Weekly Update 12/16/13

The most important update this week is our Holiday Program. Second and third graders will be performing on Thursday at 1:30. Please send students to school dressed nicely on Thursday. I hope to see you all there!

We will have a classroom celebration on Friday afternoon. I'm going to let the students decide how they want to celebrate with a vote today.

Communication Arts:
Salish Months Compare and Contrast Books

Math
Unit 6: Patterns

Social Studies
Salish Traditions

Weekly Update 12/9/13

Hello Third Grade Families,

It is a busy and fun time of year! The district policy on cold weather is zero degrees which takes in account wind chill. Please send your students prepared for recess with boots, snowpants, jackets, gloves, and hats. If you need any of these items, contact Amy in the FRC. 

Communication Arts
Review Week
Unit 2 Benchmark Skills - Sequence, Character Motivation, Lesson of a Story
Spelling: Sight Words --> Spelling City
Writing: Compare and Contrast Salish Months

Math
Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction
Practice with Money!$
Practice with Rounding
I sent home a project called Unit 5 Math Menu. Students will choose one menu item to demonstrate their understanding of this unit. Please send in projects any day next week.

Social Studies
Salish Traditions

Mark Your Calendars!
12/14/13 Happy Birthday Carson!
12/16/13 Art
12/19/13 Grades 2 and 3 Holiday Program at 1:30

Stay warm,
Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 12/2/13

Happy December!

Communication Arts
Pushing Up the Sky
Genre: Play
Spelling: Prefixes - un, re, mis, dis
Vocabulary: antlers, imagined, languages, narrator, overhead, poked
Do you like plays? Here are some more scripts!
Writing: Personal Narratives

Math
Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction
Practice with Money!$
Practice with Rounding

Social Studies
Salish Traditions

Weekly Update 11/25/13

Third Grade Families,

In honor of this short and sweet week, I'm going to keep this update short and sweet. I hope you all celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday with those you love. Enjoy!

Communication Arts
There is not a formal story this week. We have two university students who have special lessons planned!
Click here to read more fables!
Writing: Personal Narratives

Math
Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction
Practice with Money!$

Social Studies
Salish Traditions
We will study traditions, location, and changes over time. 

Mark Your Calendar
11/26/13 Happy Birthday Lola!
11/27/13 - 11/29/13 No School - Happy Thanksgiving
11/30/13 Happy Birthday Davin!

Love,
Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 11/18/13

Thank you to all the third grade families that came to parent teacher conferences. I appreciate all of the support you provide at home for what we do here.

Communication Arts
Story: Fly, Eagle, Fly!
Spelling: No Spelling This Week
Comprehension: Sequencing, Story Lesson
Click here to read more fables!
Writing: Personal Narratives

Math
Unit 5: Use Addition and Subtraction
Have you checked out sumdog yet? If you need your username and password, let me know.
Sumdog



Science
Earth  Materials and Changes
We will be finishing up this unit this week.
Check out the Montana Bureau of Mine and Geology's Website!





Mark Your Calendar
No Spelling this week
11/18/13 Art
11/22/13 Hawthorne Outdoor Learning Committee Meeting 3:30
11/26/13 Happy Birthday Lola
11/27/13 - 11/29/13 Happy Thanksgiving - no school for students

Weekly Update 11/11/13

Communication Arts
Story: Fly, Eagle, Fly!
Spelling: VCCV Words--> http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/
Comprehension: Sequencing, Story Lesson
Click here to read more fables!
Writing: Personal Narratives


Math
Unit 4: Figures, Angles, and Triangles
Third graders should be fluent in addition and subtraction facts. Play the game below to practice.
Click here to practice Math Facts!



Science
Earth  Materials and Changes
We will be finishing up this unit in the next two weeks.
Check out the Montana Bureau of Mine and Geology's Website!





Mark Your Calendar
11/11/13 Veterans Day
11/11/13 Ms. Senecal out 
11/13/13 and 11/14/13 Parent Teacher Conferences - more information will come out this week
11/15/13 No school for students

Parent Teacher Conferences

Hello Third Grade Families,

Parent teacher conferences will be next Wednesday evening, 11/13/13, and next Thursday afternoon, 11/14/14. I will be sending home times tomorrow. Please return the form to confirm the date and time of the conference. If they time does not work for you, return the form with a time that works better.  I will be out this Friday and Monday. It would be so helpful if you could return the conference forms by this Thursday. I will only be able to do one conference per student because of the large class size. 

I look forward to seeing you all!

Thank you,
Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 11/4/13

3 Questions to Ask Your Third Grader
1) Why is it important for author's to sequence story events?
2) What does perpendicular mean?
3) When sediments settle, what is the first layer? Gravel, sand, or clay?

Communication Arts
Story: What About Me?
Spelling: Plurals: s, es, ies--> http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/
Vocab: carpenter, carpetmaker, knowledge, marketplace, merchant, plenty, straying, thread
Comprehension: Character Motivation, Story Lesson
Click here to read more fables!
Writing: Personal Narratives



Math
Unit 4: Figures, Angles, and Triangles
Third graders should be fluent in addition and subtraction facts. Play the game below to practice.
Click here to practice Math Facts!



Science
Earth  Materials and Changes
Dr. Marjie's last lesson will be on Monday. We will continue the Unit for a couple more weeks.
Check out the Montana Bureau of Mine and Geology's Website!





Mark Your Calendar
11/4/13 Geology Lesson with Dr. Marjie - bring your rocks and minerals!
11/8/13 and  11/11/13 Ms. Senecal out 
11/8/13 Trimester 1 Ends
11/13/13 and 11/14/13 Parent Teacher Conferences - more information will come out this week
11/15/13 No school for students


Love, 
Ms. Senecal

Happy Halloween!

Third Grade Families,

Thank you so much for the FUN Halloween Celebration today! We had amazing costumes, delicious treats, and fun gifts. You helped make it a memorable day for the kids, and that's what it's all about! I appreciate all of your support.

Love,
Ms Senecal

Weekly Update 10/28/13

3 Questions to Ask Your Third Grader
1) What does the word motivation mean?
2) What are the three parts of a Math Mountain?
3) When igneous rocks cool slowly, the crystals are _________.

Communication Arts
Story: Tops and Bottoms
Spelling: Vowel with spl, squ, str, and thr--> http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/
Vocab: lazy, bottom, crops, clever, cheated, partners, wealth
Comprehension: Sequencing Story EventsClick here to read more fables!
Writing: Personal Narratives



Math
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction Word Problems
Third graders should be fluent in addition and subtraction facts. Play the game below to practice.
Click here to practice Math Facts!



Science
Earth  Materials and Changes
Dr. Marjie Heyman is teaching a series of lessons on minerals and rocks. We are lucky to have her!
Check out the Montana Bureau of Mine and Geology's Website!





Mark Your Calendar
10/28/13 Geology Lesson with Dr. Marjie - bring your rocks and minerals!
10/29/13 Pumpkin Carving at Hawthorne 6:30
10/31/13 Halloween Parade 12:45

Love, 
Ms. Senecal

Halloween Festivities

Hello Third Grade Families,
The Hawthorne School Halloween Parade will be at 12:45. Please be in the gym by 12:35. Costumes must be school appropriate (not too scary, no blood, and no weapons) and must have no face paint or makeup. If any parents want to volunteer or send in a treat please call me 542-4025 ext. 4263, email cmsenecal@mcps.k12.mt.us, or send in a note.

Thank you,
Chrissy Senecal

Weekly Update 10/21/13

3 Questions to Ask Your Third Grader
1) What is the difference between main ideas and details in a story?
2) Is a square a rectangle? Is a rectangle a square?
3) What dose luster mean when we are describing minerals?



Communication Arts
Story: My Rows and Piles of Coins
Spelling: Vowel sounds in out and toy--> http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/
Vocab: errands, bundled, steady, wobbled, dangerously, arranged, unwrapped, excitedly
Comprehension: Character Motivation and Story Lesson
Click here to learn about money!
Writing: Animal Rescue Story



Math
Unit 3: Addition and Subtraction Word Problems
Third graders should be fluent in addition and subtraction facts. Play the game below to practice.
Click here to practice Math Facts!



Science
Earth  Materials and Changes
Dr. Marjie Heyman is teaching a series of lessons on minerals and rocks. We are lucky to have her!
Check out the Montana Bureau of Mine and Geology's Website!





Mark Your Calendar
10/20/13 Pumpkin Sale at Turner Farms 1:00 - 4:00
10/21/13 Pumpkin Sale at Turner Farms 3:00 - 4:30
10/21/13 Geology Lesson with Dr. Marjie - bring your rocks and minerals!
10/29/13 Pumpkin Carving at Hawthorne 6:30
10/31/13 Halloween Parade 12:45

Love,
Ms. Senecal

National Fossil Day

We are studying rocks and minerals in our current Science unit. Wednesday is National Fossil Day! The UM Paleontology Center is hosting a free event. Check out the information below.www.cas.umt.edu/paleontology

Weekly Update 10/10/13

The week got away from me, and I am SUPER late on my update. Can we  just pretend I'm really early for next week?

 One of the important items this week is Midterm Reports. They went home on Wednesday. Please take the time to review this with your child, sign, and return. I will make a copy and send the original back. Third graders earn letter grades. 
A = 89.5 and above, B = 79.5 and above, C = 69.5 and above, and D = 59.5 and above.

Communication Arts
Unit 1 Review
Spelling: No spelling this week or next! We will begin with new words again on 10/16. 
We finished all 5 stories from Unit 1 and will be reviewing our big comprehension skills: cause and effect, types of questions, and main idea and details to prepare for our assessment.

Writing: Animal Rescue Stories
Based on the response from a short writing prompt last week, we are going to write animal rescue stories.


Math
Unit 2: Lines, Line Segments and Quadrilaterals
Click here and check out the line shoot, quadrilateral shapes, and perimeter game!

ScienceEarth Materials: Rocks and Minerals
Geologist Marjie kicked off this unit with a hands-on lesson on minerals and their hardness. More lessons with Marjie to come!

Mark Your Calendar
10/9/13 Midterms Reports sent home. Please review the report with your child, sign, and return. I will send home the original after I make a copy.
10/14/13 Art!
10/15/13 Northwest Energy Presentation
10/17/13 - 10/18/13 No School

Love,
Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 9/30/13

Wow, almost October and already wrapping up two units! Volcanoes is the final story in our Communications Arts unit and this is the final week of our Math unit. We will be reviewing and assessing over the next two weeks to see what students have learned.

Communication Arts
Story: Volcanoes
Spelling: suffixes: wr, kn, mb, gn--> http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/
Vocab: beneath, burried, chimney, earthquakes, fireworks, force, trembles, volcanoes
Comprehension: Main Idea and Details, Non-Fiction Text Features
Check out this video on the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens. Wow!







Writing: Narratives
We are reading Sarah Plain and Tall to learn about the style of narrative writing.





Math
Unit 1: Place Value and Multi-Digit Addition and Subtraction
Click here to practice place value!

Social Studies
Montana Landforms and Natural Resources
Click here to look at maps and read about Montana Landforms

Mark Your Calendar
9/30/13 No school for students, you lucky ducks!
10/2/13 Picture Day! Send in forms or order online.

Love,
Ms. Senecal

Weekly Update 9/23/13

3 Questions to Ask Your Third Grader
1) What types of questions did we talk about in reading? Example: Author and Me
2) What are 3 items they included in their store for math?
3) What land form do many rivers start in?

Communication Arts
Story: Symphony of Whales
Spelling: suffixes: ly, ful, ness, less--> http://www.spellingcity.com/cmsenecal/
Vocab: anxiously, bay, blizzards, channel, chipped, melody, supplies, surrounded, symphony
Comprehension: Cause and Effect
Watch this video about trapped whales that is similar to our story.

Writing: Letters*
*Pen pal letters will be sent to Richmond, Virginia this week!

Math
Unit 1: Place Value and Multi-Digit Addition and Subtraction
Click here to practice place value!

Social Studies
Montana Landforms and Natural Resources
Click here to look at maps and read about Montana Landforms

Mark Your Calendar
9/23/13 Flagship Begins
9/24/13 MAP Testing
9/26/13 Hawthorne Family Picnic
9/30/13 No School for Students

Love,
Ms. Senecal