Waters Landing
Elementary
School
Third Grade
February Newsletter
Ms. Baek, Mr. Bothwell,
Mrs. Mullenholz,
Mrs. Smoot, Mr. Steiner
Hello, and happy February! It’s hard to believe that the school year is more
than half way over! Report card distribution for the second marking period will be
on January 31st. Please be sure to review your child’s report card and return the signed envelope to their teacher. In
addition, please review your child’s data notebook and use this opportunity to discuss their behavior and academic
progress. It is the teamwork between home and school that will ensure success for each and every third grader.
The third grade field trip to the Bethesda Highway Depot will be taking place on Friday, February 8th.
Please make sure your child has handed in his or her permission slip and $5 for the trip! Also, please make sure your
child packs a lunch the day of the field trip. There will be no school on Monday, February 18th in observance of Presidents’ Day and there is an early release for students on Friday, February 22nd for a teacher professional day.
Winter is here! Please be sure to send your children to school with a warm sweater, jacket or coat. Or, let us
know if you are in need of one. In addition, please refer to the blue handout that was recently distributed to students
regarding winter storm information. It is also the season for colds. Our third grade classrooms would greatly appreciate any donations of tissues boxes, hand sanitizers, antibacterial liquid soap, and Clorox wipes to keep our classrooms
clean. Please feel free to send these donations with your child to school. Thank you so much in advance!
Standards Based Grading Reminders
Here is a reminder of our standards based grading rubric:
Important Dates
ES: Exceeds Standard: The student demonstrates an
exceptional understanding of on-grade-level content.
P: Proficient: The student demonstrates proficiency of
the content of processes
I: In Progress: The student is in progress towards
meeting the standard
Date
Event
Friday, Feb. 8th
field trip to Bethesda Highway
Depot from 10:00 AM-12:30 PM
N: Not Yet: The student is not yet making progress or is
making minimal progress towards meeting the standard.
Students are assessed on two Thinking and Academic
Success Skills (TASS) each quarter. During the second
quarter, we focused on the skills of originality (creating
ideas and solutions that are novel or unique to the individual, group, or situation) and intellectual risk taking
(accepting uncertainty or challenging the norm to reach a
goal).
Monday, Feb. 18th
Presidents’ Day—school closed
Friday, Feb. 22nd
early release– teacher professional
day
Tuesday, Feb. 26th
science fair in WLES gym from
7:00 PM-8:30 PM
will start off the month of February by continuing to examine the genre of historiReading cal fiction.Students
The students have really seemed to enjoy this genre thus far and it is great to see them
enthusiastic about reading and learning! As the month continues, students will
explore a new and different genre, realistic fiction. You can help at home by making sure that your child
is reading for at least 20 minutes each night, as this is an important part of the learning process!
Our students are very excited about our new math focus, fractions! Fractions have been introduced as parts of a whole, and most students feel comfortable labeling and sketching fractions less than
Math
or equal to one whole. As we continue our study, we will work with placing fractions on number lines,
using fractions as units of measure with rulers, finding equivalent fractions, and comparing fractions. You can best help
at home by showing your child real life applications of fractions in your daily life. While fractions will be the focus of
daily classroom instruction, it is still important that students practice their multiplication and division
facts regularly. They will be assessed periodically on facts 0-12 and will be looking for connections between multiplication, division and fractions throughout the month.
Science and Social Studies
Beginning in marking period 3, the students will be working in a new Science unit. They will be working with Engineering and Technology and Physical Sciences as they
focus on examining heat. They will examine objects that produce heat through a variety of sources. Students will investigate objects that produce heat while giving off light, through burning, friction, and electricity. They will have the opportunity to work with tools in our MCPS Science Kits as well (digital thermometers, heating pads, chopsticks, craft sticks, lubricants, etc…). February should really prove to be a fantastic and
fun month for Science!
In Social Studies, we will continue to focus on the measurement topics of Geography and
Culture. Students will be able to describe the purpose of maps (including thematic, transportation,
physical, and political), and describe how people modify their environments to meet their needs for
transportation, making a living, and for shelter. We will be focusing primarily on the cultures of the ancient Aztec, Tenochtitlan, and modern day Mexico City. Students will be able to explain how transportation networks connect people’s
goods and ideas, and also identify reasons for the movement of the ancient Aztecs to Tenochtitlan. In addition, students will be able to identify how communities share and borrow cultural elements.
The focus of February’s writing is to understand how problem and solution
Writing
contribute to the structure of a story. To begin this analysis, we will write an opinion
writing piece. The students will take a stance regarding a character’s contribution to the solution of Brave
Irene. This will allow them an opportunity to evaluate author’s craft as they begin to write their own realistic fiction story at the end of February. You can help you child by pointing out problem and solution relationships in
your daily life and in literature you enjoy together.
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Third Grade February Newsletter