News

ELA Information

Dear Families of 3-Fitzgerald,

We had a super first full week of 3rd grade! For the most part, we have secured our daily routines and have gotten a feel for what 3rd grade is going to feel like.

We had the chance to meet our 1st grade reading buddies. We will be working with Miss Staalsen’s first graders once a week for a brief period of time. Our goal is to be great role models, and also to show the first graders how enjoyable reading can be!

Open House is Thursday, September 24th and I look forward to seeing you all there (and meeting those of you who I still need to meet!).

We have begun practicing our “Readerly and Writerly” lives in the classroom. Your child has an individual book basket where he/she keeps the book that is currently being read, as well as some other choices of upcoming books and/or easy reads. These baskets are used during reading workshop time. Students are engaged in reading and monitor their comprehension by responding to the reading. We have practiced this by writing on post-it notes to document connections, predictions and other general thoughts about the story. We are still fine-tuning sharing meaningful ideas with partners using a soft voice.

Our first of several “Milestones” writing pieces is completed. “My First Day of Third Grade” is now on display in our classroom. We are excited for you to see them at Open House. These pieces are very important to the students and your child would most likely enjoy sharing his/her piece with you (if he/she hasn’t already done so!).

Word Wall

Math

Here are the 14 words for September:

again, because, could, favorite, have, into, off, people, said, they, until, very, want, who

Students will be practicing these words in school and should also practice at home. Although there is not a spelling test for these words, after September, students will be expected to spell the words correctly in their written work.

There will be 110 third grade word wall words in all. Mastering these will benefit children as they move on to fourth grade next year.

Currently we are working on number sense and counting. If you have a number grid at home, you could have your child “find the number”. For example, find 24 more than 35. Your child should show you how we practiced in class moving down 2 columns and over 4 spaces to get to 59. We are also reviewing telling time on an analog clock. If you have one at home, your child could practice figuring out if dinner is 45 minutes from now, what time will we eat? It is helpful to practice these skills that are not only important in a math book, but in real life as well!

Thank you so much for sending in the mad minutes as your child completes them. Making certain that addition and subtraction facts are secure this early in the year is very important as our math will become more complex.

For those of you seeking enrichment, I will be sending home some ideas in the coming weeks.

Social Studies

Taking Care of Business

9/21 Student Support Services begin
9/22 First Day of Fall
9/24 Open House
9/28 No School

Communication:

Please feel free to email me at: fitzgeraldm@guilderlandschools.org. Please note that I will be able to check my email only from home during the first month of school while we wait patiently to have our network running at school. A better way to reach me during the day would be to leave a message on my voicemail: 357-2770 x4105. I will return your call as soon as possible. Thanks!

Time for Kids:

This year our class will be subscribing to Time for Kids. This will complement our Social Studies curriculum. Please send a check for $5.42 payable to “Time for Kids”. Thanks!

For those of you who have already sent in a check, thank you so much!