Newsletter September 26 - 30

Hi parents! We've had another great week of learning about Rome. It always fascinates me to see how excited the students get about our conceptual units. This week we discussed Roman law. We created our own law for BDS and participated in a Roman court scenario that brought out the rhetorical talents of several of our students. If your child hasn't told you yet about the court case, be sure to ask him/her.

On this Friday, we will be having Roman day. Students are encouraged to wear togas (you can recycle their Greek chitons, just drape it over one arm this time) and we'll be preparing some Roman food. For this celebration, each class will be making a Roman dish to share with the school. Our class will be making Crustulum. Each student needs to bring one loaf of French / Italian bread for Friday. I also need a parent to send about four cloves of garlic and a bottle of olive oil. If you can send one of these 2 things, please let me know. Thank you so much for helping out! The kids really look forward to these days and they make our unit so much more enriching.

News to Know

• Summer is this week's snack helper. McCall will be next week's snack helper.
• I just sent out an email about books for the next unit. Please let me know if you did not receive it.
• Our culmination for the Roman Empire unit will be on Friday, October 7. Be sure to make plans to attend...the third graders are doing something awesome!

Language Arts
We will continue reading Atticus of Rome. Please remember that your child may need help reading this book on Tuesday nights, as it is above grade level. We will continue learning about plural nouns and take a quiz on Friday. Students will begin writing their persuasive essays.

Math
We will finish Topic 3: Meanings of Subtraction and take the test on Wednesday. We will then move on to Topic 4: Subtraction. This week we will focus on subtracting 2-digit numbers.

Conceptual
We will be discussing the Punic Wars, Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra.

Science
We will continue studying Earth's resources and also using this time to work on our culmination project.

Newsletter September 19 - 23

Hi parents! I am sorry that this week's newsletter is so late. We are in the process of moving and it has been a crazy weekend!

We had a great first week learning about the Roman Empire! We looked at maps of the Roman Empire, discussed some map features, read versions of the Romulus and Remus myth, wrote our own BDS formation myths, and discussed the Roman gods and goddesses.

News to Know

• Lola is this week's snack helper. Summer is next week's helper.

September 19 - 23

Language Arts

We will continue reading Atticus of Rome. We will begin discussing nouns and how to pluralize them. We will also begin working on our persuasive writing project for this unit. This week, students will be using elements of logos and ethos as they write.

Math

We will take the Topic 2 test on Tuesday. We will begin Topic 3: Subtraction on Wednesday. Please remind your child to do his/her homework. For every 10 homeworks a student completes and returns, I give them a 100 in the grade book.

Conceptual

We will be discussing Roman government at the beginning of this week, including the Roman Republic and the 12 Table of Rome. We will be making our own 12 Tablets of BDS on Tuesday. We will also study Roman law and set up our own courtroom scenario. On Friday, we will play some fun Roman games.

Science

We will continue studying Earth's resources. We will also be spending some of science time working on our culmination performance.

Newsletter: Week of September 12 - 16

The End of An Era (And the Beginning of a New One!)
The Greek unit was fantastic! We had a great time learning about their culture and history. Thank you to all the parents/families/friends who helped make the unit such a success. Now, we are on to a new topic. I won't say too much about it just yet, as we try to keep units a secret until Monday. The kids get so excited about what the next unit will be and have a great time trying to guess. For now, I'll just say this: we've got some great stuff planned for this one!

News to Know

• Luke Weathersby is this week's snack helper.
• Lunch forms / money for October are due Wednesday.
• I know that some of you will not have your books for this unit by Tuesday. They take a while to ship as they are out of print. If students do not have them, we will do Tuesday's homework reading in class.
  
• On Thursday, students are to bring an advertisement to class. They may bring a clipping from a magazine or a link to a commercial they like. Many commercials can be found on YouTube.
  
• On Friday, we will be doing a project with magazines. If you have any old magazines (especially ones with lots of advertisements), we would love to use them.

September 12- 16

Language Arts
We will begin reading our new book. We will continue studying subjects/predicates and introduce run-on sentences and time order words. We will have a grammar test on Friday. We will also be doing vocabulary this week and taking a short quiz. Students will be allowed to use their notes on both quizzes. For this unit, we will be working on persuasive public speaking and discovering ways to appeal to an audience. We will also be learning a new language - more to come on that later!

Math
We will continue with Topic 2: Addition Meanings. This week, we will add 2 and 3-digit numbers and practice drawing pictures to solve problems. We will take the Topic 2 test a week from Tuesday, on September 20.

Conceptual
No news yet...it's a secret!

Science
We will continue discussing Earth's resources, including fossils and the water cycle.

October Lunch Menu

The October lunch menu is now up! Please return by Wednesday, September 14.

Newsletter: Week of September 6 - 9

Hi parents!

I hope that everyone had a fun and safe Labor Day weekend. I hope the tropical storm didn't mess up anyone's plans. We had a great week last week learning about philosophers, theater, and architecture. Friday's Olympics were a blast as the students competed against one another in the pentathlon. This is the last week of our Greek unit. It's hard to believe that we've been back in school almost a month! I've really enjoyed getting to know all of my students and I know that we are in for a great year!

News to Know

• Will Brett is this week's snack helper.
• If you did not receive the email about the book for the next unit, please let me know.
  
• Our culmination performance will be on Friday at 1:30.
  
• Students who want to correct the Topic 1 math test should turn their tests in by Thursday.

September 6 - 9

Language Arts
We will finish reading The Lightning Thief on Thursday and take a test on Friday. We will do some fun activities with the book on Wednesday. This week's homework chapter is 21. We will also continue working on subject/predicates and continue revising our paragraphs.

Math
We will begin Topic 2: Properties of Addition. This week, we will focus on some new terms (commutative, associative, and zero properties of addition) along with mental math, rounding, and estimating sums. We will take a short rounding quiz on Friday.

Conceptual
We will discuss Greek mathematics, the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, art, and lasting gifts from the Greeks. We will take a closing test on Friday.

Science
We will continue discussing rocks, minerals, and types of soil.

Athletic Wear Tomorrow

Hi parents! Just a reminder that students are to wear shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes tomorrow for our BDS Olympics. Thanks!