I am so excited to meet your children tomorrow! I have only seen most of them in their school pictures, but they already feel like mine. :o)
Third grade is an exciting time, full of firsts and full of learning. Eight and nine year olds are growing rapidly – physically, socially, and cognitively. In addition, third graders in our district take a step up in many ways. For example, they start using Chromebooks instead of iPads during class, take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) in the spring, and are beginning to apply their foundational Language Arts and Math skills to ever more challenging academic tasks. In short, third grade is a turning point.
On the first day of school, my class spends a lot of time learning Reed ROCKS procedures and rules in addition to getting to know their classmates. Setting the foundation for a smoothly running class where students feel safe, valued, and challenged is critical during these first few days. As such, rather than looking inside backpacks for papers or packets after school, ask your child how their day went. What did they do? Who did they meet? What was their favorite-and least favorite-part of the day and why? Checking in on feelings and thoughts will be my only homework tomorrow.
If you’re wondering what your child whould bring or wear to school tomorrow:
School Supplies: Everything we need for the first two days (at least) is ready for your children. They do not need to bring pencils, crayons, and so forth tomorrow.
What to Wear: We are not a uniform school, so simply following the SJUSD guidelines is sufficient. Note: Hats are.no longer allowed during school hours unless students have a physician’s note or the hat is part of a religious observance.
What to Bring: Backpacks are fine, water bottles are suggested. Lunch boxes is students do not get their lunch at school. The first day is a great day to travel light. Nothing much will be going home until next week.
First Day Agenda:
Students arrive by 9:05 AM and line up in front of our class.
We hang up backpacks on hooks outside and head to the carpet for first circle time.
From arrival until 11:00 AM: “Getting to know you” activities, making class rules, a read aloud or two, Growth Mindset activity.
Recess is 11:00-11:15.
After recess, we have a regularly scheduled read aloud time followed by a (hopefully) fun 3rd grade math activity.
We are dismissed at 12:35 for the lunch recess, then eat our lunch from approximately 1:00-1:20. (I will support our class with walking around school and lining up for lunch we get it down, Reed ROCKS style.)
After lunch, we will review rules, practice showing what Reed ROCKS looks like, sounds like in as many locations and contexts around school that we can. If we haven’t done so yet, I’ll make sure each student takes their picture with the “First day of Third Grade” sign.
At 2:45 we clean up and close out our day with a group reflection.
Students will be dismissed from my classroom at 3:01 PM.
This is a great time to remind you to check Principal Ponzio’s updated Weekly Newsletter for details of drop off and pick up procedures and other important items. In addition, attached here are instructions for parents to support their child in creating or changing a San Jose Unified password. Now that your children are in third grade, they will be logging in to Blended Learning programs on their own using their district email and a password. We will not be using Chromebooks until Monday, though, so please don’t feel this must be done immediately.
That’s the scoop for now! Please reach out with any suggestions, comments, or for clarification on any point. I look forward to working with you collaboratively this year and working to create the best possible learning environment for all of our children. Let’s make it a great year!
Warmly, Ms. Susan Seyan Educator (408) 535-6247 x 37118 sseyan@sjusd.org msseyan.com
Please take some time to check out what we are up to in class academically and socially:
Writing Mrs. Daly’s class and our class took the “optional” Informational WPA last week. Students will use the rubric to evaluate their work and practice revising and editing the informational writing of their choice. We have practiced writing simple, 8 sentence paragraphs with a standard structure: Topic, detail, tell me more, detail, tell me more, detail, tell me more, conclusion (rephrase the topic). We can underline or highlight in green, yellow, orange, and pink or red to help us remember the pattern and check that our paragraph structure is logical. After we complete our animal reports in the upcoming two weeks before Winter Break, we will return to Opinion writing to prepare for the March Opinion WPA.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Reading Our class is slowly getting through the SJUSD 3rd grade novel Dyamonde Daniel by NIkki Grimes. We talk about each section and answer text dependent questions about the characters and plot points. We are also answering text dependent questions about our Social Studies text, where we are learning about California Indians and will eventually focus on tribes from our area. We are focusing on previewing, taking quick notes, and answering text dependent questions. One tool we use is reading the questions before the text; that gives us purpose for reading and usually helps us remember the reading better. To support our reading across gen res and curriculum, we are still expanding our knowledge of foundational reading skills, including phonics patterns, segmenting and blending sounds in words, and syllabicating. This week’s sound/spelling pattern is long e with the ee and ea spellings. Either this week or next week we will take another Elementary Spelling Inventory to gauge our progress in these foundational skills.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
Math We are on an accelerated timetable for math this spring to be prepared for SBAC testing in April. Right now we are working on fluency with multiplication facts and will be moving to data recording next week. On days we do not have teacher (meaning 25-minute with Mrs. De la Cerda and I) P.E. or music, students get pre-lesson, low stakes practice in skills highlighted by the winter NWEA, especially addition and subtraction with composing (AKA regrouping). We are continually working on how to talk about our math, by explaining how we have solved problems and also offering alternative solution pathways to other’s work or examining our own to uncover errors. Students have individual, long-term assignments in Dreambox linked to the area NWEA identified as needing most support, and they are encouraged to work on that assignment when we log in to Dreambox in class.
CCSS.Math.Content.3.OA.A.3 Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.1 CCSS.Math.Content.3.OA.A.4 Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 × ? = 48, 5 = _ ÷ 3, 6 × 6 = ?
Homework: Change in checking and returning procedures: Our class will start checking the previous week’s homework together on Mondays. This will give students a chance to think about their work and talk with others about the assignments. After we check together, students can take their work back home. I hope this gives a sense of closure to the homework assignments and helps students and families communicate about classwork better!
Social Emotional Learning Last week, students completed the Second Step lesson called “Planning to Learn”. In addition to reinforcing the skills for learning (focusing attention, listening, being assertive, and using self talk), students are practicing using their thinking skills to come up with plans to help them remember tasks and stay on track. The three criteria for for assessing one’s plan are:
The order makes sense.
It’s simple.
You can do it!
In addition, we continue to make use of language frames for assertiveness that we learned in a prior Second Step lesson: “I feel _________when______, because_________. I need__________.” We practice solving our own problems, avoiding getting others students involved, and use our words or one of the 5 ways we can swim free from insults and put downs: Do little or nothing, distract, agree, laugh or make a joke, or walk away. These ideas DO NOT supplant getting adult help when the problem is too big for you, when someone or something is unsafe, or you are just not sure what to do.
A few of our students are using a Check In/Check out document, where we set some goals for choices in class and students choose an agreed upon reward to enjoy if they reach a threshold of adherence to that over the course of a day.
We also spent time at the start of the new year talking together about what procedures work and don’t work for us in class, making some changes and keeping some effective guidelines. Students came up with rewards suggestions that we are implementing, including class points for pajama day (we are 2/3 of the way there!). In addition, the Social Circle time is popular with our class. We have instituted a Monday morning/open the week circle and a Friday afternoon social circle to reflect on our week.
We have a thriving Bobcat store, and as such our stock is running low. If you’d like to contribute to the approved fidget selection, please check out our Amazon wish list here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2DFI9IMAF1N69?ref_=wl_share These prizes are safe, students like them, they are unlikely to break into small parts, and they are less disruptive than some other items students bring to class.
Speaking of which….we have been having a great deal of difficulty with items students are bringing to class, such as Rubik’s cubes (not allowed), Pokemon cards (not recommended), Sharpies (not allowed), stuffed animals (not allowed, unless it’s an earned prize or a Spirit Day), and small personal items such as tiny notebooks or nail care accessories. Most of these items are not allowed at school, and a few have proven to be distractions in class. Please remind your children to keep Rubik’s cubes, stuffed animals, or other toys at home or in their backpacks during class if they need them for their after school program. Such items found in class will be given to the principal to be picked up after school. If your child needs to tend to artificial nails, please remind them to do so before or after school. Thank you so much for your cooperation with this!
What’s ahead for us:
In the coming weeks, we will be working on information animal reports in our small groups, preparing for a field trip in March, returning to persuasive writing, continuing our math acceleration including differentiation for students who are ready for a challenge, reading another class novel, and diving into our Science curriculum.
We also have NWEA math assessments coming up next month, the ELPAC assessment for our multi- lingual learners in March, and in April your children will take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests for the first time.
This is in addition to the exciting events at Reed as a whole and the opportunity to grow in a wonderful community of learners-our class.
Thank you for your time and attention. Please reach our with suggestions, for clarification, or for anything related to your child or the classroom.
3rd grade standards: 3.W.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. 3.W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
This week, students received a copy of the WPA they wrote last week and a couple of mini lessons on revising. Revising lessons will continue though Friday as students revise pieces of their choice, discuss their writing with a partner, and have the opportunity to publish and/or share by reading out loud to the class.
Through Unit 1, your children have been practicing the following: “Students learn about the use of a writer’s notebook and fill it with several entries and begin to envision what writing will be like this year and what they are capable of in a “can-do way”. • Students develop a seed idea and experiment with different ways of telling the same story. • Students write with more independence and are encouraged to go through the writing process multiple times to increase fluency. “
We begin Unit 2, nonfiction reading and writing, next week.
Still true: Students may still decorate their notebooks! Please allow them to bring printouts, stickers, or photos to glue onto their notebooks. I will cover the notebooks with clear tape so the pictures stay on.
Math
CCSS Standards: 3.OA.D Solve problems using the four operations 3. NBT.A Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic; use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100. SMP 6: Students will attend to precision when using greater than and less than symbols to record their thinking.
Finishing Module 3: Topics include: “Place Value up to 10,000 by adding or subtracting 10 or 100 from any three or 4 digit number, using rounding and mental math and main strategies.”
Students will work on comparing 3 and 4 digit numbers and rounding 3 and 4 digit numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
Reading
CCSS Standards 3.RF.4 4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition.
We are enjoying differentiated reading time, with students either working with the teacher in Istation or reading self chosen books and recording reading in logs.
Students work with Reading buddies to retell their stories and begin to interview someone about what they are reading.
Spelling/Vocabulary
Reading Standards 3.RF.3b Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text. b. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. (Identify which letters represent the five major vowels [Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, and Uu] and know the long and short sound of each vowel.
Students took the Elementary Spelling Inventory (ESY) as a baseline to gauge the efficacy of spelling instruction and identify areas of focus for individuals and small groups. We are finishing the Short Oo series this week.
Social Emotional Learning Focus on: What is Bullying?, how to be an Upstander, how be a “free fish”.
Student leaders in our class have created a Feelings Club for students to privately share and get support for interpersonal issues from a peer; another student leader has prepared a support they will share with the class on Thursday.
Specials
Earthquake and Fire Drill Combo!
Thursday 10/17 at 10:17 AM.
Our class is great at this. It will be a piece of cake!
Art Vistas!
Rescheduled for this Friday afternoon, our class will experience their favorite on site special: Art Vistas! Your children love this, and they love having their families in the classroom. I am so grateful for the class parents who are willing and able to do this for our class this year. Watch for photos of the action!
Fall Festival: We hope to see you at Reed’s Fall Festival on Saturday, October 19th from 1-5 PM! Find more information in the flyer below.
Thank you for your attention. As always, please reach out with any suggestions, oversights on my part, or questions at sseyan@sjusd.org, right here at ParentSquare, call (408) 535-6287 x. 37143–or just stop by after school!
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
This week, we will take the Narrative Writing Progress Assessment (WPA) on Thursday morning. This will give students an opportunity to show what they have learned and been practicing in Writing Workshop: Writing about personal small moments, including dialogue and description in their writing, writing on the same topic over several sessions, and editing and revising our work. To prepare, students will have mini lessons in paragraphing and using a writing checklist, in addition to having time to revisit and rework writing from our notebooks and folders.
By the way: Students may still decorate their notebooks! Please allow them to bring printouts, stickers, or photos to glue onto their notebooks. I will cover the notebooks with clear tape so the pictures stay on.
Math
CCSS Standards:
3.OA.1 Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 × 7.
3. NBT.1 Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic; use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
Module 3: -Strategies for multiplication facts when one of the factors is 2 or 4, practice with multiplying 5s, 10s, 2s, and 4s in a variety of ways. -Place Value up to 10,000 by adding or subtracting 10 or 100 from any three or 4 digit number, using rounding and mental math and main strategies.
Students are encouraged to talk through multiplication rather than seeing the lessons as rules to follow. They may also have difficulty conceptualizing numbers as large as 10,000. We will focus on counting by place value column to support with this.
Reading
CCSS Standards
3.RF.4 4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition.
This week in reading we will stake the October ISIP on Monday and Tuesday. During reading Workshop, we will have mini lessons in the importance of reading, share our reading plans, share book recommendations, and get new reading buddies.
If you would like extra reading logs to use with your child at home, let me know!
Spelling/Vocabulary
3.RF.3b Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text. b. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. (Identify which letters represent the five major vowels [Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, and Uu] and know the long and short sound of each vowel.
We are continuing with the Short Oo series this week.
Social Emotional Learning
Reed ROCKS Review and Anti-Hate unit review
Each day we will focus on a different letter of the Reed ROCKS matrix: Responsible, Organized, Considerate, Kind, and Safe.
We will reteach and practice classroom routines.
We will also revisit the Anti-Hate/Anti-Bullying unit with new activities and get more student input on how we can be a safe, supportive classroom for each other!
Specials
Art Vistas!
On Friday afternoon, our class will experience their favorite on site special: Art Vistas! Your children love this, and they love having their families in the classroom. I am so grateful for the class parents who are willing and able to do this for our class this year. Watch for photos of the action!!
College Week!
On Friday morning, our class will attend talks by guest speakers on various career pathways and education options. Total time spent listening will be approximately. 2-3 hours.
If you would like to visit our class to share your experience in school, training, college, or work, please let me know! Your children would love this. ❤
Thank you for your attention! As always, please reach out with any suggestions, oversights on my part, or questions at sseyan@sjusd.org, right here at ParentSquare, call (408) 535-6287 x. 37143–or just stop by after school!
A-2 All-Stars 