March 2015

Lifeskills of the week: Friendship, Initiative, Integrity and Organization

Math
3rd- Our focus this month will begin with geometry. In third grade, our
goal is to be able to identify 2-D and 3-D shapes and describe each
shape by their attributes. Students are learning a lot of vocabulary
related to geometry, including vertex, edge, and face. Ask your child to
show you the movements we have made up to help us remember the
meaning of each word. Go on a shape hunt around your home and
ask your child to find 2 and 3-D shapes in our everyday world.
We will move into graphs in the following weeks, including
analyzing data from pictographs, bar graphs, and dot plot. Students
will be working to collect their own data on a topic of their choice and
create a graph to represent their findings.
4th- We are beginning our study of fraction this week. Students explore
fractions by dividing square areas into halves, fourths, and eighths and
rectangular areas into thirds, sixths, and twelfths. To work on ordering
fractions, including those greater than 1, students will create fraction
cards between 0 and 3 and order subsets of them in a single number
line. Students will also practice identifying equivalent fractions.
Students will understand with the relationships that exist between
halves, fourths and eighths and the variety of combinations to create a
whole.
Students will be practicing their math facts at school
during Math Workshop. Students in 4th grade need to have all
multiplication facts 1x1 through 12x12 memorized. Please work
with your child to memorize their facts!
Reading
Our focus on reading in February is using clues form the text
to draw conclusions and to make inferences.
We are reading a variety of books from the author, Chris Van
Allsburg. (www.chrisvanallsburg.com)
We will be using clues form the text, and access our prior
knowledge to think about what we know about
those clues in order to make an inference. We
will also be thinking about how events are related
and the causes for different important events in
the story.
We will also be exploring the theme of
overcoming obstacles and will read a variety of
books that tell stories of people who have faced
hard times and challenges, and reflect on how
they were able to overcome these obstacles in
life.
Ask your child to tell you about their favorite Chris Van
Allsburg book we read and why they liked it.
STAAR CAMP!
In writing, we are continuing STAAR Bootcamp. We have
switched gears to write a STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of
Academic Readiness) style expository passage to a particular
audience. Students will learn how to use the writing strategies we
have been learning, and apply those strategies to the STAAR format to
connect to the prompt, brainstorm, write a rough draft, revise & edit,
and then publish a 1 page expository
passage. Although 3rd graders do not
take STAAR Writing until 4th grade,
they will have the opportunity to
participate in this Writing Camp as
well.

Science
We began our unit of Life Science by looking closely at
plants. We will discuss the structures of seed bearing plants and how
they help support the plant. We will also review the stages of the life
cycle of a seed plant. Students will explore plant adaptations and how
those adaptations help plants survive. *Ask your child what the
different parts of a seed plant are and what they do to help the plant
survive.
We will continue our unit of Life Science by learning about
adaptations plants and animals have that help them survive. We will
be focusing on the structural
(physical)
and
behavioral
adaptations of various birds.
Students will then apply their
knowledge of bird adaptations to
other animals. *Ask your child
the difference between structural
(physical)
adaptations
and
behavioral adaptations.
*Ask your child about the types
of adaptations birds have that help them survive. How do certain
types of beaks or feet help a bird? Why do different types of birds
have different structural adaptations?
.
UT Student Tutors
Our UT Buddies will continue to visit us each
Thursday! They will come to our classroom and
share the excitement of reading and study
weather and extreme weather with our students.

Snack Share for March

03/2: Adeline
3/9: Ben
3/23: Cal
3/30: Eleanor

Important Dates
3/9: Author Visit: Mike Thaler
3/10: Field Trip to Zilker Park & Science Center
3/9-3/13: Used Book Sale
3/16-3/20: Spring Break
3/27: Guest Speaker, Finance Expert: Reina Wiatt
3/30 & 3/31: STAAR Writing 4th Grade
4/3: No School, Student & Staff Holiday
4/21: Math STAAR 3rd & 4th
4/22: Reading STAAR 3rd & 4th

*Please check our calendar on the back of this newsletter as well as

online for snack share information and other school events.
http://mahlstadtsvrcek2-3class.wikispaces.com/Calendar
*Please visit our wiki page for information about our class:
http://mahlstadtsvrcek2-3class.wikispaces.com/