Progress Report Update

At the end of this week, your child's first semester progress report will arrive in your homes.  It's always a great time to reflect on all that our students have accomplished . . . both as learners, friends, and classroom citizens.  You may notice that there are several markers in the Mathematics section of the report that are marked as "not introduced".  As you know, we have shifted our curriculum to Math In Focus (MIF), which has a different emphasis in content and sequence.  We will be revising the math section of our progress report for next year, giving us this year to implement MIF and identify our priority learning objectives in the curriculum.  Please refer to the narrative comments to gauge your child's progress in math this year.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

December 9, 2016 News

WOW!!!  What incredible scores on this week’s Word Masters challenge!  Your children seemed so proud of themselves.  They had an incredible time practicing the words with “Quizlet Live.”  What a motivating game to help study the words!  Be sure to ask your child how to play the game.  Our next “meet” will take place on February 21st.  Some of the vocabulary words from the first list may appear on the second and third meets, so children should continue to practice the words.  The second list of words came home on Wednesday.  Like with the first set of words, we will practice 2-3 each night to help break up the task of learning the new vocabulary words.  This process will begin after we return from winter break. 

Next Thursday, December 15th, is the annual Holiday Program in the Chapel.  The program for the whole Lower School community (Pre-4) will begin at 6:30pm.  Children should dress in semi-dressy attire and arrive to the classroom no earlier than 6:15pm.  ALSO, if you wouldn’t mind helping your child clean out his/her locker before or after the program, that would be wonderful!  Children can leave their winter gear (for Friday’s recess), but everything else non-essential should go home.   

Speaking of winter gear…the temperature sure has dropped outside this week!  I think we were all in shock on Tuesday as the blustery winds almost carried us away!  Now is a great time to make sure your child has all his/her winter gear available each day.  This includes: winter coat, snow pants, snow boots, hat, mittens or gloves, and anything else to keep your child warm.  We haven’t had much snow yet, but it’s only a matter of time, right? 

Our Holiday Party is next Friday, December 16th, from 9:00-10:00am.  Like Halloween, all third grade classrooms will be open for business and the children can visit each room.  This is a non-uniform day for everyone. 

Lost and Found items will be set out on tables in front of Gym C on Thursday and Friday of next week.   Please ask your children to check for their lost belongings before winter break.  

We have been busy bees working on a variety of writing projects.  The children were eager to take a couple of weeks and work on their own creative writing.  Most are writing fiction stories, and they have enjoyed the time to write freely.  After winter break, we will learn how to write a good paragraph.  This will lead us into informational writing. 

Tomorrow, we will take our last Word Study test until January.   

In math, we wrapped up our subtraction chapter, and the children have enjoyed being able to find the difference vertically.  After winter break, we will study bar modeling (this is a new concept that is introduced in the 2nd Grade curriculum of Math in Focus) before we learn about multiplication.  We will be using some of the 2nd Grade curriculum to teach bar modeling, as this would have been introduced then.  We will also be using some of the 2^nd Grade curriculum with multiplication and division, as the 3rd Grade curriculum begins with the factors of 6-9. 

News flash: the children will have one last skating day after winter break on Tuesday, January 3rd.  After skating, the children will be in the Anderson Gym and will need tennis shoes.    

This will be the last blog entry until next year!  I hope you have a restful and meaningful holiday season ~ enjoy the time with family and friends.  Happy New Year!  School will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd.  

December 2, 2016 News

I hope you had a restful and memorable Thanksgiving holiday!  The children enjoyed Grandparents and Special Friends Day with their guests last week.  They seemed proud to share Breck with these special guests.

I know it hasn’t felt like winter lately, but please help your child to dress appropriately for outdoor recess (winter boots, snow pants, mittens/gloves, hat). 

News flash: the children will begin skating in P.E. tomorrow!  Please help your child to bring a skating bag with: skates, skate guards, and helmet.  They will also need snow pants, coats, and mittens/gloves. 

This week, we wrapped up our personal narrative study in Writer’s Workshop.  Your child brought home his/her published book on Wednesday.  They are to share it with you and there is a comments section.  The children are now enjoying some time for creative/choice writing.  After winter break, we will study paragraphs.  We will use colors to help us distinguish the different parts of a paragraph.  Our knowledge of paragraphs will allow us to practice informational writing. 

We will have one more Word Study word sort before Winter Break.  The children will receive their new word sort tomorrow and the three choices and test are due next Friday, December 9th.

We completed our addition chapter in Math this week and now we are solving subtraction problems (with and without regrouping).  We will continue this work next week. 

Our first Word Masters “meet” is on Monday.  We have spent a lot of time practicing our vocabulary words and analogies.  Your child will be able to bring home the test next week.  If (s)he chooses, your child can bring it back to put in his/her portfolio. 

On Thursday, December 16th, we will celebrate the holiday season with the annual Holiday Program.  The program for the whole Lower School community (Pre-4) will begin at 6:30pm.  Children should dress in semi-dressy attire and arrive to the classroom no earlier than 6:15pm.   

Upcoming party…on Friday, December 17th, we will have our Holiday Party from 9:00-10:00am.  Like Halloween, all third grade classrooms will be open for business and the children can visit each room.  This is a non-uniform day for everyone. 

Winter Break will begin at the end of the day on December 17th and school resumes on Tuesday, January 3rd.