Grade 3 News
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Dear American Academy Parents,
Happy Thursday! It has been a busy two weeks with all kinds of learning going on in all of the classes and specials. Remember, we have no school this Friday, Feb. 14 or Monday, Feb. 17. Please make sure your student is signed up for the Magic Tree House Field trip coming up on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Your student will need to bring a sack lunch that day to be eaten in our homerooms before we board the bus. No hot lunch for that day.
Magic Tree House at Lone Tree Theater
Our field trip to see the Magic Tree House play is fast approaching, Tuesday, February 25. It is called Stage Fright on a Summer Night. It has a Shakespearean theme. We will be reading the book in literacy classes before we see the play, so the children can do a compare-contrast about each. Please sign your child up for this field trip on the school store. It is available at this time.
Trimester Rebel Bucks Party Next Week
Our whole-school celebration for our trimester 2 Kickboard success will be held on Friday, February 21.
Students will be able to purchase a variety of items with their Rebel Bucks checks. The success of these parties is truly due to the incredible donations made by our wonderful families. If you are interested in donating or volunteering please click on the links below:
Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Middle School
Understanding the AA Grading Policy
We would like to remind every family about our expectations toward turning in assigned work. Infinite Campus will show the date an assignment is due, and each student should be updating their daily planner with homework assignments and due dates. If a student receives the assignment on the normal assigned date, or before, the work must be submitted on the due date. If it is one day late, 10% will be subtracted from the grade, and 20% will be deducted on the second day after the due date. For work that is 3 to 5 days late, the student will only receive half-credit for the late work. On the 6th day late or thereafter, no credit is given for the late work. Considering this timing, it is very important to monitor email messages from Infinite Campus regarding missing assignments, or check IC daily.
If a student is absent when an assignment is given, they are allowed 2 days for each day absent to submit the work once they return to school. Teachers will work with your child to understand the due date for assignments, but please remind your child of the importance to talk with each teacher the day he/she returns to school, as that is when the clock starts ticking.
Also, please realize we value the importance of each of our student's family life, and want them to experience the joys of being a kid. This is a primary reason for the two-day make-up period as well as our stance for providing homework prior to a planned absence: your child's teacher MAY choose to provide you with homework in advance of the planned absence, especially math, but we generally prefer to wait until your child comes back before providing missed work. We would like your child to enjoy their family time, or focus on getting well, instead of working on homework. Additionally, many lessons can not be completed until students are taught the concepts in class. We appreciate your understanding and support.
AA Cares about Make-a-Wish
Next week is our Wish Week with Legend High School. Make-a-Wish shirts will be sold at AA to help raise money to help 16-year old Allie go to Egypt as her wish. Purchasing a shirt will entitle anyone with a shirt to attend festivities at Legend HS next week and get you 20 tickets for fun activities at the Feeder School Festival on Friday evening at Cimarron MS. We will also have special dress days next week to commemorate the event. For $1 each day you can wear a college shirt on Tuesday, a sports jersey on Wednesday, wear the class color shirt (orange) on Thursday, and get a dress of choice on Friday.
Please ensure your student is following our Uniform Policy
Though most students do a great job of following our uniform policy, there are instances when students either come to school with improper attire, or they fall out of compliance during the day. Some of the common 'violations' we see include, but are not limited to, hair accessories that aren't AA colors, socks that aren't AA colors, boots worn during the school day, untucked shirts, and a variety of issues during dress-of-choice days. Please review the dress code with your child to help us keep the AA image at school.
Links for Classroom help and activities
Our wonderful Grade-level parents have set up a few sign-up links for various volunteer or fun opportunities in our classrooms. Please bookmark these links:
Friday Classroom Cleaning:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA9A823A75-classroom
Monthly Bulletin Boards:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA9A823A75-3rdgrade
Friday Lunch Bunch:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA9A823A75-lunch
Upcoming Plans for Each Class
Literacy – Ms. Mitchell
Next week will be an exciting week in literacy. We just finished reading Wind in the Willows and the kids loved the book. We will also be watching the movie. We do have a couple of projects to finish up from this book. We will be starting on poetry once we finish those projects. As for spelling you will not see a new list till the beginning of trimester 3. So the next spelling lists will come out on February 25th. The students book report projects were great, the kids enjoyed playing the game boards and the interviews with their 3d people were fun.
Literacy – Ms. Newman
This week has been a lot of fun watching book report presentations and playing book report board games. Next week, we will be wrapping up Wind in the Willows and completing some final activities for the book. After finishing Wind in the Willows, we will begin our poetry unit, and we will also be working on commas in a series and plural nouns in grammar. We will not have any spelling lists until February 25.
History – Ms. Wambold
We have wrapped our Rome Unit with a unit test and an opinion paragraph on one of Rome's greatest accomplishments we still use today. We are now learning about the Vikings (Norseman-"people from the north"). We will be making Viking longships and shields as projects for this unit. Both of these projects will be done in history class. More details will be sent home with students. For the longships, please share any plastic drinking straws or coffee stir sticks and pieces of material or felt for the classes to use. I need about 150 drinking straws and enough material for 110 sails. We are learning how the Vikings were master shipbuilders, sailors, traders, and raiders. We will be taking a Viking vocabulary quiz at the end of the unit, as well. Please be checking Infinite Campus and your student's history folders, and planners for any history information.
Science – Mr. Sells
This week we embarked on understanding how forces and motion affect a marble rolling in a "half-pipe". We started our next ADI investigation with experimenting with our half-pipe contraction and noticing how gravity and friction affect rolling, then we collected data and created graphs of our data. Next week we will conclude the investigation with our board presentations, then prepare for a unit exam on Thursday or Friday, depending on our progress.
Ability Groups – Ms. Avila
We will be wrapping up Wind in the Willows next week!! Ask your child about personification, their favorite character, and their favorite part. We will be moving into a quick poetry unit before the end of this trimester.
Math
Third grade math classes will begin trying to implement weekly tests starting in 2020, with fact quizzes on Wednesday and chapter quizzes for all lessons covered during the week on Friday. Each teacher will determine what is the best approach for their own classes, but we will be utilizing the approach to facilitate the most success for our students.
MB Specials Updates:
Please visit the respective links below to see what your child is experiencing in specials programming!
MB ART
MB MUSIC
MB TECH
MB PHYS ED
Daily Schedule
The daily schedule for third grade looks like this:
8:00 – Homeroom Attendance
8:13 – Math Class
9:25 – AM Class (Literacy, History, or Science)
10:16 – Recess and Snack
10:41 – AM Class cont'd (Literacy, History, or Science)
11:32 – Lunch and Recess
12:20 – Specials (Music, Art, PE, or Technology)
1:08 – PM Class (Literacy, History, or Science)
2:50 – Study Hall
3:00 – Pack-up
3:35 - Dismissal
Upcoming Events
No School February 14
President's Day No School February 17
Wish Week Feb. 18-21
End of Trimester February 21
Rebel Bucks Party February 21
Field trip Magic Tree House February 25
For more event dates, please visit the Event Calendar on www.aak8.org. For questions or concerns about an event date, please contact Trish Cummings.
Thanks,
Your Third Grade Team,
Ms. Avila
Ms. Mitchell
Ms. Newman
Mr. Sells
Ms. Wambold
Dear American Academy Parents,
Happy Thursday! It has been a busy two weeks with all kinds of learning going on in all of the classes and specials. Remember, we have no school this Friday, Feb. 14 or Monday, Feb. 17. Please make sure your student is signed up for the Magic Tree House Field trip coming up on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Your student will need to bring a sack lunch that day to be eaten in our homerooms before we board the bus. No hot lunch for that day.
Magic Tree House at Lone Tree Theater
Our field trip to see the Magic Tree House play is fast approaching, Tuesday, February 25. It is called Stage Fright on a Summer Night. It has a Shakespearean theme. We will be reading the book in literacy classes before we see the play, so the children can do a compare-contrast about each. Please sign your child up for this field trip on the school store. It is available at this time.
Trimester Rebel Bucks Party Next Week
Our whole-school celebration for our trimester 2 Kickboard success will be held on Friday, February 21.
Students will be able to purchase a variety of items with their Rebel Bucks checks. The success of these parties is truly due to the incredible donations made by our wonderful families. If you are interested in donating or volunteering please click on the links below:
Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Middle School
Understanding the AA Grading Policy
We would like to remind every family about our expectations toward turning in assigned work. Infinite Campus will show the date an assignment is due, and each student should be updating their daily planner with homework assignments and due dates. If a student receives the assignment on the normal assigned date, or before, the work must be submitted on the due date. If it is one day late, 10% will be subtracted from the grade, and 20% will be deducted on the second day after the due date. For work that is 3 to 5 days late, the student will only receive half-credit for the late work. On the 6th day late or thereafter, no credit is given for the late work. Considering this timing, it is very important to monitor email messages from Infinite Campus regarding missing assignments, or check IC daily.
If a student is absent when an assignment is given, they are allowed 2 days for each day absent to submit the work once they return to school. Teachers will work with your child to understand the due date for assignments, but please remind your child of the importance to talk with each teacher the day he/she returns to school, as that is when the clock starts ticking.
Also, please realize we value the importance of each of our student's family life, and want them to experience the joys of being a kid. This is a primary reason for the two-day make-up period as well as our stance for providing homework prior to a planned absence: your child's teacher MAY choose to provide you with homework in advance of the planned absence, especially math, but we generally prefer to wait until your child comes back before providing missed work. We would like your child to enjoy their family time, or focus on getting well, instead of working on homework. Additionally, many lessons can not be completed until students are taught the concepts in class. We appreciate your understanding and support.
AA Cares about Make-a-Wish
Next week is our Wish Week with Legend High School. Make-a-Wish shirts will be sold at AA to help raise money to help 16-year old Allie go to Egypt as her wish. Purchasing a shirt will entitle anyone with a shirt to attend festivities at Legend HS next week and get you 20 tickets for fun activities at the Feeder School Festival on Friday evening at Cimarron MS. We will also have special dress days next week to commemorate the event. For $1 each day you can wear a college shirt on Tuesday, a sports jersey on Wednesday, wear the class color shirt (orange) on Thursday, and get a dress of choice on Friday.
Please ensure your student is following our Uniform Policy
Though most students do a great job of following our uniform policy, there are instances when students either come to school with improper attire, or they fall out of compliance during the day. Some of the common 'violations' we see include, but are not limited to, hair accessories that aren't AA colors, socks that aren't AA colors, boots worn during the school day, untucked shirts, and a variety of issues during dress-of-choice days. Please review the dress code with your child to help us keep the AA image at school.
Links for Classroom help and activities
Our wonderful Grade-level parents have set up a few sign-up links for various volunteer or fun opportunities in our classrooms. Please bookmark these links:
Friday Classroom Cleaning:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA9A823A75-classroom
Monthly Bulletin Boards:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA9A823A75-3rdgrade
Friday Lunch Bunch:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA9A823A75-lunch
Upcoming Plans for Each Class
Literacy – Ms. Mitchell
Next week will be an exciting week in literacy. We just finished reading Wind in the Willows and the kids loved the book. We will also be watching the movie. We do have a couple of projects to finish up from this book. We will be starting on poetry once we finish those projects. As for spelling you will not see a new list till the beginning of trimester 3. So the next spelling lists will come out on February 25th. The students book report projects were great, the kids enjoyed playing the game boards and the interviews with their 3d people were fun.
Literacy – Ms. Newman
This week has been a lot of fun watching book report presentations and playing book report board games. Next week, we will be wrapping up Wind in the Willows and completing some final activities for the book. After finishing Wind in the Willows, we will begin our poetry unit, and we will also be working on commas in a series and plural nouns in grammar. We will not have any spelling lists until February 25.
History – Ms. Wambold
We have wrapped our Rome Unit with a unit test and an opinion paragraph on one of Rome's greatest accomplishments we still use today. We are now learning about the Vikings (Norseman-"people from the north"). We will be making Viking longships and shields as projects for this unit. Both of these projects will be done in history class. More details will be sent home with students. For the longships, please share any plastic drinking straws or coffee stir sticks and pieces of material or felt for the classes to use. I need about 150 drinking straws and enough material for 110 sails. We are learning how the Vikings were master shipbuilders, sailors, traders, and raiders. We will be taking a Viking vocabulary quiz at the end of the unit, as well. Please be checking Infinite Campus and your student's history folders, and planners for any history information.
Science – Mr. Sells
This week we embarked on understanding how forces and motion affect a marble rolling in a "half-pipe". We started our next ADI investigation with experimenting with our half-pipe contraction and noticing how gravity and friction affect rolling, then we collected data and created graphs of our data. Next week we will conclude the investigation with our board presentations, then prepare for a unit exam on Thursday or Friday, depending on our progress.
Ability Groups – Ms. Avila
We will be wrapping up Wind in the Willows next week!! Ask your child about personification, their favorite character, and their favorite part. We will be moving into a quick poetry unit before the end of this trimester.
Math
Third grade math classes will begin trying to implement weekly tests starting in 2020, with fact quizzes on Wednesday and chapter quizzes for all lessons covered during the week on Friday. Each teacher will determine what is the best approach for their own classes, but we will be utilizing the approach to facilitate the most success for our students.
MB Specials Updates:
Please visit the respective links below to see what your child is experiencing in specials programming!
MB ART
MB MUSIC
MB TECH
MB PHYS ED
Daily Schedule
The daily schedule for third grade looks like this:
8:00 – Homeroom Attendance
8:13 – Math Class
9:25 – AM Class (Literacy, History, or Science)
10:16 – Recess and Snack
10:41 – AM Class cont'd (Literacy, History, or Science)
11:32 – Lunch and Recess
12:20 – Specials (Music, Art, PE, or Technology)
1:08 – PM Class (Literacy, History, or Science)
2:50 – Study Hall
3:00 – Pack-up
3:35 - Dismissal
Upcoming Events
No School February 14
President's Day No School February 17
Wish Week Feb. 18-21
End of Trimester February 21
Rebel Bucks Party February 21
Field trip Magic Tree House February 25
For more event dates, please visit the Event Calendar on www.aak8.org. For questions or concerns about an event date, please contact Trish Cummings.
Thanks,
Your Third Grade Team,
Ms. Avila
Ms. Mitchell
Ms. Newman
Mr. Sells
Ms. Wambold