Third Grade Newsletter Sept. 17-21 and 24-28 - Guardian Lutheran ...

Third Grade Newsletter
Sept. 17-21 and 24-28
Dear Parents,
Another great two weeks has gone by and another approaches. We continue to work through
our subjects with no major glitches so far. The students have now had Music for the first time and have
finally been to the library. Third grade students are able to check out 2 books and one magazine. Books
are checked out for 2 weeks, and magazines for 1. There is a pink bucket in the classroom for students
to put their books in when they are ready to return them.
Thank you to the parents who drove on our field trip to Centennial Library. The kids really
seemed to enjoy meeting a Michigan author (even if it wasn’t the planned one). One of the stories
we’ll read in our anthology this year is about what author’s do.
Speaking of books and reading, congratulations to Alayna, Kaylee L., Kayla, and Elizabeth C.
for reaching their AR goal of 2 points for the month of September! A reminder that books must be at or
above a 2 nd grade reading level for this quarter. If the entire class reaches their goal before the month is
through, I will treat them to a pizza lunch. When individual students reach their goal within the month,
they receive a No Homework Pass to use on one assignment. They will automatically receive an A on
the assignment of their choice. Parents, you can keep track of your child’s progress via AR Home
Connect.
We are finishing up some of our first chapters and will be having a couple tests within the next
2 weeks. A Language Arts test is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 21 covering the first unit on Sentences. It
is in multiple choice format and will cover fragments, the four types of sentences, punctuation,
subjects, predicates, and compound sentences. Next week, we’ll start working on the writing part of
the unit.
I’m very impressed at how well the class is doing with counting money. The harder part comes
this week when we start to make change. We do this by counting UP from the cost of the item to the
amount paid. For example: The cost of a book is $3.79 and you pay with a $5.00 bill. Change is made
by using the coins and bills to count up from $3.79 to $5.00 – 1 penny ($3.80), 1 dime ($3.90), 1 dime
($4.00), 1- $1 bill. These are the coins and bills used. The change is then
counted…$1.00…$1.10…$1.20…$1.21. We DO NOT subtract ($5.00-$3.79) because subtracting
across zeros hasn’t been taught yet. This will be covered in a later chapter. The more practice (both
made up and real world) your child gets, the better they will grasp this concept. I encourage families to
give their child a $5.00 bill and let them purchase a small item and see if they can figure out the change
they should receive. Once they’ve received their change, have them check to make sure it’s correct.
Of course, this should be supervised ☺! The test on this first chapter, which covered a lot, is planned
for Monday, Sept. 24.
During the course of the school year, each lower grade class has 3 parties, Halloween,
Christmas, and Valentine’s Day. To cover any costs of our three parties, each family is asked to please
send in $5.00 in an envelope marked “Classroom Parties” as soon as you can. I am also in need of
Room Moms/Dads to plan and organize these parties. It would be great to have at least 3 parents
volunteer to do this with each taking charge of one party. You basically have to arrange a snack, game

or craft for each party. I can help with ideas. If you are interested in being a Room “Parent”, I would
like to have a brief meeting with you after school this Wed. just to go over my expectations and needs.
Please send me a note, see me, or email me to let me know if you’re interested. If you are but can’t
make it Wednesday, let me know and I can arrange a time that will work. This all goes toward your
volunteer hours, too.
Another volunteer job you might want to consider is hanging up Art projects outside the
classroom for me. I have some now that are ready to be taped up. Let me know if you can help. It can
be done anytime of the day or after school.
Looking for something you can do at home? I could use someone to take care of all the
Scholastic book orders. I will send home the order forms for you to pull apart, staple together then
send back. The rest of the process is done online, including ordering. It’s really not hard, but it’s one
of those things I just can’t get to. Let me know if you are interested.
The PTL carnival is coming up on Sept. 28. Parents are also needed to help in various ways.
This has been a very fun evening for families, and this year the FFPN (Family Friendly Partners
Network) is adding a band at the end. Guardian’s own Stone Soup, a contemporary band, will play
afterwards. You can get your PTL volunteer hours in and have fun at the same time. Guardian faculty
will be there to help out as well.
Finally, throughout the year we use a lot of disinfecting wipes to clean desktops and
countertops. If you’re looking for something you could donate ;) we could really use them…all year
long.
Have a great two weeks!
In Christ,
Ms. L.
lynn.lindenfelser@guardianlutheran.org
Here’s the plan for the next 2 weeks:
Spelling/Phonics: Week 1 – Long a and e sounds.; Week 2 – More long o words
Religion: Studying the Bible
MI History: symbols and the water around us
Reading: Week 1 – Anthony Reynoso – Born to Rope; author’s purpose; Week 2 – Herbie and
Annabelle (A Reader’s Theater); cause and effect
English/Grammar: Quiz Tues., Sept. 18 on subjects and predicates; TEST FRI., Sept. 21 on
Sentences; the writing process is next
Science: estimate, measure, infer, predict, and interpret data
Math: Making change by counting up; Topic 1 test is planned for Mon., Sept. 24
Memory: Week 1 – Tues. Returning Thanks, part 1; Thurs., Returning Thanks, part 2
Week 2 – Tues. OT books Genesis - Proverbs; Thurs., OT books Song of Songs (Solomon) –
Malachi