What's Happening in 3rd Grade

We've sure been busy in third grade! 

In math, we are currently working on Unit 7, "Understanding the relationship between multiplication and division patterns." 

In writing, we will watch a short video and read health articles about how to have a positive attitude. Students will learn how to paraphrase and take notes, and will answer the following prompt: "How does attitude affect your actions and how can you improve your attitude? Include details from the video and articles to support your ideas."  

In reading, students are learning to evaluate the effectiveness of nonfiction passages and books, determined by their text features (captions, photos, headings, table of contents, index, glossary, etc.). 

February's Rockin' Readers will be sent home in this week's Wednesday folder. It's a school wide expectation that third graders read for at least 15-20 minutes each day. You can read to your child, your child can read to you or another family member, or he/she can read to self. Any reading counts and will provide a multitude of benefits for your child such as, increased vocabulary, comprehension, reading stamina, and a love for reading! Thank you for all you do to support your child!

Here is the link to a great article about how to help your child become a more fluent reader.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/blogs/scholastic-parents-raise-reader/what-to-do-when-kids-dont-read-fluently#.Vm5VzHt1XQY.gmail

Adding School Days to the Calendar

The district is adding two more days of school to the month of February in order to make up for lost instructional time during the snow days. Look for this important letter  and notice in your child's backpack.

Students will now have school on Friday, Feb. 3rd and Feb. 17th

"Girls on the Run is a life-changing, after school program for girls in 3rd-5th grade...The 20 lesson Girls on the Run curriculum combines training for a 5k (3.1 miles) running event with lessons that inspire girls to become independent thinkers, to enhance their problem-solving skills, and to make healthy decisions."
 Sign up your girl! Registration forms were sent home last Wednesday.

David Douglas has communicated a message to its community. Please click on the following link to read the full message: http://www.ddouglas.k12.or.us/2017/01/a-message-to-our-community/

No school again!!

Looking for something educational to do while we watch the ice melt?  

Check out this great website to get some extra practice with telling time!  We are wrapping up our unit on time and with all the snow days, students could really use the extra practice!  
http://www.education.com/games/time/

There are also more resources on our 3rd grade Portaportal!
https://guest.portaportal.com/eb3rdgrade 

Don't forget that picking up a book and reading is the very best thing you can do for your learning!

See you tomorrow!!

Salt & Straw Donation

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!

Thanks to the generosity of Salt & Straw Ice Cream who donated four wonderful ice-cream flavors through their “Buy a Pint, Give a Pint” program. We also want to publicly thank the wonderful volunteers from Vista Capital, and Urban Gleaners who served our entire school ice cream on Thursday, January 5th and help coordinate the event.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Thank you, Vista Capital Partners and Urban Gleaners.

Mrs. McGowan's class loved all the flavors.

🍦🍨All third graders had a wonderful time eating and slurping every last drop of ice cream that day. See for yourself.

                                                Mrs. Long's class loved the ice-cream.

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

 

Hi Parents and Guardians of your wonderful 3rd graders,

Third grade teachers has been implementing an amazing strategy called Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset. The information below will explain what we are teaching and how we are encouraging your child to become a positive thinker in the classroom.

Mindset is a simple idea developed by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference. In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong. In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities. Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports.

Our hope is to develop a growth mindset for a number of reasons. In the face of difficulties, many students decide that they can’t pass a subject and that failing a test is the end of the road. Indeed, a great number do not wish to try anything new for fear of getting things wrong. By helping your child change their mindset within school we want to develop students who are willing to try new strategies to solve problems, to make your child see challenging work as a positive instead of a negative; to remove barriers to their learning. This will allow your child to be more confident in the face of challenges and hopefully improve as students and members of society.

Check out the video to give you a better understanding of a Growth Mindset vs a Fixed Mindset.

Here are a few great resources to help at home with Growth Mindset.