We are working our way through the last week of September! Last week was awesome. It was Spirit Week, we started Agriculture, and the parade was so fun. This year will be my eighth year in Willard and days like Friday are the EXACT reason I sought out a job with the Willard District.  My sister and I both agreed that we both felt our Willard Pride swell up as the marching band went by playing "Eye of the Tiger".  I love that the entire school district was involved in this celebration on Friday. I hope your kiddos had as much fun as their teacher did!

Here is what we are learning this week:

Writing-
Students are starting their first personal narrative as 3rd graders. We have spent a lot of time going over the basics and teaching some basic skills needed in 3rd grade. ( A major one paragraphs) This week students will work through their narrative, while learning and using a good beginning, dialogue, good transitions, and a good ending. 

Math- 
This week we will focus a good chunk of our time on learning and using the distributive property. This property allows students to break apart a multiplication equation into two smaller problems and then combine the products of the two smaller equations. Then we will focus on other multiplication strategies at the end of the week. 

Reading-
Students will learn what it means to make an inference as a reader. Students will practice inferring about pictures and Pixar short films this week before they start making an inference from their reading. 

Science- 
Students will begin to learn about the Scientific Process, coming up with a testable question, and conducting a fair test. 

Other Announcements:
Sept. 24-28th- Book Fair! 
Sept. 27- Leader in Me Open House! 6:30-7:30 
Sept. 28- First Tiger Pride @ 2:30 in the gym. 
Oct. 9th- Fall Pictures 
Oct. 19th- Fall Parties/ Half Day for Students

We had a great week last week and another one up ahead! Here is what is going on this week!

Writing-
Last week, students worked on learned to write paragraphs. This week, they will learn what a narrative is so that they can apply what they learned as they write their first narrative over the next couple of weeks. 

Reading-
This week we are talking about schema. Students will learn that is the background knowledge and prior experiences are called schema and that they are unique to each person. They will apply this knowledge of schema as they read this year and make connections or make inferences. 
We have also started "almost" Daily 5. I call it "almost" because there is no Meet with the Teacher rotation for groups. I will be giving DRA's this week. As soon as that  is finished up, groups will be made and we will begin Daily 5 as they have known it! :)

Math-
Last week, our math time was used to take the NWEA. At the beginning of this week, we are reviewing multiplication and division. We will take a Topic 1 Check over the two standards that we covered in this topic. Students are not expected to know everything about multiplication and division after these 6 lessons. This was an introduction to terms and strategies that they will use over the next semester as we learn multiplication. We will take our 3.0A.A. 1 check on Wednesday. A study guide will come home tomorrow for your child to practice. It is 4 questions and just covers what they are expected to know at this time. The division check (or standard 3.0A.A.2 will be taken on Friday. A study guide for it will come home on Thursday. 

Social Studies-
We are learning the parts of a map and how to read a map this week! 

Other News:
Fundraiser-
Our Fundraiser has kicked off! Please remember to read the parent letter inside the packet. The coupon books are a sample. Return them with your packet! Packets (orders and money) are due Friday, Sept 21. 

Homecoming-
Homecoming week is next week! The district will celebrate with special spirit days all week and end with a special homecoming parade on Friday, Sept 21. THIS WILL BE A HALF DAY FOR STUDENTS. :)  It's not marked on the calendar as it was added after this year's calendar was released. 

Other Important Dates:
Sept 21: Homecoming/ Fundraiser Due/ HALF DAY FOR STUDENTS
Sept 27: Leader in Me Open House

Our year is off to a great start! We have taken the first few weeks to get to know one another and our expectations in third grade! I can already tell that we are going to have a great year!
Here is what we have coming up this week!

NWEA-
You may remember your child taking this right before Spring Break last year (if they went to a Willard School). This is a test that shows us where each student is so we can better instruct them at their level. They will take a math portion and a reading portion this week. Since we have Chromebooks, students will take the test in our classroom on their Chromebook on Wednesday (math) and Friday (reading). 
This is not something that your child should worry about. It is not the "MAP" test nor a rigorous test. Just a test that gives us an idea of where your child is right now and what areas we may need to work on.

Writing-
Miss Triplett will start teaching writing this week! :) Students have been reviewing the basics and how to apply them to writing (what is a sentence, correct punctuation, etc) and this week we will talk about how to write a paragraph and practice writing a paragraph. This is new and an expectation we will work on all year! 

Math-
This week we will work on dividing a whole number into equal groups. We will take the NWEA during math on Wednesday and Friday so we will wrap up our last two lessons this week and the review and test over Topic 1 next week!

Reading- 
Last Thursday, we learned that reading the text is just PART of reading. We can all read but have no idea what we have read about. This week we will work on "Metacognition" and learning that as readers we think about our thinking. This helps students learn how to become better readers and think deeply about their text. 

Social Studies-
We will continue to learn about communities and the types of communities this week! 

Important Dates to Remember:
Sept. 21- Half Day (Homecoming) 
Sept. 27- Leader in Me Night- more info will come home soon!
Sept. 28- Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30

We have made it half way through our first full week of school! We have been learning all kinds of things about 3rd grade and remembering the expectations for school. And I am really enjoying getting to know each of your kiddos!

Writing-
This week we started by decorating our writing notebook and will spend the rest of this week and part of next collecting ideas that we can write about throughout the year.

Math-
Our first topic is about understanding multiplication. This week we are focused on relating repeated addition to multiplication. Today we practiced making multiple equal groups and writing the addition and multiplication facts that would represent those groups. 

Reading-
We are building up our stamina as a class and aiming to read for 20 minutes! Yesterday we made it 5 minutes before concentration was broken and students were either up out of their spot or looking around. We have talked a lot about how reading is kind of like running. Before I can just set out and run for an amount of time or distance, I have to build up to it. If I went out to run right now, I would probably be walking by the first few minutes. Our brain is a muscle we have to "train" and make stronger so we can read longer! 
You can help your child by making sure they read 20 minutes a night at home. Even when we get our stamina built back up, this is very important (and fun!). They can read any book they choose, alone, to a parent, to a sibling- whatever they choose! Just read! :)

Other Announcements:

T-shirts-
Order forms and money for shirts are due next Thursday! (August 30th)

No School!-
Students will get their first day off of the school year on Friday, August 31st. Teachers will have a professional day. There will also not be school the following Monday (Sept. 3rd) in observance of Labor Day!