January 23rd-27th

 

 Upcoming Dates

January 27th 

PTO Interskate Skate Night: 6:00-8:00

January 30th 

PTO Meeting @ 6:00-8:00

February 14th

Valentine's Party (more info coming soon) @ 2:00

• Valentine's Party - The party will be Tuesday, February 14th from 2:00-3:00!  Parents are welcome!  Please have your child address a valentine to everyone in their class.  You may choose to include a treat or candy if you would like to, but it is not required.  We will be making their bags at school. Your child will come home with a class list next week. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher.
• Family Lunch Fridays - Our campus is open each Friday for lunch visitors! When you arrive you will sign in at the front office and receive a visitor badge that must be worn at all times. You will need a photo ID (license or passport). You will be able to eat lunch with your child at the designated tables for lunch visitors. You may only eat with your child. No other learners may be invited to eat with you. You may purchase lunch in the cafeteria or bring a lunch with you. Parents will be dismissed from the cafeteria. You will need to go back through the front office to sign out at the end of lunchtime. Please see Ms. Martin's Principal Newsletter for details on who may eat with your child and a form to fill out for non-parent lunch visitors. No lunch visitors on early release days. 

• Background Checks - If you have not had a chance to fill out a background check please fill one out for yourself or update last year's! Click here to register as a new volunteer or confirm your information from last year. This must be completed every school year for you to volunteer at the school. The district will send you an email when your background check has cleared. Any opportunities for volunteering at the school, including holiday parties, will require a cleared background check. Once completed it lasts for the remainder of the school year.  When you create your account, make sure to click on the add new application button. (see picture below)

January Lunch Menu

 

Math

We will begin our Area and Perimeter unit, and we start with learning about perimeter, which is the distance around. Perimeter is a brand new skill for your 3rd grader, and you may be wondering how it feels to be teaching something that is a useful, lifelong skill for the kiddos, and the answer is fantastic. It feels fantastic. Not only are they learning all about perimeter for the first time, they will learn how to find the distance of an unknown side when given the perimeter (add the sides we know then subtract from the perimeter). Finally, they will learn words that should clue them in to it being a perimeter problem, i.e. objects that go around something.  Frames, baseboards, fences, borders, ribbons, and trims are all examples of objects that go around, or outline the perimeter of something. Perimeter makes the world go ‘round! (See what I did there?)

Science 

We are finishing up our Earth’s Surface unit by taking a look at scientists in this field. Who knows…maybe one of our fearless 3rd graders will become a Volcanologist!

Reading/Writing 

We will be analyzing the plot of our latest read aloud, Because of Winn Dixie. We will compare the sequence of events to a mountain, with the peak representing the climax of the story.  We will discuss and explore what our characters learned and what big issues were resolved. In Reader’s Workshop, we will continue to compare themes or lessons in our own reading. We will continue to explore common themes in fiction texts. In writing, we will continue to follow the writing process to produce our persuasive pieces. We will plan and organize our persuasive pieces with graphic organizers, while adding strong details to develop and support our ideas.

Social Studies 

This week we will work on identifying reasons budgets are created. We will highlight needs in areas of saving and spending through creative role play and games. We will explore different ways of earning, spending, saving and donating money. We have an exciting digital journal to continue working on and we will dive into the digital “Game of Life”.

January 16th-20th

 Upcoming Dates

January 16th 

MLK Day Holiday - No School

January 27th 

PTO Interskate Skate Night: 6:00-8:00

January 30th 

PTO Meeting @ 6:00-8:00

• NO SCHOOL on MONDAY, JANUARY 16TH
• Family Lunch Fridays - Our campus is open each Friday for lunch visitors! When you arrive you will sign in at the front office and receive a visitor badge that must be worn at all times. You will need a photo ID (license or passport). You will be able to eat lunch with your child at the designated tables for lunch visitors. You may only eat with your child. No other learners may be invited to eat with you. You may purchase lunch in the cafeteria or bring a lunch with you. Parents will be dismissed from the cafeteria. You will need to go back through the front office to sign out at the end of lunchtime. Please see Ms. Martin's Principal Newsletter for details on who may eat with your child and a form to fill out for non-parent lunch visitors. No lunch visitors on early release days. 

• Background Checks - If you have not had a chance to fill out a background check please fill one out for yourself or update last year's! Click here to register as a new volunteer or confirm your information from last year. This must be completed every school year for you to volunteer at the school. The district will send you an email when your background check has cleared. Any opportunities for volunteering at the school, including holiday parties, will require a cleared background check. Once completed it lasts for the remainder of the school year.  When you create your account, make sure to click on the add new application button. (see picture below)

January Lunch Menu

 

Math

Grab those 3D glasses and get ready to see 3D shapes come to life! (I am imagining those posters at the mall where you would stare and stare and then boom! When your eyes crossed just right, the picture would pop out and it was amazing. #90s #mallrats)

3D shapes for Texas’ 3rd graders include cylinders, cones, spheres, rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, and cubes. The new attribute vocabulary for 3D shapes includes face (what you might think of as a side) and edge (the line where 2 faces meet). Vertices are the sharp points where 2 edges meet; we have discussed these at length in our 2D shape lessons. The other key point of 3D shape knowledge is understanding which shapes are prisms. Simply put, a prism is a shape with 2 bases that are identical and have straight sides. Prisms include rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, and cubes, but NOT cylinders, as even though the bases are identical, they are round, and that’s a no-no. Watching 3rd graders try to draw 3D shapes is entertaining and adorable, FYI, and we are so here for it!

Science 

At first I was afraid, I was petrified…but I will survive!  Now that we have learned all about the causes and effects of Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions, Landslides, and Tsunamis, we will work on a Survival Guide.  They will create a product that showcases one rapid land change; the cause, the effect after it occurs, and tips on how to stay safe.  Let the creativity begin!

Reading/Writing 

We have finished reading our fabulous book, Because of Winn Dixie! We will discuss what our characters learned and what big issues were resolved. We will explore common themes and lessons in fiction and compare across books. In Reader’s Workshop, we will evaluate and evaluate themes or lessons in our own reading. In writing, we will follow the writing process of brainstorming ideas, planning and organizing our persuasive pieces with graphic organizers, while adding strong details to develop and support our ideas.

Social Studies 

We will begin our Economics study by learning all about personal financial literacy. We will explore different ways of earning, spending, saving and donating money. We have an exciting digital journal to document and reflect on what we are learning and a fun, digital “Game of Life”, in which the kiddos can explore what happens as you make personal, financial decisions!

January 9th-13th

 

 Upcoming Dates

January 6th 

2nd 9 Weeks Report Card emailed 

January 16th 

MLK Day Holiday - No School

January 27th 

PTO Interskate Skate Night: 6:00-8:00

January 30th 

PTO Meeting @ 6:00

• Family Lunch Fridays - Our campus is open each Friday for lunch visitors! When you arrive you will sign in at the front office and receive a visitor badge that must be worn at all times. You will need a photo ID (license or passport). You will be able to eat lunch with your child at the designated tables for lunch visitors. You may only eat with your child. No other learners may be invited to eat with you. You may purchase lunch in the cafeteria or bring a lunch with you. Parents will be dismissed from the cafeteria. You will need to go back through the front office to sign out at the end of lunchtime. Please see Ms. Martin's Principal Newsletter for details on who may eat with your child and a form to fill out for non-parent lunch visitors. No lunch visitors on early release days. 

• Background Checks - If you have not had a chance to fill out a background check please fill one out for yourself or update last year's! Click here to register as a new volunteer or confirm your information from last year. This must be completed every school year for you to volunteer at the school. The district will send you an email when your background check has cleared. Any opportunities for volunteering at the school, including holiday parties, will require a cleared background check. Once completed it lasts for the remainder of the school year.  When you create your account, make sure to click on the add new application button. (see picture below)

January Lunch Menu

 

Math

Geometry is one of those units in math that is full of useful, everyday information like: what is the name of a 12-sided figure? (The answer is dodecagon.) And, a parallelogram can be square, but a square is, in fact, always a parallelogram. Now, you may be thinking some version of “there’s no way a 3rd grader has to know that”, but you would be, in fact, wrong. These precious children have to know their 2D shapes from a 3-sided figure up to a 12-sided figure, and next week, we’ll focus solely on quadrilaterals and their attributes, as well as which ones overlap (see the ridiculous sentence above about squares and parallelograms). Please take a moment to look at the geometry Keynote on their ipad. It was made by our wonderful Digital Learning Coach, Courtney Tinch. Please DO NOT have your kiddo work on this Keynote at home, however! We are doing it in class as we learn, but we thought that in this unit FULL of new vocabulary, it would be good to have a place to store their learning. Plus, it’s also great for parents to have a reference instead of having to break out that high school geometry textbook from the 90s. You’re welcome. Quadrilaterals, LET’S GOOOO!

Science 

Zzzzoooooommmm!  Fast land changes is what is up next!  Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Landslides and Tsunamis, OH MY!  We will explore the causes and effects of each fast land change.

Reading/Writing 

Characters in stories are like people in life…they can change as the story goes on and there may be reasons for behaviors they exhibit. We will look deeper into our Because of Winn Dixie characters and explore possibilities of why they behave in certain ways. As our kiddos read their own books in Reader’s Workshop, they will evaluate and respond in their reading journals a deeper reflection of their characters’ behaviors. In writing, we will continue to plan and organize our persuasive pieces with graphic organizers, while adding strong details to develop and support their ideas.

Social Studies 

We are wrapping up our study of maps and will be rolling into the beginning of our unit on ECONOMICS!!! We will begin by learning all about personal financial literacy. We will explore different ways of earning, spending, saving and donating money. We have an exciting digital journal to document and reflect on what we are learning and a fun, digital “Game of Life”, in which the kiddos can explore what happens as you make personal, financial decisions!

December 12th-16th

 Upcoming Dates

December 15th 

Winter Parties @ 2:00 - All visitors will need to check in at the front office

December 16th

Spirit Rally 8:00-8:30

Early Release @ 12:30

NO LUNCH VISITORS THIS DAY DUE TO EARLY RELEASE

December 19th - January 2nd 

Winter Break

January 3rd

School Resumes

Function Machines

During the week of December 12th we will begin making our Functions Machines!  See below in our What Are We Learning section for more details!

What it will end up looking like:

What we need from you:

1/2 gallon cardboard milk carton

Cereal box

If you do not have access to either of these, please let either Mrs. Naughton or Mrs. Shelby know and we will make arrangements.  Thank you!

PTO is hosting a Kendra Scott Night Fundraiser. See below for details:

Lion's Club

A note from Ms. Matlock:

Each year the Lions Club of Coppell provides holiday baskets and toys for families in the Coppell ISD attendance area. Last year Lion's Club provided a special Christmas for over 127 families and hundreds of children who might otherwise have gone without. The food baskets and toys are delivered by members of the Lions Club of Coppell, and the identity of the recipients is kept confidential. All Lion's Club needs need to know is the address and the family demographics, sizes, and any special needs the family may have. If your family would like to apply for a holiday basket and toys, please email Town Center's counselor, Kelly Matlock, at kmatlock@coppellisd.com.

December Lunch Menu

 

Math

We are ready to practice our input/output tables and will be working on planning, building, and using our machines all week. 

Function Machines are my favorite!

Science 

Next week, we will spend the week working on a STEM activity…The Sandcastle Project!  They will be given the challenge of building a sandcastle that can withstand erosion (flowing water).  The kids will plan, build, test, and observe!  #science

Reading/Writing 

As we continue our new Read Aloud “Because of Winn-Dixie”, we will be analyzing major and minor characters. We will identify character traits and synthesizing information written in the story/drawing on our own conclusions. The author often gives us information without saying it directly. We are learning to infer and draw conclusions through written phrases, sayings, behavior, relationships and more. It’s exciting to begin to learn that there is so much more that authors want to share with us through their characters. 

We will also carry this over to our writing time. We will be writing a form of persuasive writing where a thesis statement or claim is made and details, evidence and examples are provided to back them up.

Social Studies 

The map study continues.  We are learning parts of maps, how to read them, and their purpose.

December 5th-9th

 Upcoming Dates

December 9th

Early Release @ 12:30

NO LUNCH VISITORS THIS DAY DUE TO EARLY RELEASE

December 15th 

Winter Parties @ 2:00 - All visitors will need to check in at the front office

December 16th

Spirit Rally 8:00-8:30

Early Release @ 12:30

NO LUNCH VISITORS THIS DAY DUE TO EARLY RELEASE

December 19th

January 2nd - Winter Break

January 3rd

School Resumes

Function Machines

During the week of December 12th we will begin making our Functions Machines!  See below in our What Are We Learning section for more details!

What it will end up looking like:

What we need from you:

1/2 gallon cardboard milk carton

Cereal box

If you do not have access to either of these, please let either Mrs. Naughton or Mrs. Shelby know and we will make arrangements.  Thank you!

PTO is hosting a Kendra Scott Night Fundraiser. See below for details:

Lion's Club

A note from Ms. Matlock:

Each year the Lions Club of Coppell provides holiday baskets and toys for families in the Coppell ISD attendance area. Last year Lion's Club provided a special Christmas for over 127 families and hundreds of children who might otherwise have gone without. The food baskets and toys are delivered by members of the Lions Club of Coppell, and the identity of the recipients is kept confidential. All Lion's Club needs need to know is the address and the family demographics, sizes, and any special needs the family may have. If your family would like to apply for a holiday basket and toys, please email Town Center's counselor, Kelly Matlock, at kmatlock@coppellisd.com.

December Lunch Menu

 

Math

Input/Output tables are next up for Data Analysis-palooza, and the patterns are running wild! Number relationships are all over input/output tables - fascinating stuff here, guys! There are 3 kinds of input/output tables: 1) You are given the input and the rule, and you have to find the output 2) You are given the input and the output and you have to find  the rule and 3) You are given the output and the rule and they have to do the inverse operation (opposite operation) to find the input. See examples below:

#1 Rule: x2 Input Output 4 ? Answer: 8

#2 Rule: ? Input Output 4 8 Answer: x2

#3 Rule: x2 Input Output ? 8 Answer: 4

During the week of December 12, every third grader will make Function Machines to help us practice Input/Output Tables. If you are able, please send in a cardboard, half gallon, empty, dry, clean juice or milk container and some flexible cardboard, like a cereal box. Thank you!

Science 

We will be dusting off our magnifying glasses…well, our imaginary ones!  We will be taking a closer look at Geologists!  What do they do?  Why are they important?  How do you become one?  All these questions and more will be answered next week!  Stay tuned!

Reading/Writing 

Our next ELAR unit will all revolve around making claims and supporting them with evidence from written text and real life.  In reading we are starting a beautiful novel together and we will walk alongside the main character as we get to know her.  We will study her behavior and traits. Then we will draw conclusions and make claims all while using evidence from the store to back up our claim.  

We will also carry this over to our writing time. We will be writing a form of persuasive writing where a thesis statement or claim is made and details, evidence and examples are provided to back them up. 

This type of thinking requires so much skill and depth. You can engage your kids in conversation about the motive - the why behind things. This will help them as we dive deep this unit.

Social Studies 

We will continue our study of different environments and how we survive in those environments. We also will learn about how the Earth changes from both physical and human processes (building new homes, conservation and pollution) and begin learning about features of maps.