Welcome to the third trimester! It's hard to believe how quickly our year is passing. Report cards were scheduled to go home this Friday, March 13, but will now be going home on Friday, March 20, due to some problems within our online system. The district has been working through the weekend to resolve the issue so that teachers are able to access the system once again.

Mark your Calendar for the upcoming Field Trips:
Agricultural History Museum - Friday, May 8th 
Agricultural History Museum 

Museum of Art and History- Tuesday, May 12th  
Museum of Art and History

RTI: We are continuing to read Riding Freedom. This week, we are looking closely at identifying character traits by analyzing the actions and dialog of characters. We will also be identifying big moments and strong emotions that our characters experience, and discussing the problems and solutions that arise within the story.

Math: Module 5: Fractions as Numbers on the Number Line

Famous American Biography Writing: Most students are done with the research portion of their writing. We will are writing our rough draft in first person.  As we write, we will be learning about plagiarism and how to avoid it. We will also be focusing on having a balance of facts and anecdotes within our stories to make them more interesting for the audience. "Facts tell, stories sell (or bring to life)" will kind of be our motto as we work this week.

Our Famous American speeches will be given on Wednesday, April1 and Thursday, April 2. We will begin at 9:00 and run until 11:30. If we need to continue after lunch, we will. I will let you know ahead of time which date your student will be presenting so that you can attend if you are able to. These speeches are the most memorable event of third grade, so we would love to have you here!

We are Writers!

 The "How -To" books have been published and are fresh off the press. The books will be presented in the Young Author's Fair in the Capitola Mall later in the year. But no stopping these authors, we're onto the biography report. This week we are working on the research portion of the writing. Next week we will begin writing the rough draft for the Famous American speeches.

Module 5- Fractions

Parent Alliance Meeting Notes

February 11, 2015

Spring Auction 2015

Saturday, March 28 at Seascape Golf Club.  Tickets are $45/person and will be available online February 27.  Look for a paper coming home with your student on February 20.  The auction committee is still seeking donations.  If you have a service or business with something to donate, or you know someone who would like to donate an item for the auction, please contact Karrie Franks atkarriefranks@ymail.com.  We are hoping to raise $50,000 this year.  This is half of the parent alliance budget and it pays for vital school services like enrichment programs, educational intervention services, art & choir, yard duty, teacher supplies, and professional development for teachers.  Without your support, these programs will be unavailable for our students.  Please donate an item, plan to attend the event, and participate in the auction! 

 For more information, check out the auction website Rio Del Mar Auction Link

Assessments (State Testing)

Third & Sixth Grade: April 13-April 24

Fourth Grade: April 27-May 8

Fifth Grade: May 11-May 22

First week is for testing, second is for make-ups.  Please avoid missing school during the testing window.  Please don’t schedule doctor or dental appointments during these weeks.

Math Festival – February 24

All day math festival for the students during school hours. Need parent volunteers to help during morning and afternoon shifts.  Please contact Alyssa Davis atalyssa_davis@pvusd.net to sign up.  You don’t need to be a math whiz to help, they will train you.

Family Math Night (with kids) 6:30 p.m. at Rio on 2/24.

Restaurant Night – March 4 at Aptos Street BBQ

Jogging for the Arts – May 1

Math - Module 4 - Multiplication and Area begins Monday, January 26th

Famous American Biographies: Although we will not start working on our famous American biography writing and presentations until the middle or end of February, students should begin thinking about who they would like to research. Entertainers and artists will not be allowed. Please choose scientists, inventors, humanitarians, politicians, etc. It is my goal that each student have a different subject this year, so please help them  think of 2-3 famous Americans that they would like to learn about. I will give first dibs on a first come, first-served basis.

A Day to Celebrate Friendship

With Valentines just around the corner, save shoe boxes for a Valentine craft. Also, if you have any Valentine decorating supplies to donate, I would greatly appreciate it.

Welcome 2015

New Year Resolutions

We are learning the difference between Fixed Mindsets and Growth Mindsets. 

Here's a great video we watched in class. Growth Mindsets

Mark your Calendar: Wednesday, January 28th-Talent Show Tryouts-12:30pm- Return permission slips to the office.

Your child is in the process of writing a "How-to" book. These books will be on display in the Capitola Mall in May for the young author’s fair. Students will be choosing an activity in which they have strong background knowledge.  They will research this activity in the computer lab using the Kid Rex search engine. They will create their own text features including a glossary, table of contents, captions and illustrations. All of the work will be done in class.  

A.R. goals for the third marking period as begun. This period will run from Monday 1/12 through Friday 2/20. Remember that the 20 minutes that your child reads every night will help them meet their new A.R. goal. Thank you for discussing and returning the AR goal signature sheet with your child.  AR Home Connect  is a useful link to help monitor your child's progress. 

 

Third graders at the Aptos History Museum

2015- It's going to be a GREAT year!

A special visitor stops by to check in and say hello