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

Welcome back to the second quarter of third grade.

We will track back into room 303.  Remind your child to look for the green flag.

What are we learning this quarter?

EL:  Our EL unit will be all about frogs!  During this unit we will read poems about frogs, write a porquoi tale explaining a fact about frogs, research frogs and their freaky adaptations, and create a freaky frog book and trading card.

What can YOU do to help your child at home during this unit?  Read poems at home (focusing on any figurative language), choose a chapter book to read together and discuss any difficult vocabulary, find a topic your child is interested in and check out informational books on that topic from the library.

Math:  We will continue our addition and subtraction unit for the next two weeks.  Your child is solving one and two step word problems involving three digit addition and subtraction and estimating to find reasonable answers.  Our next unit will be multiplication!

What can YOU do to help your child at home during these units?  Practice basic three digit addition and subtraction problems, put your child on Dreambox and Xtra Math at home, practice multiplication facts EVERY night.

Science and Social Studies:  We will begin the quarter with our science unit on the solar system.  During the last three weeks of the quarter, our social studies will cover the three branches of government on the local, state, and federal levels.

CogAT Testing

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week your child will be taking the CogAT test.  The children take three tests a day.  Each test is 10 minutes.  Our total testing time is about 45 minutes to an hour each day.  Remember, this is the preliminary test to qualify for the AIG program.  High scoring students will take the IOWA in December.

Mordecai Field Trip
Track 4 will take our first field trip to the Mordecai House on Wednesday, October 30.  We will leave at 9:30 and should return to school around 12:30  We will eat lunch at school when we return.  While we do not require field trips for this trip, parents are welcome to attend.  All parents who attend the trip must be and APPROVED WCPSS volunteer.  Please let me know if you plan on meeting us there so I can submit your name for approval.

Character Book Parade

On Halloween, October 31, our class will be participating in a school-wide Character Book Parade.  The parade will take place at 9:30.  Parents are welcome to attend.  Your child may come to school dressed as a BOOK CHARACTER.  They must carry the book that has their character in it during the parade.  No pretend weapons of any kind may be brought to school.

Dates to Remember:

10/22  Welcome back Track 4!

10/23-10/25  CogAT Testing

10/23  Report Cards Go Home

10/30  Mordecai Field Trip 9:30-12:30

10/31  Character Book Parade 9:30

11/5  NC Check Ins (Quarter 1 Math Assessment)

11/11 No School, Veteran's Day Holiday

11/16  Saturday School 9:15-12:45

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

End of Module Celebration
Parents, don't forget to come out to our classroom this Thursday, September 27 @10:00 for our End of Module Celebration.  You will get to read and sign your child's reading challenges contract, see their reading challenges bookmark, and listen to our audiobook recordings! 

Can't make it?  Your child's audiobook recording is already on Google Classroom.  Ask your child to log in so you can listen.  A graded copy of your child's reading contract will come home after track out for you to see as well. 

Our first track out is here!
Due to having two Third Grade Track 4 class this year, track out will look a little different.  Your child will NOT have to bring home their school supplies.  We will store them in Mrs. Perrott's classroom.  Please send in a reusable shopping bag that can be left at school for the entire track out by Thursday.  On Thursday afternoon, we will pack up our supplies.  We are moving out of our classroom this quarter, but the good news is that over the next track out in December/January we will not be changing classrooms!

I do not send home track out homework.  I strongly believe in allowing the children to play, relax and have fun over track out.  I work them hard when they are in session.  If you do want your child to continue working then please feel free to use the websites I sent home last week, practice math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication), read and even write about their experiences over track out.  I will also be sending home all the math practice pages from the quarter that we did not use in class.  Feel free to use these as extra practice or recycle them!

Field Trip Money
If you have not already done so, please send in $35 check or cash (exact change only) before track out.  The $35 covers the cost of all trips for the entire school year.

Mordecai Field Trip
Our first field trip is to the Mordecai House on October 30.  We will leave school at 9:30 and return around 12:30.  We will eat lunch when we return to school.  While chaperones are not needed, parents are welcome to attend.  Just note due to limited space on the trolley ride, parents may not be able to ride.

Curious about what we do during EL?
Throughout this quarter the only reading and writing papers that have been sent home are graded assignments.  This is because all practice work is completed in our workbooks.  Your child's EL workbooks will be sent home in Wednesday folders this week.  Take a peek in them and see what we have been up to.  They get new ones each quarter.

Dates to Remember
9/27  Track Out Day
9/30-10/21  Track Out for Track 4
10/22  Track 4 Classes Resume
10/23-10/25 CogAT Testing 9:30-10:15
10/23  Report Cards Go Home
10/30  Mordecai Field Trip
11/5  NC Check Ins (Math Assessment)
11/11  Veteran's Day, No School

Save the Date!  Parents, you are invited to attend our Performance Task Presentations on Thursday, September 26 at 10:00 in our classroom (room 300).  At this presentation, your child will be presenting their reading contract, reading strategies bookmark, and audiobook recording from our first EL Module: Learning Challenges!  We look forward to seeing you all there!

Encrypted Emails
Due to a recent change in privacy rules with Wake County, I am required to label all emails containing information about your child as confidential.  Here at school, that makes my emails appear as encrypted.  It takes a couple more steps to open them.  I have noticed that I have not received many replies to my encrypted emails.  These are not spam!!!!  Please open them as they have important communication about your child. 

What are we learning?

ELA:  We are currently in Unit 3 of our Learning Challenges Module.  Your child is analyzing the structure of a reading contract and will begin writing their own contract about their reading challenges on Friday.  We are also practicing fluent reading with an excerpt of text that will be used to create an audiobook recording!

Math:  We have begun a lengthy unit on addition and subtraction with 2 and 3-digit numbers.  This unit will continue after track out, but your child will have their first assessment on it next Friday.

Social Studies:  We have finished our human body science unit and are now working on a three week social studies unit about history.  We are focusing on the history of Raleigh.  We began over 500 years ago by discussing Sir Walter Raleigh, and will now move through time covering the founders of Raleigh, slavery, Women's Suffrage Movement, and Civil Rights Movement.

CogAT Practice

Your child may be telling you that they are doing CogAT Practice.  We will take the CogAT test the week we return from track out.  Ms. Kessler, our AIG teacher, has been in our classroom this week going over sample questions to ensure your child receives the best possible score!

What is CogAT?

The CogAT testing is the preliminary testing for AIG.  Students who make a high score on these tests will take the IOWA test in December.  The CogAT tests consist of three 10 minute tests per day.  They are number puzzles, word puzzles and visualization.  The kids enjoy them and the whole process takes about 45 minutes out of our day.  

Dates to Remember:

9/19  Picture Day @11:10

9/26  End of Module Performance Task Performance @10:00

9/30-10/21  Track Out

10/22  Quarter 2 Begins for Track 4

10/23-10/25  CogAT Testing

1023  Report Cards Go Home

10/30  Mordechi Field Trip

Don't forget to continue to collect Pledges for the Apex Fun Run!  We are currently working towards extra recess for the class!

Want to see pictures of your child throughout the school day?  Follow me on Twitter @MeganOlynick!

Field Trip Forms

Please make sure to return your child's field trip permission form as soon as possible.  I am required to turn them into the school nurse 30 days before our first field trip.  Your child cannot be guaranteed to attend our first trip to Mordecai if I do not have your permission slip by September 1st.

We are still not collecting money at this time.  An additional letter will be sent home with that information at a later date.  

Volunteers Needed for Apex Fun Run

All parents are invited to come out next Wednesday, August 28 at 10:30 AM to cheer your child on during the Fun Run.  Let me know if you would like to help me keep tally of the kid's laps.

What are we working on?

In EL your child is currently working on identifying the gist of an informational text and using key details to develop the main idea.  Their first EL assessment came home today.  Look it over so you can see what types of tasks your child is required to do.

In math we are continuing our unit on multiplication.  Your child should currently be able to multiply by 2s, 5s and 10s.  Next week we will take our next math assessment and begin a new unit on graphing!

In science we are learning about the human body; specifically the systems of the body.  Your child is bringing home their first quiz today.  Please keep in mind that science and social studies are the last 40 minutes of the day, so early checkouts miss these lessons.  

Dates to Remember:

8/28 Apex Fun Run @10:30 AM

8/28  Progress Reports

9/30-10/21  Track Out for Track 4

10/23  Report Cards

10/23-10/25 CogAT Testing

10/30  Mordecai Field Trip

A big shout out to Adrienne Mickels and Joy Denney for agreeing to be our room parents!  

Please use this link to sign up for additional classroom supplies for our classroom:  Classroom Supplies

BOG

Your child will take the BOG (Beginning of Grade) test on Tuesday morning.  We begin testing promptly at 9:20. Any students who arrive to class late will not be admitted to class and will have to make up the test on an alternate day.  

Field Trips

This past week you received a permission slip for your child to attend ALL the third grade field trips this year.  Please note that due to a change in Wake County policy our Mordecai trip has been changed to October 30.  

At this time we are not collecting money for the trips.  More information will come at a later date on cost.  

Please complete the form and return it as soon as possible.  Any students who do not return their form at least 30 days before the first field trip are not guaranteed to be able to attend.

Math Resources 

I have set your child up with an Xtra Math and Dreambox account for extra practice both at home and school.  Log-in information will come home in next week's Wednesday folders.  Please feel free to utilize these programs at home.  

Xtra Math is basic fact practice.  Dreambox covers a variety of skills and is the program that I use the most in the classroom.  

Dates to Remember:

8/13  BOG Test

8/15  Green Road Library Event 5:00-7:00

8/19  Apex Fun Run Pep Rally @2:30

8/28  Apex Fun Run

9/30-10/21  Track Out for Track 4

We are off to a great start this year!  

Open House is Tuesday, August 6 from 5:30-7:00.  I will do two brief presentations at 5:30 and 6:15.  Third grade is a big transition.  Please try to make it if at all possible.  

A few things for you to know:

• Your child brings home a "Take Home" folder every day.  This is daily communication.  It will have any checked work we have done so you can see what we are doing in class.  Additionally, it will have projects, any immediate contact information, behavior information, or unfinished work that your child will need to complete for homework.
• On Wednesdays  your child will bring home a Brassfield red folder.  This will have all graded assignments and important paperwork.  
• The best way to reach me is through email:  molynick@wcpss.net
• Please check our blog periodically for classroom updates.  I will also send an email out when I update it.
• Please use this link to sign up for additional optional classroom supplies:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0c4ea9a82da6f85-back

Mark your calendars!

These are the dates for our big third grade tests.  Please try to schedule any family vacations around these dates.

BOG:  August 13

CogAT:  October 23, 24, and 25

IOWA:  December 3 and 4

EOG:  June 17 and 18

Dates to Remember:

8/6  Open House 5:30-7:00

8/13  BOG Testing

8/15  Green Road Library Event 5:00-7:00

8/19  Apex Fun Pep Rally @2:30 PM

8/28  Apex Fun Run, Tracks 3 and 4

Welcome to Third Grade!

I am very excited to meet each of you.  Please come prepared on the first day of school with ALL school supplies.  Third grade is a big transition from second.  We have a rigorous curriculum and will hit the ground running on day one.   

Students are welcome to bring a healthy snack to eat in the mornings before lunch.  We have recess every day, so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for outdoor play and the weather.  

We will begin the school year in room 300 on Monday, July 29.  Students may be dropped off beginning at 8:45 AM.  Parents are welcome to walk students down to the room on the first day.  

Please feel free to contact me via email if you have any questions!  molynick@wcpss.net

Dates to Remember:

7/29  First Day of School for Track 4

8/6  Open House 5:30-6:30