cite evidence to support our conclusions as we read.

Ahh, yes! Math...This is our year to master the multiplication tables. Please work with your students daily to have them become MASTERS OF MULTIPLICATION! Remember the quote from Star Trek: "Resistance is futile."

Next week we have a visit from the Aspen String Trio on Wednesday and the Kite Master on Thursday. We hope the trees on the upper yard won't be too hungry for kites this year.

Thanks to all the birthday celebrants who have thoughtfully brought healthy treats for their classmates to enjoy.

Tune in next week same Third Grade time, same Third Grade blog for more up to the minute info on rooms 17, 18, and 20! Carol, Toby, and Bob

-30-  (Let's see if anyone knows what that means. If you know and are the first to tell Bob, he will give you a KIND bar. Yum!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Dear Third Grade Families,

Dave, the seeing eye dog, was a huge success.  Did your child tell you that Dave smiled and talked to us?  The students had excellent questions about the whole training process and what it takes to be a guide dog.  Your child might be interested in attending the guide dog graduation ceremony at 10:00 am on October 20th in Sylmar.  Here is a link for more information: http://www.guidedogsofamerica.org/1/2012/02/graduation-10-20-13/

Our first field trip to the Tree People will be on Wednesday, December 4th.  Two parents from each class will be allowed to chaperone.  It's on a first come, first serve basis.

Bob's class will have drama with Martha tomorrow and the other two classrooms have yoga in the morning.

We started a new enrichment block this week.  Carol now has dance, Toby has art and Bob has music.

We're looking forward to seeing you all this Friday at Pump It Up.

If any parents know how to solder and have their own soldering station, Bob could really use the extra help during mixing next week from 1:00-2:00 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Sincerely,

Bob, Carol and Toby

Friday, September 27, 2013

Hello,

This week we are reading some non-fiction pieces and working on topic sentences and supporting details.  We continue working on literary techniques such as: personification, alliteration and assonance.

Examples:

Alliteration:  Marvelous monkey munch marshmallows.

Personification:  The warmth of the sun wrapped its arms around me.

Assonance:  Hot dogs are often offered at the ball game.

In math we're continuing studying multiplication tables and subtracting larger numbers and across zeros.

Social Studies:  We're working on mapping skills and how to read legends, scales and compass rose.

Science: We began with an observation of how a candle burns and learned about the scientific method. In our second session we learned about nucleation and how carbon dioxide can be brought out of solution. This was achieved using ice cream and root beer.  This past week we studied a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar and released carbon dioxide.  This week we learned about the elements of fire and saw how carbon dioxide can actually suffocate a burning candle.

Art: We've had fun creating optical art, positive and negative collages, and collages with symmetry.

Next Friday we have a visit scheduled with a Seeing Eye Dog in training by the name of Dave.
This is a supplement to our reading of Winn Dixie.

We're having a blast learning to play our recorders.

Have a great weekend.  We're loving this fall weather!

Best,

The Third Grade Team

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Dear Parents,

 Community Magnet is starting a new way of communicating through blogging.    This is our first experience blogging.  We hope you'll enjoy being able to interact with us and each other.  We will post important updates as they come up.

Students are beginning to settle into the rigorous routines and expectations of third grade, and  all enrichment classes are now underway.

One of the things we've all been enjoying is the book, Winn Dixie.  Ask your child about the story.
Make sure your child reads every day!  This is the most important routine for them.

We will be learning keyboarding this year with dance mat typing. It's important that they continue practicing at home.  This means hands on the home row--no hunting and pecking!

Our first field trip will be to the Tree People this fall.  Watch for further updates.

Feel free to communicate through this blog.

We'll be in touch.

Our best,

Toby, Carol and Bob

"Develop a passion for learning, 
and you will never cease to grow."