Weekly Update-March 17

Announcements

Paxton Keeley will be having a Spirit Week March 20-24! Our theme is Kindness, and students will be asked to participate throughout the week in the following ways:

Monday, March 20th-Cozy Up to Kindness Day (Pajama Day)

Tuesday, March 21^st-Be Kind, Stomp out Bullying (Funky Socks and Shoe Day)

Wednesday, March 22^nd-Hats Off to Kindness (Hat Day)

Thursday, March 23^rd-Color Our World with Kindness (Crazy Color Day)

Friday, March 24th-In the Spirit of Kindness Day (School or Team Spirit Day)

Weekly Journals were not completed this week.

The MAP testing window for this year is April 17-May 12. More specific dates will be coming at a later time, but please refrain from scheduling appointments or vacations during this time.

In the Classroom

In math this week, we started our unit on Perimeter and Area. Students learned how perimeter is the distance around a figure. We practiced finding the perimeter of common and uncommon shapes using straws and pipe cleaners. We also drew figures with a given perimeter. We will focus on area next week. 

We continued working on our opinion pieces this week in writing. Students began typing their first drafts. We also discussed strong introductions, adding transitions, and ending with a conclusion paragraph. We will edit and revise next week before celebrating on Friday.

We continued to focus on summary writing in reading. We used the book, Jumanji, to practice our summary writing skills. We also used reading time to start preparing for the MAP test with a website called Edcite. 

We finished our Health test this week by assessing on Wednesday. We also began our next unit on Weather. Students started completing their weather observation journals and we learned about the 4 types of precipitation. Please see the yellow paper in the Friday folder about donating clear 2 liter bottles for an upcoming science unit.

Upcoming Events

Spring Pictures-March 16
Field trip to Planetarium at Rock Bridge High School-March 23

Spring Break-March 27-March 31
Comet Culture Night-April 11 at 6:00

MAP testing window-April 17-May 12

Weekly Update-March 10

Announcements

Paxton Keeley will be having a Spirit Week March 20-24! Our theme is Kindness, and students will be asked to participate throughout the week in the following ways:

Monday, March 20th-Cozy Up to Kindness Day (Pajama Day)

Tuesday, March 21^st-Be Kind, Stomp out Bullying (Funky Socks and Shoe Day)

Wednesday, March 22^nd-Hats Off to Kindness (Hat Day)

Thursday, March 23^rd-Color Our World with Kindness (Crazy Color Day)

Friday, March 24th-In the Spirit of Kindness Day (School or Team Spirit Day)

The MAP testing window for this year is April 17-May 12. More specific dates will be coming at a later time, but please refrain from scheduling appointments or vacations during this time.

In the Classroom

In math this week, we finished our Division unit. Students learned about fact families for multiplication and division and practiced solving for n. We will begin our next unit, Perimeter and Area, next week.

This week in writing, students learned about acknowledging other people's point of view in their opinion pieces. We also learned how to write three different reasons to support our thesis. Finally, we chose our topics for our published pieces and completed an outline on it. We will begin typing these pieces next week..

We focused on summary writing in reading this week. As a class, we used the book, Bedhead to practice this skill.

We also used short stories in small groups. Students learned how to put their summaries in their own words, pick out the important events, and use specific details. 

In Health this week, we learned about body defenders. Students learned about skin, the immune system, antibodies, and more! We also talked about how to prevent from getting infectious diseases. We will finish our Health unit next week and move on to Weather. 

Upcoming Events

Spring Pictures-March 16
Field trip to Planetarium at Rock Bridge High School-March 23

Spring Break-March 27-March 31
Comet Culture Night-April 11 at 6:00

MAP testing window-April 17-May 12

Weekly Update-March 3

Announcements

Please note that Tuesday, March 7th, is an early dismissal. We will be dismissing at 12:50 that day. Please send a note or email if your third grader is getting home a different way than normal.

You may have noticed in the upcoming events that we have a field trip scheduled for the Planetarium at Rock Bridge High School. We will be leaving Paxton around 9:00 and will return around 11:00. Parent volunteers are not needed for this field trip. 

In the Classroom

In math this week, we finished our multiplication unit with an assessment. Students will still be practicing the basic facts up through 10 x 10 as the year continues. Please use the resource given at conferences to have students practicing at home as well. We started our division unit by learning about equal sharing and remainders. 

Students are loving sharing their opinions! We learned two different places to get ideas for our opinion pieces: 1. See a problem in your life and imagine a solution 2. See something or someone amazing and show why they/it deserves to be recognized. I have been so impressed with the writing going on this week. 

In reading w used this week to finish our biography unit, practice with MYON reader, and read a Scholastic News magazine. We also used a Shared Reading book about Zebras to study how authors use facts and opinions in their work. 

In Health this week, we focused on germs. We studied the differences between bacteria and viruses, looked at pictures of germs under a microscope, and learned the 4 ways germs are spread. We also used Glo-Germ to practice proper hand-washing techniques. 

Upcoming Events

March 7-Early Dismissal at 1:15

Spring Pictures-March 16
Field trip to Planetarium at Rock Bridge High School-March 23

Spring Break-March 27-March 31
Comet Culture Night-April 11 at 6:00