Mrs. Hall’s 3rd and 4th Grade News  

Only 2 months left of school!  The third and fourth graders are very busy in all classes!

In 3^rd grade reading  we are working on Summarizing (telling the main events of the story in order) and root words.  So, if you see your third grader reading a story, take a moment to ask what the story is about; they are becoming pros at summarizing!

In math the third graders just finished a unit on fractions.  They are now going back to multiplication and learning to multiply by numbers in the tens place!  (example:  6 x 30 = 180)  This is usually learned in fourth grade, but the third grade math class is so far ahead in their studies that they have “extra time” to get a good mathematical base going for fourth grade!  Fourth grade mathematicians just finished a fun unit in geometry.  They will be moving on to fractions in the weeks to come.  By the way, GREAT job on the geometry test fourth graders!  

The busiest class this quarter is science.  Third and fourth graders have an ongoing observation of plant growth in the classroom.  Several weeks ago they cut shoots off of our classroom “grass plants” and placed them in cups of water to see if the roots would grow.  Well, they have grown quite a bit!  Each week students are recording plant mass, and length of roots and leaves to document the changes they see.  Each student is also writing an observation log and drawing a color diagram of their plant during these weekly check ups.  Here are some things they have noticed:

“My plant’s mass changed, it went up.  It must have grown.”

“My roots are white and kind of squishy.  The roots smell funny, like the river.”

“My plant looks healthy and happy.  I think it is very happy because it is so green.”

“My roots are staring to curl.  I think I will see root hairs soon!”

Final Notes:

1.  Keep up the reading out loud each night!

2.  Please continue to practice multiplication and division facts each night.

3.  Keep an eye out for field trip forms, we will be taking a lot of field trips in the next two months!

4.  Be sure your child’s YMCA form is filled out so they can attend swimming lessons in Missoula with us for the last 4 weeks of Visions!