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!