1st Quarter Conference Times

Hello Families,

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. I wanted to send a quick reminder about first quarter conferences. For the first quarter, I like to meet with all parents to discuss their child's progress in third grade. After the first quarter, conferences will be scheduled on a needs-basis.

To sign up for a conference please do the following:

• Log into ParentVue
• On the left hand side, you will see a tab that says "Conferences"
• Once you click that, please click the link that says "Parent Schedule Conference" which is in the top right corner.
• You will then see a list of all my available conference times, please sign up for the one that works for you!

If you do not know how to access ParentVue or if the conference times don't work for you, please email me ASAP!

**If you sign up for a conference time and need to reschedule it, please EMAIL ME. Do not just change it on ParentVue as I will not be notified of a change. 

Thanks a lot and have a great week :-)

Mrs. Martinson

Information and Dates for Your Calendar

Hello Families!

I hope you are having a great week. We have been very busy this week starting to write true stories about our lives, learning all about place value, conducting our first science experiment, switching to our word study classes for the first time, and learning ways to figure out unknown words while we read. It has been a busy week and your children have been learning a lot!

Reading Homework:
Reading is a huge part of the third grade curriculum as it is a foundational skill that sets them up for success across all subject areas. Please make sure your child is reading nightly and logging what they are reading in their reading log. Occasionally your child will also have a sheet of paper with a homework assignment that they are to do while reading. It is important that they complete this activity while reading as it supports what they are doing in school. In addition, encourage your child to sticky note while they are reading at home so that they can think more deeply about what they are reading. Your child could write a sticky note about a prediction, what they are wondering, a guess about what they think a word means, sketch a picture of what they are picturing in their mind, talk about characters and their traits, or find a favorite part and why they liked it. Showing their thinking while reading is an important skill as it allows students to deepen their understanding while reading.

Scholastic Order:
Today in Thursday Folders, your child will have a couple of Scholastic book order flyers. Scholastic is a great website with a wide variety of books offered at a big discount. The bonus is that every book that is ordered earns us free books for the classroom! You can place your order online here and use our class code MDXHQ so that our classroom can earn free books. You can also order using the magazine and send in cash or check with your child. Please have orders submitted by Monday, October 2nd. Let me know if you have any questions or want some suggestions on books/reading levels for your child.

Dates for Your Calendar:

• Tuesday, September 26th--School Picture Day
• Wednesday, September 27th--Place Value Test in MY math class
• Friday, September 29th--Wear Gold Day to raise awareness for childhood cancer
• Saturday, September 30th--Fall Festival from 4pm-7pm (I will be coming with my son Jake. Many of your children have expressed interested in meeting him so I will be there from around 4:00pm-5:30pm)
• Monday, October 2nd--Scholastic Book Orders Due
• Thursday, October 6th--Believe Fundraiser Packets due. Keep selling and bring in those tickets as you sell to win prizes! 
• Monday, October 9th--Columbus Day (no school)
• Monday, October 23rd--Student Holiday (no school)

Have a Great Weekend :-)

Mrs. Martinson

Homework

Hello Families,

I hope everyone is enjoying their day. I am pleased to report that my family and friends have all checked in and are safe after hurricane Irma. There was a lot of destruction at my childhood home but everyone is safe which is what matters.

I wanted to give you a quick update about students' homework.

• Students will write all their homework in their agenda. 
• Students will ALWAYS have nightly reading homework
• Students will write "study notes" for Social Studies/Science every day, however this does not mean students need to do this everyday. It is a reminder for students that they should be studying in preparation for upcoming tests. It is up to you and your child how much time will be devoted to this activity. Study guides are located in their notebooks and have the test dates written on them. Just remember that the end of unit tests will hold them accountable for their studying. 
• We started Word Study today but students will not start switching until next week. Students are learning the routines of Word Study and what is expected in school and at home. Their words this week are commonly misspelled 3rd grade words and will be sorted based on how many syllables they have. Students will write "practice words" daily in their agenda, but it is up to you and your child how they study. It is important that they practice their sort AND how to spell their words. They can use their word study notebook to write in any work that they do at home. Students will be tested every Friday on their words. 
• For MY math class, students will be given their homework sheet on Monday and will be expected to turn it in on Friday. Half of their homework sheet will have the new content being taught and the other half will review math they should already know. If your child doesn't understand some of the problems on the "new content" side, it is because we have not officially gone over it in class. Tell them to wait to complete those problems until later in the week. Students should also go on Reflex twice during the week. 

While it seems like students are getting a lot of homework, I am trying to give students more freedom as to when they complete it. I understand we are busy during the week so I am hoping you and your child can come up with a schedule that works for them. Please keep in mind that homework should not take more than an hour to complete. If it is taking longer, please contact me so we can come up with a solution. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Have a great week :-)

Mrs. Martinson

Room 26 Updates

Hello Families!

I hope everyone has had a great week. I have been enjoying the cooler weather and I am hoping it stays around. Here is a little peek in to some of the things we have been learning this week:

• Reading: Reading is well underway and students have been learning how readers understand stories. We are working on doing comprehension checks, making mental movies while reading, making predictions, and retelling. All of these strategies will help your child better understand what they are reading.Students should be trying out these strategies at home as well so encourage them to use sticky notes in their books at home!
• Math: Students have completed their first week of math. Students in my class spent the week learning about math centers and the routines of math workshop. If the homework or classwork coming home looks easy, please note that's because this week students have been practicing routines, so the focus has not been on practicing new math concepts. Starting next week, students will be learning about Place Value. Students' centers and homework will be differentiated to meet their individual needs and ensure that those that need to be challenged, are! Ask your child what they have enjoyed about math this week. 
• Social Studies: We have started our Government Unit. Students will be bringing their social studies notebooks home every night and should be reviewing for their test frequently. Their test for Government will be Friday, September 15th. There is a study guide at the beginning of every unit that they can use to help with studying. 

Hurricane Harvey Donations

As you may already know, Pinebrook has decided to collect donations to help the people affected by Hurricane Harvey. As someone who grew up in Florida and went through many hurricanes, the after effects can be devastating. If you are able to donate anything to help, it would be greatly appreciated. Items that are most in need are as follows: Non-perishable food items (canned goods, rice, cereal, dry milk, pasta, etc.), Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels), and Toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, lotion). Boxes will be in the front lobby for students to drop off supplies. 

Also, if you wouldn't mind, please keep the people in Florida in your thoughts. I am hoping what happened in Texas will not happen to my beloved Florida. With all of my family and friends still living down there, any good thoughts and positive vibes would be much appreciated. It will be a very tense weekend for me! 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I hope you all have a great weekend and I will talk to you soon!

Mrs. Martinson :-) 

Thursday Folders

Hello Families!

I hope everyone had a great week. It has been awesome getting to know your kids this week!

Today your child brought home their Thursday folder. This is not a school wide folder, but I have made a choice to have one this year as it keeps kids organized when a lot of papers are going home. The folder will go home every Thursday with school information, flyers, and most importantly...graded papers! Please unload the Thursday folders and return them empty the next day (Friday).  These were obviously supposed to go home yesterday, but time got away from us and I forgot to hand them out :-/ I promise to try and not let this happen too much this year!

Maroon folders will still be used for day to day communications, so those should be checked daily as well.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I am hoping Thursday folders make things a little easier. I hope everyone has a great weekend and can enjoy what little nice weather we will get! As always, email me if you have any questions or concerns. Take care :-)

Mrs. Martinson