JKES 3rd Grade Newsletter

• October 23rd: Parent Conferences
• October 31st: Fun Run Boosterthon & Storybook Character Day
• November 5th: No school for students
• November 27th-29th: Thanksgiving Break
• December 20th: End of Grading Period, Early Release

In Unit 1: Geology, students will explore informative structures, text connected themes, the benefits of connected texts, and related geological topics. The lessons provide students with ample opportunities to identify and interact with nonfiction text features in order to navigate and make meaning of nonfiction texts.

In Unit 2: Powerful Connections, students will continue to explore narrative text structures. Two texts will work together to reinforce narrative structure and demonstrate the idea that the same theme can be expressed across multiple texts. They also guide students in identifying and discussing narrative elements in both fiction and narrative nonfiction texts.

In addition to the shared reading portion of our reading block, students will also demonstrate their comprehension of a text through writing. Students will become purposeful writers focusing on personal narrative, informative, and opinion writing structures.

In quarter two, students will be building foundational skills in multiplication and division by using concrete models and practicing basic fact fluency. Students will also dive into geometry, where they’ll learn to identify and name polygons, non-polygons, and other geometric figures. Toward the end of the quarter, students will explore fractions, working with models to understand fractions less than and greater than one whole. Units including multiplication, division, and fractions will spiral throughout the rest of the year so it is imperative we set the foundation this quarter.

In quarter two, our social studies lessons will focus on the ancient civilizations of China, Greece, and Rome. We will explore how these civilizations changed over time, the resources they used, how they adapted to their environments, and the important contributions they made to the world. Through fun and engaging activities, students will learn about these fascinating cultures and their lasting impact on history!

Our next two science units will focus on how water moves through our environment and why it's so essential to protect this valuable resource! Students will explore water solubility, the properties of water, the water cycle, and the importance of water conservation. They will also be completing more science experiments, with a focus on understanding the scientific process through hands-on activities. This will help them develop important skills like making observations, forming hypotheses, and drawing conclusions, all while learning about the essential role of water in our world.