Third Grade News

September 19, 2014/24 Elul, 5774

Gev. Lansing
Tele: 414-254-6720
Email: jlansing@mjds.org











READING
We have already finished two more reading units in third grade! One story was silly; it was about a moose
that was wrongly accused of taking a pie. He was put on trial, and we saw how drawing
conclusions can be both helpful and harmful. The second unit contained many stories about
how kids can help other people. In Destiny's Gift, a little girl helps a friend and store owner raise
money to help save the store owner's bookstore, a great example of tikun olam. Our stories
got us thinking about how WE, as third graders, could also do tikun olam by helping a local
organization. We have decided to connect with an organization called Katy's Kloset to try to
help them obtain much needed medical equipment for kids and adults. We chose this
organization because they were helpful to one of our own third grade friends. Please stay tuned....there will
be much more information coming in the next few weeks.

Our grammar lessons focused on compound words, antonyms, four different kinds of sentences,
complete/incomplete sentences and run-on sentences. We will continue to look at these over the next few
weeks in our own writing.

MATH
By this time, your child should be working on, or have mastered, multiplying by 5's, 2's, 10's, and 9's. Some
students are even working on 3's! Please continue to practice math facts daily at home. They are the
foundation to our math program. The hard work the kids put into learning their facts now will benefit them
throughout their math days for MANY years to come. Learning our "9 by's" may sound hard, but ask your
third grader to tell you a few of the tricks we learned in class. 9 by's are really easy!

SCIENCE
During the past two weeks we have experimented with our senses of hearing and touch. We
have used our senses to identify differences in objects, and we have discussed what allows
us to make predictions. On Friday, we will be using our senses to test Oobleck. The kids have
developed various experiments for us to try using our senses. It will be a fun, messy, and
exciting learning experience created by the kids.

YAHADUT (JEWISH STUDIES)
In third grade we have been learning about Rosh Hashanah. Students have been reflecting on the past
year and how to improve. Rosh Hashanah projects will come home next week. Shanah tovah!

IVRIT (HEBREW)
GEV. BACHAR'S CLASS:
The children are learning vocabulary with a birthday theme. They are working on their writing, listening,
speaking and reading skills in class and via their homework.

GEV. GRUSSGOTT'S CLASS:
The students have been learning new vocabulary and how to answer questions in Hebrew. They are
working toward leading Morning Meetings totally in Hebrew.


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MUSIC
We have been studying music for the upcoming fall Jewish holidays. We have also been spending some
time on partner songs.

ART
Third grade has been doing observational drawing. We took sketch boards, paper and pencils to our
neighbor's garden across the street to study flower and leaf shapes. Then we looked at the shapes of tools
from the wood table, such as claw hammers, saws, wrenches, and C-clamps, and drew those. Shapes and
lines of the holidays will be next!

CALENDAR
Monday, Sept. 22: MAP Testing, 10 a.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 24: Erev Rosh Hashanah: Noon dismissal
Thursday & Friday, Sept. 25-26: Rosh Hashanah: No school
Tuesday, Sept. 30: MAP Testing: 12:40 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 2: MAP Testing: 10:40 a.m.
Friday, Oct. 3: Erev Yom Kippur: Noon dismissal
Monday, Oct. 6: FAN order forms due
Wednesday, Oct. 8: Erev Sukkot: 2 p.m. dismissal
Thursday & Friday, Oct. 9-10: Sukkot: No school
Wednesday, Oct. 15: Erev Shmini Atzeret: 2 p.m. dismissal
Thursday & Friday, Oct. 16 & 17: Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah: No school

NOTES
Please remember the MJDS dress code when helping your child get ready in the morning! Shoulders need
to be covered, shorts/skirts need to be closer to the knee than the hip, shoes must have a back strap (no
Crocs or flip flops), and if leggings are worn, the top worn with them must completely cover your child's tush.

See more pictures of our Oobleck experiment on my web page!



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