I know this is an odd time to track out, but Track 4 will be tracking out on Wednesday, April 1-Wednesday, April 22.  Virtual learning will begin for quarter 4 on Thursday, April 23.  

What should I be doing with my child at home?

All of your child's classwork during this time of virtual learning is being posted on Google Classroom.  Here are a few things to keep in mind about Google Classroom:

• You access it through your child's Wake ID.  If you need help getting into Wake ID please email me.  
• There are two pages:  Streaming and Classwork.  The streaming page is a place where I can post messages and I am currently posting my read alouds on a daily basis.  The classwork page is where you child accesses their assignments.
• Once your child finishes an assignment, they should click turn in.  This is not required for me to view their work, but does make it easier for me to see that they are finished.
• Your child can ask me questions through comments on assignments.  I can also write them comments to give them feedback on their work.

Please keep in mind that right now all assignments are optional and are not graded.  However, beginning Thursday, April 23 your child is required to participate in virtual learning.  

I fully understand that parents are balancing working at home with giving their child an education.  I am doing the same balancing act.  Please only do what you can.  Do not stress.  Spend time with your children, go for walks, play games, give them some time to play while you get your work done.  DON'T STRESS.  We are all in this together and your child's education will turn out just fine even having missed this time at school.

Additional Resources for Home Use:

Typing Club

Xtra Math

WCPSS Remote Learning Resources

IXL

Track Out

I know several families would like to continue the routines they have set in place with schoolwork during track out.  I am working on putting together some assignments that can be used long term throughout track out.  They are scheduled in Google Classroom beginning on April 1 and your children will be able to work on them at their own pace until track in.

I will still continue to check my email during track out, but not on a daily basis.  Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns, but know that I may not respond right away.  I appreciate your understanding while I attempt to balance home and work life as I know you are all working on as well.  

The Winter Wonderland Dance was rescheduled to this Saturday, February 29 from 5:00-7:00.

Progress reports come home in today's Wednesday folders!

Book Fair

The Spring Book Fair begins next week on March 2.  Our class will brose the book fair on Tuesday, March 3 from 12:45-1:05.  Our purchase day, when the entire class will have to time to make purchases is Thursday, March 5 from 1:55-2:20.  Students will be allowed to make additional purchases at other times, but only if staff is available to check them out.

Science: Force and Motion

We are currently studying force and motion in science.  Overall your child needs to understanding that there are two types of forces: push and pull.  That a force is energy applied to an object to create movement and change the object's position.  Our test on force and motion will be the week of March 10.  

Here are some links you can use for extra review if needed:  

Study Jams

Force and Motion

Math:  Area and Perimeter

In math, we are currently studying area and perimeter. Your child's assessment will be on Monday, March 2.  We focus on finding the areas and perimeters of quadrilaterals, mostly rectangles.  Multiplication is a large part of this unit.  Please continue to challenge your child to practice their facts every night!  Remember that the Xtra Math program is a great online tool that you can access for fact fluency.  Email me if you lost your log in.  

Link to my current Donors Choose Project:  Boogie Into Third Grade

Dates to Remember:

3/3  Book Fair Browse Day

3/5  Book Fair Purchase Day

3/8  Daylight Savings Begins

3/9  No School for Students, Teacher Workday

3/10  Mrs. Olynick out all day

3/20  Super Kids Day for Tracks 2 and 4

3/30  NC Check In Math Assessment

4/1-4/22 Track 4 Track Out

4/23 Track In Day for Track 4

Want to donate classroom supplies?  Use this link!  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c4ea9a82da6f85-midyear

Valentine's Day
We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Friday afternoon at the end of the day.  Please make sure that your child includes a Valentine for EVERY child in the class.  We will make bags to hold the cards on Thursday afternoon.  Thank you to everyone who donated supplies for them!  I emailed out the class list last week, please let me know if you did not get it and I will send you another one.

Homework
As promised at the beginning of the school year I am still not sending home consistent nightly homework.  However, I am getting more strict on the students completing assignments in class to prepare them for the much more independent climate of fourth grade.  Any class work not completed during class will be sent home for homework and is expected to be returned the following school day.  Please check in with your child nightly to see that they are completing class assignments. 

Literary Classics
I would like for every child to have a literary classic in their hand by next Tuesday, February 18.  I know several students have already brought one and been reading them in their spare time.  Reading the literary classics will be a part of their ALL Block menus beginning Tuesday.  I have some in the classroom they are welcome to choose from.  However, I have found them to be more engaged if the parents give them an active role in choosing one from the bookstore or public library.

Timed Quizzes
Please remember to practice multiplication facts each night at home.  The fact that your child is practicing varies depending on which ones they have passed.  I grade the timed quizzes and send them home that day or the next so they should always know what they need to be practicing.

iStation Log Ins
In December, you received a paper that has your child's iStation Log In information, which you access through their Wake ID.  Scores for this assessment will not be sent home.  If you would like to view your child's progress through the year then you need to use the log in to access it at home.  Please let me know if you need a copy of the log in information. 

Upcoming Assessments
Your child has a math assessment tomorrow on geometry, specifically naming the attributes of quadrilaterals and categorizing quadrilaterals.  Our science test on the states of matter has been moved to Wednesday due to school being cancelled on Friday.

Dates to Remember:
2/12  Mrs. Olynick Out in PM
2/14  Valentine's Day Celebration
2/17  No School-Teacher Work Day
3/3  Book Fair
3/9  No School-Teacher Work Day
3/20  Super Kids Day

Welcome back to the third quarter of Third Grade!

Class resumes for Track 4 on Monday, January 27.  We are still in the same classroom, room 302.  

What are we learning this quarter?

ELA:  Our theme for this module of the EL curriculum is exploring the literary classics with Peter Pan.  We will spend the quarter reading Peter Pan and Peter Pan in Kensington gardens.  Your child will be exploring characters' traits and motivations, new vocabulary, write an opinion essay, and end the unit with revising a scene from Peter Pan that they will present to a live audience.

Math:  This quarter we will begin with a quick, nine day geometry unit.  We will focus on the attributes of quadrilaterals and triangles, and how to classify shapes.  We will then work on area & perimeter.  This unit requires that your child has fluency with multiplication.  Please continue to work with them each night at home.  We will also be continuing the timed quizzes each Tuesday and Thursday.  The quarter will end with a fractions unit that will continue into fourth quarter.

Science:  We will have two science units this quarter!  The first is changes in matter and the second is force and motion.

Social Studies:  During the last three weeks of the quarter your child will be learning about economics and entrepreneurship.

Literary Classics

While we read Peter Pan, I will be reading aloud a few literary classics as well.  A literary classic is a text that has withstood time and has been read and enjoyed by multiple generations.  Please help your child to choose a literary classic that they will enjoy reading during independent reading time.  This can include more modern classics.  Think of books that you enjoyed as a child and guide your child towards them.  I also have several in the classroom that students can choose from and they are welcome to check them out from the school library.

Report Cards

Report cards will come home in Wednesday folders this week.  Your child's new Wednesday folder is green.  It will have some final graded assessments from second quarter, report card, IOWA scores, and your child's workbooks from second quarter.  

Dates to Remember:

1/27  Track In

1/29  Report Cards Go Home

1/31  Mrs. Olynick out all day for iStation data training

2/5  Science is Fun (in school field trip)  12:55-2:10

2/10  NC Check In Math Assessment for Second Quarter

2/17  No School-Teacher Work Day

Two weeks until Track Out!

All lost and found items will be outside the cafeteria until tomorrow.  At that point they will be donated.  Please stop by to check them out and encourage your child to do the same.  

Track Out

This quarter our class will not have to move out of our classroom.  Therefore, your child will be able to leave all classroom materials in their desks.  

Track 4 will be tracked out from Monday, December 23-Friday, January 23.  Classes will resume on Monday, January 27.

Report Cards

Report cards will  be sent home when your child returns from track out.  Please be sure to check the Wednesday folder the next couple of weeks for your child's final graded assignments and contact me with any questions or concerns. 

It's A Parade!  Take Home Project

Don't forget to encourage your child to be working on their cultural parade float.  As a reminder, these should be no larger than shoe box size and can be holiday themed or just represent your child's cultural background.  All projects are due on Thursday, December 19.  We will have a "parade" in our class to allow each other and others from the school to come check out our floats.  Please feel free to drop by at any time that day to view the floats as well.

Social Studies

As a reminder, each quarter we spend approximately six weeks on science and three on social studies.  Last week we began our unit on government in Social Studies.  The overall concepts your child should be getting from this unit are:  

• There are three branches of government on the federal, state and local level (legislative, executive, and judicial).
• Laws change over time and based on location.
• Everyone has a voice in our democratic government.

Multiplication

We are winding down our unit on multiplication.  While this is a skill we will going to practice the entire school year, this is the only full math unit devoted to it.  When we return in January, we will be working on geometry and fractions, both of which apply the concept of multiplication.  If your child has not developed fluency with the majority of the facts by that point, they will struggle in math.  Please continue to practice with your child EVERY night. 

 

Dates to Remember:

12/11  Science is Fun (in school field trip ) 9:30-10:45

12/18  Positivity Project Awards @2:15 in the Gym (only parents who received an invitation should attend)

12/19  Classroom Learning Experience 1:00-2:30

12/19  It's a Parade!  Projects due.

12/23-1/24  Track Out for Track 4

1/27  Third Quarter begins for Track 4

Progress reports come home this week in your child's Wednesday folder.

Multiplication Timed Quizzes
After Thanksgiving we will begin taking timed multiplication quizzes twice a week.  The purpose of these quizzes are to motivate the students to practice their multiplication facts nightly.  Here are a few points regarding the quizzes:

• We will take them every Tuesday and Thursday
• Quizzes will be graded THAT DAY or the NEXT and sent home immediately
• Your child will have one minute to complete 22 problems on one fact.  A "passing" score is at least 20/22.  Once your child passes one fact, they move on to the next one.
• Third graders are required to be able to fluently state the facts 0-10 by the END of the year.
• We take the quizzes in the following order:  0s & 1s (together), 10, 5, 2, 4, 8, 3, 6, 9, 7, 11, 12
• If your child has extenuating circumstances that will not allow them to pass the quizzes in one minute, then I will allow them extra time.  This is something I do on an as needed basis.
• These quizzes are not part of your child's grades, they are purely a motivation to practice!

Here's the best part.  Once EVERY child passes facts 0-10, we will have an ice cream party with lots of toppings!  I find that this mind set encourages the children to practice with one another, and encourage one another, rather than compete.

So how can you help your child be successful with multiplication?  Practice, practice, practice.  Please invest in some flash cards (the Dollar Tree is my favorite place to pick them up), or have your child create them on index cards, utilize the Xtra Math program, create quizzes for your child.  If you "google" multiplication games you will find a plethora of online resources as well.  

Please remember that multiplication is the most important skill that I want your child to leave my classroom mastering this year.  It is the focus of this quarter, but beginning in third quarter we are applying the skill rather than practicing it.  

Solar System

We are winding down our unit on the solar system.  Our test will be next Monday, November 25.  I sent home a "study guide" in last week's Wednesday folder.  I am not requiring the students to actually study at home, but it was sent home as more of a parent resource.

Dates to Remember:

11/19  Mrs. Olynick out in the AM

11/20  Progress Reports come home

11/27-11/29  No School for Thanksgiving Holiday

12/3 & 12/4  IOWA Testing (for students who qualify)

12/11  Science is Fun- in school field trip

12/18  Positivity Project Awards  (Look for invites coming soon if your child is nominated)

12/23-1/24  Track 4 Track Out

1/25/2020  Track 4 Returns to School

  

Media by Moonlight is TONIGHT from 5:00-7:00.  Pastries with Parents is on Wednesday, November 13 from 8:00-8:45.  Come out and support our Book Fair!

I will be out of the classroom on November 12 and 13 for a training.  Please contact the school with questions, concerns and transportation changes.  

Frog Pourquoi Book

In yesterday's Wednesday folder you received an order form to order our class pourquoi book.  Your child is writing a story to be included in a real published book!  I need all order forms returned to me by next Friday, November 15.  Please return them even if you are not ordering a book so I can receive a FREE book for our classroom.

What will we do on Saturday School?

We have two upcoming Saturday Schools due to a hurricane in September.  We will have class on November 16 and December 7.  Saturday School hours are from 9:15-12:45.  It is a full day of instruction with no recess, specials classes, or lunch.  

I try to make these a fun day for your child.  We will be covering content that directly correlates with our curriculum, but is fun, hands on, and in addition to our normal lessons.  If your child is absent they will be counted absent as on any other school day, but they will not have make up work.  

On our November 16 Saturday School we will be having a solar system day!  This will be a fun day of hands-on solar systems experiments to prepare us for our science test that will be coming up that next week.  

Multiplication Fact Fluency

We have begun the most exciting math unit of the year for third graders....multiplication!  Over the next 5 weeks your child will be practicing fact fluency, learning strategies to gain fluency, and applying multiplication in word problems.  I can plan the lessons, give the worksheets, and play the fun games in class; but if your child is not practicing memorizing the facts at home then they WILL fall behind.  In third quarter, it is assumed that your child has learned all multiplication facts 0-10 and they will begin to apply them in multi-step word problems and area problems.  

Use this link to access some videos I am using in the classroom to help with fact memorization:  Multiplication Videos

Additional Homework Practice

I have received some feedback that parents don't feel they know what their child is learning in class because of no homework.  Please keep in mind that I send home all classroom assignments, checked by me, within a day or so of completing them.  If you have not been receiving work from your child, please contact me.  In my opinion, this is more valuable than homework because you can see how your child is performing and get the teacher feedback.  

Should you feel that you need more homework, I am sending home the unit homework resource for EL.  You received a copy of Unit 1 in your child's Wednesday folder.  I will continue to do this for the remainder of the school year.  You can also utilize Dreambox, Prodigy, and Xtra Math programs for extra math support.

Again, I feel that the MOST important thing you can be doing with your child is reading with them and practicing multiplication facts. 

Dates to Remember:

11/4-11/14  Book Fair

11/7  Media by Moonlight 5:00-7:00

11/11 No School, Veteran's Day Holiday

11/12-11/13  Mrs. Olynick is out of the classroom for a training in Carey.

11/13  Pastries with Parents 8:00-8:45

11/16  Saturday School 9:15-12:45

11/20  Progress Reports Sent Home

11/27-11/29  No School, Thanksgiving Holiday

12/3 & 12/4  IOWA Testing (only for students who qualify)

12/7  Saturday School 9:15-12:45