3A+Newsletter

5D Newsletter- Fall Update


 * Hello Families, **
 * You may want to grab a cup of coffee! This is long! **


 * School is starting off strong start! **


 * There are some children coming home this week with “Books to Go” Bags. This is a way for them to practice reading with fluency. If your child does get one of these book bags, he/she needs to read from that selection each night. The books are chosen to help your child increase fluency and comprehension. **** (If your child does not get a book bag, their fluency level is fine…but if you would like one for your child as well, just email me.) **


 * Your child is coming home with a small geography study book that they may use to study for next Tuesdays geography test. Each child brought home the world map they created, and have been practicing the address for weeks. The topics for that test are as follows: **
 * 1. **** Bodies of Water: Ocean, Lake, River and Glacier **
 * 2. **** Home Address **
 * 3. **** Names and Locations of the Oceans **
 * 4. **** Names and Locations of the Continents **
 * 5. **** All Spelling Counts **


 * Reminders: Tomorrow is Election Day! No school for students. Also, Thursday, November 15th is parent visitation day at 10AM. (Hopefully we will have much peeping by then!) **
 * Math test is this Friday for Chapter 2 ** ** Thanks! Mrs. DePaul **

Hello 3A Families!

Welcome to third grade! I am very happy to have been lucky enough to be blessed with your child this year as a student. Over the past two days, we have worked on getting acquainted, learning classroom expectations and procedures, and having lots of fun. Below is our first 3A Paperless Newsletter! Please email me back if you **DO NOT** want to be on this mass mailing list, or if you have more emails to add. I will send out email updates for you and your child so we are all on the same page without the actual paper. ;) ** Go Green! **

A few “Thank Yous”…

Thanks for filling out all the paperwork. My first year here at Fort 14 years ago, we had a monsoon the second or third day of school, and I was quarantined in the gym til 7PM so we could locate all the parents!!! So I have a “thing” with having your contact information. Thanks for getting the info back so soon.

Yesterday your child came home with MORE paperwork from the PTA folks. Please have that in to me soon too. My contact information is below for your easy reference. Please do not hesitate to contact me. School Number: 215-643-8961, ext. 1214

Class wiki: www.depaul.wikispaces.com Email: mdepaul@udsd.org

Thanks for all the supplies! I know it is brutal getting stuff together, and then schlepping it here. When we hatch eggs we will use ALL those paper towels! And those tissues and other supplies are a huge help! Thank you.

Thanks for having your children all excited for school…ready with materials, healthy snacks, happy faces and open minds. They all came in this morning ready to go! The class is a wonderfully, diverse and talented group. You are all doing a great job!

A few reminders …In general, third graders are very capable of walking to class without parents. I know that might be new to some, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. Learning independence and feeling confidence builds on the daily work of NOT doing for our kids. (I do make exceptions for new students, or bringing in supplies or healthy birthday treats.)

Each night your child has reading homework for 20 minutes. (Please check our class wiki for homework updates.) Each night I ask that a parent “initials” the assignment book, so that each child sees that this is a partnership of learning, and I know that reading has indeed taken place. I am determined to have EVERYONE fall in love with reading early on in the year, and some students really need that gentle push. If you need some books at home for your child to read for pleasure, feel free to email me back, and I will send a selection home.

Each child has a “First in Math” account already set up. Please email me if your child, **DOES NOT** have daily access to technology at home. Last year we used “First in Math” for some Homework options, and I want to make sure all of my students have fair access.

Finally, it is extremely ** hot ** in our classroom. I get in by 7:30 to open all the windows and turn on all three large fans, but it just isn’t cutting it. Yesterday we ended up in the LGR for part of the afternoon to cool off. Please send in a refillable water bottle for your child to keep hydrated. We chatted about filling up the bottle with ice the night before, and then having a nice chilly water bottle all day. (We did talk about THE STUDENTS taking the responsibility for filling up the bottle though! J )

The year is off to a great start! I look forward to meeting all of you on Thursday, September 20th, at 7:15 PM for Back to School Night.

Thanks so much… Mrs. DePaul



Older Newsletter Archives...

Our Visit to Fort Washington Estates Our visit to the Fort Washington Estates was an excellent learning experience for the students. We played Bingo, sang the residents some songs, gave them snacks and had great conversations. We are starting a service learning project to cheer the new friends we met by sending them Flip Up cards. We will make cards to brighten the days of those elderly folks we met, and hopefully make some smiles happen even when we are not present. __ Reading and Language Arts __

We are almost finished our first theme. In the next two weeks, we will complete our skills testing and start our second theme which starts out with the story "Turtle Bay". The class has been working on subjects, predicates, compound subjects and compound predicates for the past two weeks. These are all new terms to the students as last year they were just simply nouns and verbs. Remember to encourage your child read, read, read every day! If you need books...or if you are unsure if your child is really reading at home books that are appropriate to their reading levels, please let me know so I can send some books home.

**__ Math __**

3A has been working very hard with the concepts in Chapter 2. All the students are working hard. Look for the red folders with math progress checks today. Some students were given the progress check twice and improved a lot over the course of the week.Please do some extra "First in Math" facts drills or use the pages of fact practice to continue to sharpen skills. During the first week of November, the students fluency check will be both addition and subtraction, so some of the students might again go back to a 1 or a 2. That is ok, because we'll again practice using both operations to get better over time. Some children who top off at a 4 after the next fluency will be given some challenge work as well.

**__ Science: Animals __** __Geography: __ The Geography test next week is on the seven continents, the five oceans and 10 bodies of water, etc...Please know that some time over the weekend for study is a good idea. When I mentioned that study time over the weekend is homework, they balked! We had a good talk about the fact that sometimes study time over a weekend is necessary to do well in school. I assured them that written homework over the weekends are not given until they are a bit older, but study time on a weekend sometimes is necessary to see success. Some of the kids were surprised they should be reading for that 20 minutes over the weekend too. It is an expectation that the students read every day including the weekend. Have a great October! Go Team! Mrs. DePaul
 * In class this week, we have been learning about animals! The children yesterday and today had the opportunity to read and listen to the lesson on what animals need to survive. Ask your child to log into our textbook on line! He/she can show you how the computer will read the words to you! Please look on our new "Science" section on the menu to get the user name and password. I am interested to know how you as parents like the book on line, so please after you check it out, shoot me an email to let me know if you and your child likes reading from the computer for a change! Below is a photo of us with our grass heads! Remember to give them hair cuts now that they are home! **