Spring Break Updates

Below is all of the information on a flyer that was sent home with students Friday, March 22nd.

Book Reports Due Thursday, April 4th:

First read a traditional story book. Traditional stories include fairy tales, folk tales, tall tales, legends, fables, and myths.  They are found in the children's nonfiction section of the library under call numbers beginning with J398.2.  Students are required to choose a book from this section of the library.

Second, create an advertisement poster for your book with a catchy slogan.

Third, fill out a storyboard chart, with simple sketches, outlining your "commercial" presentation to the class.  Your commercial should begin and end with your slogan and have strong reasons persuading other students to read your book. You may bring the actual book to show, along with your poster, but the presentation should be memorized.

Multiplication Banana Split Party Thursday, April 4th:

Students have been working on passing off multiplication/division fact families x0-x10 for about four months now. This is a critical skill for progression in math next year. Final progress reports were sent home with the students on Friday, March 22nd showing where they're at in the process of passing off their facts. They will have two extra days to pass off additional facts, when they return from Spring Break, before celebrating at our annual Banana Split Party.

Mark your Calendars for the 3rd Grade Program, "See us Shine!"

 

Third graders are looking forward to performing for parents on Friday, April 12th 9:30-10:15 a.m.  Due to limited space in the gym, we've been asked to have parents only attend this performance.

We've also been asked to remind parents to park in designated parking stalls in the front and back of Altara, to leave the drop-off/pick-up zone free for Kindergarten transportation and school deliveries.

Have a Wonderful Spring Break!

Native American Studies

The last couple of weeks, the students have been studying the cultures of specific tribes from three North American Regions.  They learned about the Tlingit (pronounced clinkit) from the Northwest Coastal Region, the Navajo from the Southwest Desert Region and the Iroquois from the Northeast Woodland Region.  Each tribe's culture was shaped by its geography, climate, and natural resources. Students have been researching natural resources, food, clothing, shelter, and celebrations from each culture and verifying information by looking at more than one source. (Check out some of the fun new links on our Social Studies page.) They've also made raven potlatch masks, designed their own totem poles online and written about them, and begun a weaving project.  Altara third graders love learning about our country's Native American heritage!

Navajo weaving projects!

Raven potlatch masks! Raven is the protector of light - notice the ball of sun in his beak?

Traditional Story Book Report

(Start looking for the traditional story you'd like to do for your book report. A sample book report will be posted next week.)

Traditional stories are ones that were passed down orally for many generations before being written down.  They include fairy tales, folk tales, tall tales, legends, fables, and myths.  In the Public Library, these books are found in the children's nonfiction section under call numbers beginning with J398.2.  Students are required to choose a book from this section of the library.

The stories are many and varied, familiar and new, and rich with cultural heritage and moral themes.  I hope the students will take advantage of the wonderful opportunity they have to explore this genre.  We will certainly enjoy studying some of the books together at school! Below are a few examples: 

UNICEF World Education Games 2013

Parents, thank you for a wonderful week of Parent-Teacher Conferences. It was amazing to celebrate so much growth in our classroom!  Also, thank you for your generous Box Tops donations. Our class won 3rd place in the Box Tops Contest!

Last week, our class participated in the World Education Games. Over 1.5 million students from all over the world competed in the events, answering more than 360 million questions, and we got to be a part of it! The World Spellometer showed 45,432,146 points earned for words spelled correctly, while the Mathometer ticked off a total of 292,354,618 points! Our entire class competed in the World Math Day events, while several children went the extra mile to compete in spelling and science events, as well. Way to go!

World Science Day Superstar!

2 out of 3 World Spelling Day competitors, although five additional students participated in World Spelling practice events

8 out of 9 World Math Competitors who earned up to 50 points!

9 out of 10 World Math Competitors who earned 51-100 points!

World Math Competitors who earned 101-300 points!

Over 300 points for this World Math Competitor!

Distinction Award from UNICEF World Education Games for competing in every Math event and earning 1,176 points!

Just for Fun

1)  During the Red Ribbon Week assembly, classes or grade levels were invited to participate with a rap or chant.  Our students chose to involve the whole school in their chant!  Check it out below.

2)  In music on Fridays, we've been focusing on memorizing the last of the lyrics for our 3rd grade program in April. Last week, each class was in charge of singing a different section of one of our songs and the class who sang their part the best got to have their teacher wear the crazy hat. Guess which class won?