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Monthly Archives: October 2017

October 30th, 2017 – A Spooktacular Week!

Happy Monday Families!

Halloween week week is upon us!  This week is always a fun week for kids…and adults, right?  🙂  As crazy as the kids can get, we do have a big week ahead in third grade.

In Math, we will take our Unit 2 Test on Thursday and Friday.  This will mercifully culminate our study of multiplication and division for the time being.  My Math class will have review homework on Monday and Wednesday, but I will not be “that teacher” and assign homework on Halloween.  🙂  We won’t have homework on the test days, either.

In Literacy, we’re nearing the end of Unit 2, also.  This is week 5 of our unit, which means the kids will have a spelling list coming home tonight.  Next week we’ll tackle our Unit 2 Test in reading.

Speaking of testing, on Friday the kids will take their first standardized test of the year in reading called the Measure of Academic Progress, or “MAP” Test.  This test is not based on concepts your child has been taught in third grade, but rather a  generic, wide range of concepts that all third graders across the country are learning.

I’m excited to see the results of this test, because the exam allows kids to “level up” with the questioning based on their answers.  In other words, if your child is answering a number of questions in a row correctly, the program will adjust and give progressively more difficult questions.  It truly should allow your child to “show what they know.”

Thanks for reading and please remind your child to share his/her extra Halloween candy with their teacher!  Ha!

Eric Wachter

October 24th, 2017 – Fall Conference Week

Good Evening Families!

My apologies for sending out this week’s email a little late.  I’ve been busy getting ready for conferences and finishing up report cards, and I keep forgetting to send out an update.  I already met with half of you this evening for conferences, and look forward to the the other half on Thursday!  I attached a copy of the conference times, and you can also find it under the conference tab of our class web page.

This week we’re in Unit 2, Week 4 in reading.  Hopefully your child brought home a spelling list yesterday.  If not, you can always look on the class web page and find the lists under the spelling tab.  We are practicing rereading this week, which is one of the more important and effective strategies practiced by good readers.  Our stories this week have some really confusing vocabulary, and it’s more important than usual to go back and reread confusing passages for clarity.  If you’re reading with your child at home, have them practice rereading when they come to hard parts of a story.  I promise it will help!

In Math, we’re continuing our seemingly endless journey of practicing multiplication and division.  We’re practicing lots of word problems, and two-step problems in particular.  Thanks so much for any help you can give with homework, as these problems can be tricky!

Thanks for reading and sorry for the late update.  Have a good rest of the week!

Eric Wachter

October 18th, 2017 – Welcome 2nd Quarter!

Good Morning Families,

I hope you all had a nice relaxing fall break.  The weather was fantastic, to say the least, so I hope you got a chance to soak in a little sun before Old Man Winter rolls into town.

This week we begin the 2nd quarter of the year.  We’ll continue with Unit 2 Week 3 in reading, but there will be no spelling due to the shortened week.

Next week are Fall Conferences.  Your child will be bringing home a conference time reminder this evening.  If the time listed does not work, please let me know and we can reschedule.  The times are also posted on our class web page, under the conferences tab.

Book orders did finally arrive, as well.  All of the books came in, with the exception of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book.  Those won’t arrive until their national release on November 7th.

Thanks for reading and have a good rest of the week!

Eric Wachter

October 9th, 2017 – Quarter 1 Ends

Good Day Families!

This week we will conclude the first quarter of the school year.  I don’t understand how time has flown by so quickly!  Even with a shortened week, we will have spelling words from Unit 2, Week 2 of our curriculum.  The kids will learn about immigration, and understand how/why so many people have immigrated to America.

The next time you’re at school, please stop by the bulletin board outside the third grade pod, as our completed U.S. Flag Mural is on display.  It’s really neat to see, especially in person.  So many kids decorated their section with flags and symbols  from around the world.  It’s a nice way to honor those immigrants that have come to America for opportunity and to help build our country.

In Math we’ll continue our seemingly endless pursuit of mastering multiplication and division facts.  We’re also using our Intervention section of the day to practice subtraction.  It’s a nice review of what they learned last year, as well as a refresher before we practice addition and subtraction in a few short weeks.

Thanks to all of you that ordered in our first Scholastic book order!  I was able redeemed points for $25 worth of free books for our classroom library!  I have a bad feeling the books won’t arrived before fall break, so the kids may have to wait until next week to received their order.  I’ll keep you posted!

I hope you and yours are doing well…have a great week!

Eric Wachter

October 2nd, 2017 – October Already?

Good Morning Families!

It’s hard to believe October has arrived!?  How we are already into week 8 of school is beyond me.  I guess when you’re having fun, time truly does fly by!

This week we will begin Unit 2 in Literacy.  It will be a nice return to normalcy, of sorts, as we had so much testing last week.  We will have spelling this week, so expect a practice list coming home Monday evening.

In Math, we’re working our way through all the numbers from 0-10, and practicing multiplication and division.  This week we’ll explore 8s and 7s, as well as continue to practice word problems.

Don’t forget Picture Day is on Wednesday.  If you have any picture order forms, send them with your child this week and I’ll make sure they get turned in.

And finally, our first Scholastic Book Order is due on Wednesday, if you choose to order any books.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great week!

Eric Wachter