TGS 3rd Grade 2011-12

May 13, 2012

Dear Parents,

“SERENE” will be the vocabulary word for the week, and an important ideal as we embark on the busy final weeks of the school year.

This past week third and fourth graders continued to meet in mixed groups to work on different projects for our unit on ancient Egypt. Emily led students through the beginning stages of a new research endeavor that included selecting a topic and creating a “mini-book.” The students working with me finished the final stages of their mummy masks. This week we will complete a related science experiment; the mummification of a zucchini, comparing the drying effectiveness of different substances.
Egyptian artifacts was the theme of poems started last Thursday, Final revisions will be made this week. For the duration of the year writing projects will be relatively short creative pieces and emphasize the children’s application of literary and organizational tools as well as writing mechanics. Charcoal drawings of trumpets, listening to both the music of Louis Armstrong and the recorded ko-hohs of trumpeter swans will accompany our reading of E.B. White’s The Trumpeter Swan.
In math, the children have been doing computational work involving division with single and two-digit numbers, with and without remainders, and applying the latter to solve written number stories. Facility with such challenging calculations is greatly increased for those children that can readily recognize multiplication/division fact families. Thank you for supporting your child’s facts mastery.
We are making steady progress learning lines, cues, and adding dramatic embellishments (what a bunch of hams!). Pepi and the Secret Names will take place on Wednesday, May 30, during all school meeting (2:15, maybe a bit later).

Thank you Jill, Kathleen, and Zach for volunteering to drive on Tuesday, May 15 for our visit to Thompson House. We will depart at 10:30 and return for our noon lunch, and an afternoon presentation by two Maasai visitors.

I look forward to Friday’s Grandfriend’s Day. It is such a joyful morning here at school and one of my favorite events during the academic year.
Have a wonderful week, and feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Linda