Overview

Welcome to Third Grade! Get ready for a very busy year. We will study Colonial Times, the United States, and Westward Movement. We read the novels: Ramona Quimby Age 8, A Lion To Guard Us, and Grasshopper Summer. We will learn how to read an informational book and write a research report. In math, we study place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, graphing, money, measurement, etc. We spell; we write; we read; we chat; we have a great time!

Welcome to a new school year!

Assignments

Math

Get ready for several weeks of graphing, We will be talking about gathering data, calculating statistics, and creating several types of graphs. Today we gathered data about birth dates, last names, thanksgiving veggies, and much more.

Click here if you would like to download and copy graph paper.

11/19 - Click here for an introduction to graphing.

See web sites below to begin to practice math skills!

Spelling:

The words for the week of  Nov. 17 - 21 all have silent letters. Click here for the list.

• Monday: Pre test day. Misspelled words are to be written three times each on special writing paper.
• Tuesday: Students must choose 10 of the spelling words and write a complete and detailed sentence. The student must choose his/her misspelled words first then fill in with other words. Each sentence must have descriptive words and be longer than 6 words. Mrs. Hilton is very picky about the page organization so be sure to follow the neatness rules.
• Wednesday: The students have a spelling dictation in class. For homework, the students must put all spelling words into alphabetical order. Please plan ahead as inserts are not allowed.
• Thursday: Study for the test.
• Friday: Test is given in class.

Spelling Challenge Program

Spell all the words correctly in the pretest, and you are a Challenge Speller. The student chooses five words from a "commonly misspelled" list. The student will use these words to complete homework assignments. On Friday, the student will be tested on the chosen words rather than the class list. As the year progresses and the class lists become more difficult, fewer and fewer challenge spellers emerge.

Independent Reading

Every student must read at least.20 minutes per day. The students log the total time read as well as the number of pages read. Each month, the students will be responsible for writing a book report. The first book report will be due at the end of October. In September, the students will learn the standard format of the book report. The format, directions, and due dates will all be available on this web page.

Third graders have practiced writing their first book report using their knowledge of Ralph S. Mouse. Additionally, each student has a "Cheat Sheet" to carry for the remainder of the year. This will help him/her recall the requirements of each section. The questions to be answered are:

• Who are the main characters in the book? Write at least three sentences describing the main characters.
• What is the problem in the story?  State the problem of the main character, then write at least three sentences describing the events that lead up to the problem.
• What is the problem resolution? State how the problem was solved, then write at least three sentences describing the events that lead up to, or follow, the problem resolution.
• Who is your favorite character? Write three sentences explaining why this character is your favorite. GIve an example from the book.
• Write about your favorite part in the book. Write three sentences about why it is your favorite. Tell why the part is your favorite by relating to something you know.
• Recommend the book to a friend by writing three specific reasons they should read the book. Include an example from the book.
• Write three new vocabulary words you learned from this book. Define each. Use each word in a sentence that is clear evidence that you know the meaning of the word.

The next book report must be written about a book that is set during the colonial times. Mrs. Hilton's library has may books meeting this requirement. The book report will be due on Monday, November 24, 2008. The last "sloppy copy" will be accepted on Thursday, November 20, 2008. Please write one section at a time and give to Mrs. H. for edits. This way the book report will be a growing and learning experience.

Reading

On October 27 we started A Lion to Guard Us.  This historical novel is set during the the early 1600's when many British were sailing to Jamestown. Adventure, intrigue, and emotion are all part of this fascinating story. The students are responsible for answering comprehension questions as well as researching vocabulary words.

To properly answer a comprehension question, one must:

• Restate the question in the answer
• Use proper nouns when writing about particular people.
• Write a complete and thoughtful sentence.
• Spelling of words within the question and book counts.
• Remember punctuation and capitalization.

We will keep you posted on the adventures of Amanda, Jemmy, and Meg.

Due to a horrible storm, the Freebold children have crashed upon the island of Bermuda. Will they learn to survive on the island? Will they ever get to Virginia to see their father? Stay tuned.

The Freebold children had many adventures just to get to their boat. some of the information that we have read about Jamestown history is now making a connection to our literature. Ask your child about who sailed with the Freebold children.

Writing and Grammar

We are beginning to talk about nouns. Because we may not use words words such as "things", "it", and "stuff" in our writing, knowing about nouns is very helpful.  As we continue through the unit, we will discuss common nouns, proper nouns, and possessive nouns. Soon we will be noun experts!

11/12 - We are learning about possessive nouns...how to show singular and plural possession. We even invented a song. Click here for our rules.

We are generating ideas in writing class. Now that we can write astoundingly great sentences, we must learn to create a paragraph and/or story.

Social Studies

We are all about Colonial Times! This unit is especially timely since we will be learning about the first colonies, the first settlers and the first Thanksgiving.

10/28 - Through a power point presentation, we now know what we will be studying during the Colonial Times Unit. The presentation includes embedded web sites. Click here to view the Introduction to Colonial Times.

We will be using many resources to study the colonial times. See the list of appropriate web sites below.

Announcements

Star of the Week program

A great way for the class members to learn about each other is through the "Star of the Week". Each child will be assigned a week to create a poster filled with pictures of the child's favorite people, places, and things. The child may be as creative as possible! Please make sure that all of the "braggables" are part of the poster. Click here for the Star of the Week assignments.

Parents' Night

Parents' Night

Thank you to all of you who attended. The third grade presentation starring your children successfully depicted the hard work expected this year. Click here to view the Parent Slide Show 2008!

If you are a student in Mrs. Hilton's class and have read this web page, please send an email to me. A surprise awaits you!

Links

MATH PRACTICE WEB SITES

http://www.aaamath.com/

http://www.aplusmath.com/

http://www.funbrain.com/numbers.html

http://www.learningplanet.com

http://www.mathfactcafe.com

http://www.dep.anl.gov/aattack.htm

COLONIAL TIMES WEB SITES

http://teacher.scholastic.com/research tools/researchstarters/plymouth/

Plymouth colony research starter

http://teacher.scholastic.com/thanksgiving/voyage/index.htm

Timeline and voyage of the Mayflower

http://teacher.scholastic.com/thanksgiving/daily_life/

timeline and daily life comparison of Pilgrims and Native Americans

http://teacher.scholastic.com/thanksgiving/feast/

Timeline, slide show and game for the First Thanksgiving Feast

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/subarticle.jsp?id=3034

Life as a Wampanoag

Experience the events of 1621 through the eyes of a Wampanoag.

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7589

Life as a Plimoth Pilgrim

Find out more about life in 1621 from these past interview transcripts

http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7597

Meet the Passenger & Crew

Talk to the people who traveled on the Mayflower .

http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Passengers/passengers.php

Mayflower passenger list

http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/Genealogy/crew.php

Mayflower crew

http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/History/history.php

Mayflower history

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/introduction.htm

fabulous interactive site about colonial children with movies and music

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/clothing.htm

  specifically about clothing. Links to videos

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/videos.htm#farming

  videos about daily life

http://www.americasstory.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/colonial/jamestwn_1

A Jamestown story

http://www.americasstory.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/colonial/jewish_1

The story of the first Jewish synagogue

http://www.americasstory.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/colonial/smith_3

John Smith and Pocahontas

http://www.plimoth.org/

Plimoth plantation

http://www.plimoth.org/OLC/index_js2.html

You be the historian game

http://www.apva.org/history/index.html

history of Jamestown

http://www.nps.gov/fofr/col_kids.htm

information about children in colonial times

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/our_america/colonial/

http://teacher.scholastic.com/ilp/index.asp?SubjectID=2&SubheadID=5&TopicID=13

http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinContents/Contents12.html

money information – too difficult for kids

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/plgrmhll.htm

Pilgrim Hall museum – use for addition to research

ttp://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/homeworkHelp/wampanoag.asp

Wampanoag history

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/homeworkHelp/pilgrims.asp

Pilgrim information question answer format

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/homeworkHelp/mayflower.asp

mayflower information

http://www.plimoth.org/olc/index_js2.html

beginning of “You are the Historian”

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/homeworkHelp/index.asp

Answer to many questions about the Plimoth plantation

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/history/index.asp

index of information available about Plimouth plantation

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/teachers/maps.asp

historical maps

http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/activities/our_america/colonial/

fun activities about colonial America

http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown/jstimeline.cfm

Jamestown timeline

http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown/jamestownhistory.cfm

Jamestown history

http://www.virtualjamestown.org/page2.html

home page for virtual Jamestown site. Interesting info but sophisticated

http://www.virtualjamestown.org/quicktime/jamestown_fort.html

virtual tour of Jamestown

http://www.apva.org/ngex/jfort.html

Jamestown fort small history and cut out picture

http://www.apva.org/ngex/people.html

info about 5 famous people associated with Jamestown

http://www.apva.org/ngex/things.html

items of interest from dishes to money to dice

http://www.historyglobe.com/jamestown/

virtual game about landing in Jamestown

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