Just a few reminders about this week:
Tuesday, Dec. 19th: Third Grade Party, 9:00-10:00 AM, Upstairs 3rd grade classes. Check the sign-up: 3rd Grade Holiday Party Th Dec. 21st: Last School Day with Students, Fall Semester. Students may wear pajamas for our movie day. We will vote today among the movies that were 100% approved by parents. Dec. 22-Jan. 8: Winter Break for Students (Teacher Work Days 12/22 and 1/8) We will see everyone back on Tuesday, January 9th! Please complete these online forms:With the final days of the semester approaching, there are two very important forms I would like for you to read and complete.
Upcoming DatesTh Dec. 14th: The Nutcracker Field Trip T Dec. 19th: Third Grade Party, 9:00-10:00 AM, Upstairs 3rd grade classes Th Dec. 21st: Last School Day with Students, Fall Semester Dec. 22-Jan. 8: Winter Break for Students (Teacher Work Days 12/22 and 1/8) T Jan. 9th: First Day of School, Spring Semester Science Question: How do different types of precipitation form?Even though our Weather Unit is in January, Thursday night's weather set up a teachable moment. In case you've ever wondered, here are a couple of short videos to help explain: Four Types of Precipitation Explained 3D Precipitation Explanation Upcoming UnitsMath: We will continue our unit in math over connecting multiplication and division. We will also discuss how we know if a number is even or odd. We will complete this unit this week.
Science: We are finishing up Unit 6 which is the soil unit we started during PBL. Students will learn about different natural resources and why they are important. Reading: We are continuing our Traditional Tales unit, learning about the different genres and the characteristics of each one, including theme. Writing: Students are continuing to write their own stories with imaginative characters, settings, and/or events. Social Studies: Students will continue learning about geography, beginning with the concepts of location, distance, and direction on maps and globes, and making maps. The holiday season is fast-approaching! If you are interested in ordering books, I am planning on submitting a book order this Friday. I know this is short notice, but I want to make sure the order gets here before our last day of school. If you would prefer to keep your order a surprise from your child, please let me know, and we can make arrangements.
I will send home student flyers tomorrow for browsing, but your family can always look at the flyers online. To view flyers and submit your online order, go to: scholastic.com/bookclubs and use our class activation code: DX8G2. Happy Reading! We have had a busy week! We are now in the home stretch, with three weeks left before the Winter Break. Please let me know if your child will be missing any scheduled days of school, and thank you to those of you who have already done so. If you have not had a chance, please sign up for Seesaw to see updates. I just uploaded our Elected Officials Interviews and some other photos from our day. Directions are in the email I sent out again today. Upcoming DatesTh Dec. 7th: 5:30-6:00 (optional) Science Fair Research Night in the Library Th Dec. 14th: The Nutcracker Field Trip T Dec. 19th: Third Grade Party, 9:00-10:00 AM, Upstairs 3rd grade classes Th Dec. 21st: Last School Day with Students, Fall Semester Winter Break for Students: Dec. 22-Jan. 8 T Jan. 9th: First Day of School, Spring Semester Upcoming UnitsMath: We will continue looking at division facts. (2’s. 4’s, 8’s, and 5’s) ***Please make sure your child is practicing their multiplication facts each night. This will help them with division.*** Science: Students will be exploring with different forces through hands on activities. Reading: We are beginning our Traditional Tales unit, learning about the different genres and the characteristics of each one. This will include folktales, fables, legends, and myths. Writing: We will be writing fiction stories. We will create a fictitious setting, develop a character, and write a fictitious story based on a “what if” idea. Social Studies: Students will begin learning about geography, beginning with the concepts of location, distance, and direction on maps and globes.
Thanksgiving Break November 20-24th UPCOMING FOR 11/27-12/1 Math: We are finishing our unit on fractions. We will start our next unit on connecting multiplication and division and introducing division fact strategies. Science: We are finishing our unit of Force and Motion, Magnetism, and Gravity. Reading: We are finishing up our Expository unit, focusing on cause & effect, skimming & scanning, and procedural text. Writing: We will complete our unit on expository, focusing on developing the central idea and include a concluding statement. Social Studies: We will be learning about the different levels of government and the services they provide. Dates: Nov. 30 - 1st/4th Holiday Meal: 3rd grade will pick up lunches and eat in classroom Dec. 1 - 3rd - 5th assembly Dec.14 - Nutcracker Field Trip Dec. 21- Last Day of Fall Semester for Students Dec. 22nd-Jan. 8th: Winter Break Jan. 9th-First Day of Spring Semester Monday, Nov. 13th: Field Trip to the Round Rock Serving Center
Please have your child wear their light blue 3rd Grade tshirt. We will be departing school at 11:45 AM. Tuesday, Nov. 14th: Thanksgiving Luncheon, 12:44-1:14 Week of Nov. 20-24: Thanksgiving Break (no school) Thursday, Dec. 14th: Nutcracker Field Trip Please complete the permission form online and send $5.00 ASAP. The cafeteria needs to know our lunch counts in advance to order sack lunches. Learning.com A resource now available to your child is Learning.com , which is linked on your child's Google Classroom. I have set up keyboarding and coding lessons, and they may do them from home. Please keep in mind I have set the "passing" threshold to 90% for keyboarding, because I really want them to master a set of keys, before progressing. Here's how: 1. Go to https://login.learning.com/ 2. Your child's username is their s-number. They may look at their login page in their binder. 3. Password: s-number, without the "s". 4. School District: Round Rock ISD So as an example, if someone's s-number is 123456, they will enter: s123456 123456 Round Rock ISD UPCOMING FOR 11/13 - 11/17 Math: We will continue our on fractions in math. We will shift our focus to fractions on a number line and problem solving with fractions this week. Science/PBL: We will continue our soil unit and even go tour the Round Rock Serving Center this week! Reading/Writing/PBL: As part of our Project Based Learning experience, we we will continue integrating expository text by reading articles about hunger and relating that to the purpose of our garden. Social Studies: Integrated into PBL NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS!!! Honor Wall Pictures Needed Sommer Elementary would like to invite our active duty, retired, or reserve service members to join us in honoring our Nation’s Heroes at our Veteran’ Day Assembly on November 10th, 2017 at 7:35am. Coffee and Snacks will be available for our special guests following the assembly in the library. If possible, please fill out and submit this RSVP. We will also be putting up our Honor Wall again this year. Please attach a COPY of your Veterans picture to the appropriate ½ page on THIS form. We ask that you DO NOT SEND ORIGINAL copies of pictures as they will be on display and children will be looking and touching them. The Deadline to turn in Photos for the Veterans Wall is Tuesday, November 7th. If you still have your picture from previous years, please feel free to send it back in! 2nd & 3rd Grade Thanksgiving Luncheon The annual Thanksgiving meal will be held on Tuesday, November 14 for families of 2nd & 3rd graders. Adult meals are $3.60. Please complete the RSVP form by Thursday, November 9. Weekend Homework Assignment: This should also be in your student's planner.
Collect 2-3 pictures, ads, or other materials of different foods you like from home. These items will be due on Monday, Nov. 6th and will be used for an in-class assignment. Important Dates:
UPCOMING FOR 11/6 - 11/10 We are starting our Problem-Based Learning unit, lasting for the next two weeks. We will begin by learning about the needs of others, and how we can help. It is related to our ongoing Garden Project and Field Trip on November 13th. .Science/PBL: Students will be learning about how soil is formed and natural resources. This is all part of the PBL. Reading/Writing/PBL: As part of our Project Based Learning experience, we are integrating expository text by reading articles about hunger and relating that to the purpose of our garden. We will be reflecting about the topics of hunger, what kinds of food are healthy, and our observations in science. Math: We are starting a new unit of math. Our focus is fractions. We will be learning different ways to represent fractions and will be problem solving with fractions. Our focus will be halves, thirds, fourths, sixths and eighths A busy, busy week!Monday, Oct. 30th:
Field TripIf you have not already done so, please fill out this form by Monday, Oct. 30th, so that your child can go on the Field Trip to the Round Rock Serving Center on Monday, Nov. 13th. UpcomingMath: Next week we will wrap up our first unit of multiplication with our Eights Facts. By the end of the week, we will have practiced the multiplication facts of 1s, 10s, 5s, 2s, 4s, and 8s. For homework, please practice and help your child memorize these multiplication facts, as shown on the chart below. You can do this with flash cards, by randomly asking problems, and so on. ***[This weekend, please keep in mind that we haven't started the 8s just yet.] Science: We are continuing to work on Unit 4 Force, Gravity, and Motion. They will explore with push, pull, and magnetic hands-on activities. Reading: We are beginning our Expository Unit. Expository is nonfiction, such as informational (like a book about sharks) and procedural (how to) texts. We will begin looking at various text features we can use as tools to help our understanding, such as diagrams, glossaries, and indexes. Writing: As we study expository text during our new unit, students will learn the difference between a personal narrative and expository composition. We will be generating ideas for expository compositions and write about what’s important to us. Social Studies: We are beginning to learn about the structure and function of the American government. This week we are learning about the three branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Red Ribbon WeekStudents are encouraged to participate in the different spirit days this week: Monday - "I'm a JEAN-ius! No drugs for me!" - Students are encouraged to wear jeans and red tops to show support for Red Ribbon Week Tuesday - "SOCK it to drugs!" - Students are encouraged to wear crazy socks Wednesday - "TEAM up against drugs!" - Students are encouraged to wear their favorite sports shirt or a Sommer t-shirt Thursday - "Say PEACE OUT to Drugs!" - Students are encouraged to wear tie dye and peace signs Friday - "Let's be CRAZY about being drug free!" - Students are encouraged to have crazy hair MultiplicationWe have started multiplication! Please help your child practice and memorize the multiplication facts for 10s and 5s, all the way to 10 x 12 and 5 x 12.
Spelling BeeHere's the information for the Spelling Bee:
Oct. 31st: Character Dress-Up DayOngoing Events:Please review last week's messages about Book Fair, Fundraising, and donations opportunities. UPCOMING FOR 10/23 - 10/27
Math: We are continuing our new unit on multiplication. We focus on learning strategies to solve problems involving multiplication. We will use repeated addition, equal-sized groups, arrays, area models, equal jumps on a number line, and skip counting. This week we will focus on the doubles strategy. Science: On Monday we will have our Unit 3 DCA. The rest of the week, students will start Unit 4 Force, Gravity, and Motion. They will explore with different hands-on activities. Reading: We are continuing to analyze the elements of poetry. At the end of the week we will have a cumulative DCA over Fiction and Poetry. Writing: We will finish up our unit in poetry with writing poems using metaphors and personification. Social Studies: We are finishing up citizenship and moving into our next unit, Government in Our World. Flu Vaccine ClinicOur district has teamed up with Healthy Schools, to offer your child a free Flu Vaccine regardless of your health insurance coverage. We’ve made it as convenient as possible to safeguard your child against the flu this season. Be on the look-out for your child to bring home their “Teach Flu a Lesson” consent form this week. All you have to do is fill out the form, and have your child return it to his or her teacher. We will take care of the rest and remember there’s no cost involved to you. The Healthy Schools team will be at our school vaccinating students on Monday October 30th from 8 a.m to 11:30 am. Please tell your child ahead of time what to expect; please don't let it be a surprise. Coins for CoatsWe will be collecting Coins for Coats on October 25, 26, and 27. Our goal this year is at least $10 from each classroom. The class with the most collected funds at the K-2 level and 3-5 level will win an assortment of books pulled from the book fair for your classroom library! Box Tops for EducationThe P.E. coaches collect Box Tops for Education to help supply their budget to buy more equipment. Please send them in a bag labeled with your child's name, teacher, and grade level, and we will make sure to pass them along. Book DriveStudent Council is holding a Book Drive next week. Please send unwanted books through Friday. Spelling BeeThis is the information we have so far. (Teachers have not yet received the list of words students will be asked to spell. ) Multiplication: 10s and 5s; doubles nextWe have started multiplication! Please help your child practice and memorize the multiplication facts for 10s and 5s, all the way to 10 x 12 and 5 x 12. If your child seems to master those at home, start on the 2s, 4s, and 8s. We will refer to these as:
Chris Barton VisitAuthor Chris Barton will be visiting on Tuesday. If your child has a book by this author, he/she may bring it and have it autographed, even if they missed the pre-sale here. Innovation Station This WeekUPCOMING FOR 10/16 - 10/20
Math: We are continuing our new unit on multiplication. We focus on learning strategies to solve problems involving multiplication. We will use repeated addition, equal-sized groups, arrays, area models, equal jumps on a number line, and skip counting. This week we will focus on strategies for x2 , x5, and x10. Science: We are continuing with forms of energy. The focus will be on thermal and sound energy. Science DCA over forms of energy will be the week of the 23rd of October. Reading: We are learning the difference between topics and themes and applying that knowledge to poetry. We will continue to learn the elements and analyze poetry. Writing: Students are writing their own poems. They are incorporating sensory imagery and metaphors, as modeled in the mentor texts we read in class. Social Studies: We are reading poems about and/or written by historical figures who exemplify Good Citizenship, such as Clara Barton, Helen Keller, and Ruby Bridges. |