Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
Here are some of the topics we have been
working on in third grade, as well our units of
study for the month of April.
Reading/Writing/Language Arts
Beginning in the fourth marking period,
students read to find relationships among
ideas. During the first four weeks, students
will be exploring the characteristics of
traditional literature to compare folktales
and myths retold by the same author. In the
first two weeks students will engage in an
author study of Eric A. Kimmel comparing
characteristics of folktales and myths.
Towards the end of April students will study
folktales retold by the same author in a
Junior Great Books literature study.
Throughout the marking period, students use
inquiry approach to gather ideas, draft,
revise, edit, produce and present narrative,
informative, and opinion texts. Lessons focus
on the writing process and the 6 + 1 Traits of
Writing instruction. In order to develop
students as writers, all the 6 + 1 Traits were
explicitly taught earlier in the year. Speaking
and listening are embedded throughout the
writing process: to rehearse
ideas, confer, and present published work.
This month, our students will choose a topic
of interest and examine different points of
view to answer the inquiry question: What are
the different ways people view issues? They
define and examine issues related to their
topic. To start, they will research their topic
and draft their findings in an informative
paragraph that explains both sides of the
issue related to the topic. Then,
April 2016
students will use their research to select one
side of an issue to write an editorial
that expresses their point of view about the
issue.
Math
With the new marking period, students
extend and apply their understanding of
concepts and topics in Operations and
Algebraic Thinking. In April, students solve a
variety of 1- and 2-step word problems in all
four operations (i.e., addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division) with unknowns in all
positions. Students apply a variety of
strategies to solve the problems, assess the
reasonableness of their answers using mental
computation, and represent the problems
using equations with a letter for the unknown
quantity.
Throughout the year, students have been
working towards the goal that, by the end of
Grade 3, students know all products of two 1digit numbers from memory. This month,
opportunities are provided to check students’
fluency with understanding of multiplication
and division within 100. The emphasis remains
on understanding, explaining, and flexibly
applying multiple strategies, rather than
simply memorizing without meaning. Students
are not considered fluent until they are
comfortable working with unknowns in all
positions. Students are expected to continue
using and justifying strategies such as the
properties of operations and the relationship
between multiplication and division to solve
problems.
Science
Throughout the marking period, the
Measurement Topics of Life Sciences and
Engineering and Technology are
interwoven as students explore the
interactions and relationships among living
things and the natural environment, with a
focus on the impact of human decisions on
natural resources.
Students begin by
exploring a variety of plant and animal
habitats and describing the relationship
between
living
organisms
and
the
environment. Later in April, students identify
and define how natural resources are used to
meet human wants and needs and consider the
impact of this on the natural environment.
Social Studies
In the fourth marking period, students study
how assumptions and patterns of behavior
affect personal consumer decisions. Students
will begin by examining money management
strategies. Students enhance the academic
success skills of effort, motivation, and
persistence when solving problems in
scenarios such as Am I Ready for a Pet?.
Students apply the steps used to make an
economic decision: establish personal goals,
develop a budget, identify ways to generate
income, identify savings goal, and identify the
opportunity cost of each decision. Students
then determine the differences between and
the effect of being a banked versus an
unbanked consumer.
Other
 We are running low on our supplies of
tissues, pencils and erasers.
Any
donations are greatly appreciated!
 As the weather changes please dress in
layers as the building can be fairly chilly or
fairly warm during the spring months.
 It is starting to get warmer outside and
the evenings are staying lighter longer.
Please ensure that your child is completing
their homework each night and returning it
to school the next day.
Important Dates
April 8 End of 3rd Quarter
April 11 Beginning of 4th Quarter
April 19 Individual student and class
Pictures
April 22 Report Cards Distributed
April 13–April 22 Pennies for Patients
April 26 Election Day- No School
April 28 Take Your Child to Work Day
April 29 Field Day