Dear Third Grade Parents,

Thank you for checking in each week to see what we are up to.  It is greatly appreciated and helpful to your third grader.

This week will be busy as the second and third grade classes prepare to host the All School Mass on Friday, March 6.  In addition, the school will also be playing host to members of the San Diego Philharmonic on Thursday morning.  The Philharmonic will be performing  "Peter and the Wolf".  I can hardly wait to experience this with the class.  It should be a memorable event.


Here is this week's Curriculum Update for the Week of March 2, 2015:

Religion:  Chapter 16 Quiz on Tuesday;  Begin Chapter 17- We Worship at Mass- the parts of the Mass:  Introductory Rites and the Liturgy of the Word;  Deacon Mark Wieczorek will be our guest speaker to answer all our "pressing" third grade questions about our Catholic Faith.

Math:  Practice two-step word problems; Equations and two-step word problems; focus on mathematical practices; Multiplication review

Reading:  Continue to read and complete comprehension activities for Matilda- Chapters 11-14;  Guided Reading:  Continue to read and discuss group novels

Language Arts:  Grammar:  Continue unit on verbs- regular/irregular verbs and helping verbs;  Unit 22 Spelling test on Thursday

Social Studies:  Continue Chapter 7- A new government- the Constitution;  Junior Achievement Lesson #5

Science:  Finish Chapter 7- Motions of the moon; moon phases; characteristics of the moon; Planet scavenger hunt

Art:  Become familiar with the art of Vincent Van Gogh; Practice drawing skills by drawing a vase of sunflowers; Practice tempura painting techniques; create an original sunflower painting in the manner of Van Gogh

Music:  Continue to read music and practice playing the recorder.

Thank you again for checking in each week to see what we are up to in the third grade.  Have a wonderful and safe week/weekend.  Take care and God bless.

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Third Grade Teacher

Dear Third Grade Parents,

I hope everyone had a wonderful four day weekend!!!!!!  Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Presidents' Day.

Thank you for helping to make our class Valentine's Day celebration a great success.  It was a fun day for the kids to enjoy.  I especially loved the Alice in Wonderland Theme.

I would also like to thank Mrs. Wieczorek, Mrs. Koresaar, Mrs. Liem, Mrs. Broyles,  Mrs. Limberg and Mrs. Turquand for driving and chaperoning on our fabulous field trip to Old Town.  The class had an amazing experience and learned a great deal about how our city of San Diego first came to be.  The history of San Diego's early residents is very colorful and full of great stories.  Thank you for helping to make this possible.

Be sure to check this week's Curriculum Update to see what we will be up to this week!

Curriculum Update for the Week of February 16, 2015:

Religion:  Chapter 15 Quiz on Tuesday;  Begin Chapter 16-  Passover and The Last Supper; The Mass is a sacrifice and a meal

Reading:Continue to read and complete comprehension activities for chapters 5-8 of Matilda;  Guided Reading Groups:  Continue to meet and read in individual reading groups

Language Arts:  Spelling- Unit 20 Test on Friday;  Vocabulary Workshop-  Continue unit 3; Grammar:  Verbs- action, regular and irregular

Math:  word problems with unknown addends and unknown factors; word problems with unknown starts; comparison problems; comparison problems with misleading information

Social Studies:  Chapter 7- community laws and government;  The U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights

Science:  Continue chapter 7- our solar system; the inner and outer planets

Music:  Continue to learn to play recorders

Art:  Continue to work on Noah's Ark inspired paintings

Have a wonderful week Third Grade Families.  Thank you for all you do to make Stella Maris Academy an amazing place to learn.  Take care and God bless!

Sincerely,
Ms. Griffin
Your Third Grade Teacher

Dear Third Grade Parents,

This week the third graders and I will be learning all about the start of our San Diego Community.  On Wednesday we are going on our field trip to Old Town.  The class and I can hardly wait.  It should be a great time and a valuable learning experience.  Thank you for helping to make it possible.

Please be sure to check this week's Curriculum Update to see what will be covered in Third Grade.

Curriculum Update for the Week of February 9, 2015:

Religion:  Continue Chapter 13- The Seven Sacraments: The Sacraments of Healing and the Sacraments of Service to Others;  Chapter 15 Quiz next Tuesday

Math:  focus on mathematical practices; addition and subtraction situations; chapter 4 review; review multiplication facts

Social Studies:  Finish Chapter 6- Learning about our community; Begin Chapter 7- Our government- local and federal

Science:  Begin Chapter 7- What is a star?;  Stars and light; The planets and our solar system

Language Arts:  Grammar- review there, their, they're, your, you're, its, it's;  Vocabulary Workshop: Unit 4- understanding the definitions; completing the sentences;  Spelling: Unit 19 Test on Thursday

Reading:  Read and complete comprehension activities for Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda- chapters 1-4;  Guided Reading Groups: read and discuss individual book studies

Art:  Compose pictures combining observation and imagination; Distinguish between foreground, middle ground and background; Distinguish knowledge of perspective through size and overlapping

Music:  continue to practice and play recorders

Have a fantastic week!  Thank you for all you do to help make Stella Maris Academy an amazing place to learn!  Take care and God bless.

Sincerely,
Ms. Eileen Griffin
Your Third Grade Teacher