Spring Info!

Below is all of the information on a flyer that was sent home with students Friday, March 22nd.

Book Reports Due Thursday, April 4th:

First read a traditional story book. Traditional stories include fairy tales, folk tales, tall tales, legends, fables, and myths.  They are found in the children's nonfiction section of the library under call numbers beginning with J398.2.  Students are required to choose a book from this section of the library.

Second, create an advertisement poster for your book with a catchy slogan.

Third, fill out a storyboard chart, with simple sketches, outlining your "commercial" presentation to the class.  Your commercial should begin and end with your slogan and have strong reasons persuading other students to read your book. You may bring the actual book to show, along with your poster, but the presentation should be memorized.

Multiplication Banana Split Party Thursday, April 4th:

Students have been working on passing off multiplication/division fact families x0-x10 for about four months now. This is a critical skill for progression in math next year. Final progress reports were sent home with the students on Friday, March 22nd showing where they're at in the process of passing off their facts. They will have two extra days to pass off additional facts, when they return from Spring Break, before celebrating at our annual Banana Split Party.

Mark your Calendars for the 3rd Grade Program, "See us Shine!"

 

Third graders are looking forward to performing for parents on Friday, April 12th 9:30-10:15 a.m.  Due to limited space in the gym, we've been asked to have parents only attend this performance.

We've also been asked to remind parents to park in designated parking stalls in the front and back of Altara, to leave the drop-off/pick-up zone free for Kindergarten transportation and school deliveries.

Have a Wonderful Spring Break!

March Book Report Due Date Changed to 4/4/13

Traditional Story Book Report

(Start looking for the traditional story you'd like to do for your book report. A sample book report will be posted at the beginning of next week.)

Traditional stories are ones that were passed down orally for many generations before being written down.  They include fairy tales, folk tales, tall tales, legends, fables, and myths.  In the Public Library, these books are found in the children's nonfiction section under call numbers beginning with J398.2.  Students are required to choose a book from this section of the library.

The stories are many and varied, familiar and new, and rich with cultural heritage and moral themes.  I hope the students will take advantage of the wonderful opportunity they have to explore this genre.  We will certainly enjoy studying some of the books together at school! Below are a few examples: 

Multiplication Facts

Over the last few weeks we've moved on to other concepts in math (geometry and fractions), so there hasn't been as much time at school to practice multiplication facts.  Right now, these facts are mainly in the students' short-term memories.  In order to make the transfer to long-term memory, multiplication facts need to be continually reviewed (5-10 minutes per day is plenty of time).  Many students, even those who have passed most of their fact families, are forgetting facts they once knew.  This is a normal part of multiplication memorization, which is why constant review is so vital.  The Common Core curriculum assumes that multiplication facts x0-10 are mastered when students begin 4th grade.  The better they know their facts, the easier upper grade math will be for them.