3 Grade News…8/8 - 8/12
rd
Welcome to Third
Grade!
We are so excited for the
new school year!
A Peek at Our Week:
We will be begin answering our first STEAM question: “How do relationships evolve
over time based on your point of view and what are the implications of this change?”

Phonics: Students will review the 6 syllable types – closed, open, VCE, Vowel
Teams, R-control and Cle. Please see attached pages for more information on the 6
syllable types.

Reading: Students will review why it is important for cultures to share their stores,
fables, and folktales and what can be learned from these stories. Students will also
explore how understanding a character's response to events in a story will help them
understand the story.

Math: Students will review place value, rounding, regrouping in addition problems.
Important Info:
Lunch Menu
Hotdog or
Turkey Burger
Tuesday
Beef Teriyaki or
Grilled Cheese
Wednesday Beef Ravioli or
Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart
Thursday
Beef & Bean Burrito or
Chicken Fajita Salad
Friday
Chicken Quesadilla or
Cheese Pizza
Lunch Times:
Nanney-11:25 am
Dickerson and Moore - 11:30 am
Troutman and Horn -11:35 am
Sanders and Owens – 11:40 am
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Monday
-
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

Breakfast and lunch is provided free of charge to
all students. Ice cream and chips are available
for purchase.
Students may bring in a healthy snack daily.
Please only send in water for a beverage. Make
sure to check with your teacher regarding
classroom allergies.
Students are expected to read for at least 20
minutes a night as homework.
Please be sure to get in the habit of bringing your
school issued car rider tag. In mid-August if you
do not have your tag you will be required to come
into school to sign your child out.
1. Closed Syllables
Closed Syllables: Teacher her closed syllable like cat, kick ((closed single syllable words with one vowel ending in /k/
ends in ck) etc. then move to multi-syllable closed.
A closed syllable is a syllable with a single vowel letter that ends in one or more consonants. The consonant closes off the
vowel sound, making it short.
VCCV syllable Division rules:
 VC/CV: Two consonants between two vowels. This is the most common pattern type.
 If you have three or more consonants between the vowels, consonant digraphs always stick together: e/ther,
arch/er, ath/lete, butch/er
 Consonant blends stay together if there are three or more consonants in a row: spec/trum, pump/kin, mon/ster
Explicit Teaching of the rule:
 What is a syllable?
 Every syllable has to have a vowel
Syllable Division routine:
 How many vowels are there? (How many syllables?)
 Mark the vowels.
 How many consonants are after or between the vowels?
 Mark the consonants.
 Where will you divide? (if a multi-syllabic word)
Example:
sel/fish (2 closed syllables)
VC/CV
Sub/ject (2 closed syllables)
VC/CV
Examples:
Example of closed multi-syllable words
basket
public
fossil
velvet
magnet
problem
selfish
subject
insect
conduct
suspect
contest
compact
inject
pumpkin
bandit
sunlit
within
backpack (closed single syllable words with one
vowel ending in /k/ ends in ck)
backpack has 2 base words (they can stand
alone)=compound words
redhot
dishpan
2. Open Syllables
Open Syllables: An open syllable is a syllable that ends in a long vowel sound spelled with a single vowel letter.
o me, so, go, hi, she
VCV syllable division rules: One consonant between two vowels:
 V/CV: 75% of the time you will divide after the first vowel, and the first syllable will be open.
o e/ven, ra/bies, la/zy, tu/lip, se/cret
Tell students when they come to a VCV word/syllable to always try to divide after the first vowel. (long vowel)
If the word does not make sense try to sound it out the 25% of the rule VC/V. (short vowel)
 VC/V: 25 % of the time you will divide after the consonant and the first syllable will be closed.
o ev/er, rab/id, riv/er, dec/ade
Explicit Teaching of the rule:
 What is a syllable?
 Every syllable has to have a vowel
Syllable Division routine:
 How many vowels are there? (How many syllables?)
 Mark the vowels.
 How many consonants are after or between the vowels?
 Mark the consonants.
 Where will you divide? (if a multi-syllabic word)
e/ven (1 open and 1 closed)
V/CV
riv/er (1 closed and 1 r-controlled)
VC/V
Example of V/CV 75%:
V/CV Words:
lazy
even
paper
item
open
meter
clover
tulip
spider
Example of VC/V 25%:
VC/V Words:
minus
omit
dusty
propel
hello
zero
bonus
veto
navy
river
planet
punish
clever
rapid
3. VCe Syllable
VCe syllable
When you have a VCe pattern in a word. The e will make the vowel long.
tap-tape
rob-robe
When students are making “parking spaces” (how many sounds they hear in a word) for their spelling, they know that if
they hear consonant after a long vowel then the word has an e on the end making the vowel long.
Say the word pipe: segment the word using parking spaces _ _ _ I hear the long i so I know the word is spelled p i p e
Closed syllable - VCe syllable
van – vane
cut – cute
scrap – scrape
slim – slime
dim –dime
Multi-syllable words-Students should remember the syllable division rules.
VC/CV and 75% of the time V/CV (first syllable is open ) and 25% VC/V (first syllable is closed)
dis/like (closed /VCe)
de/code (open/VCe)
mis/place (closed/VCe)
un/safe (closed/VCe)
be/side (open/VCe)
lo/cate (open/VCe)
ex/plode (when three CCC, the blends stay together pl) (closed/VCe)
frus/trate (tr stays together) (closed/VCe)
4. R-controlled
R-controlled: An <r> comes after the vowel, ‘controlling’ the sound of the vowel. R-controlled syllables are hard because
there are no definitive rules
Sound variations of r-controlled:
R-controlled: ar
 ar in an unaccented syllable says /er/: dollar, collar
 ar as a suffix says /er/ : poplar, angular
 ar can also say /or/ after a w: war, ward
R-controlled: or
 or after a w says /er/: work, worm, word
 or in an unaccented syllable at the end of a word sys /er/: doctor, professor, donor
 or can make the sound /or/ when in an initial or medial position of a word: acorn, pork, for, snort
 or can make the /er/ sound when the are in an unaccented syllable at the end of a word: actor, captor, governor,
operator (it does not always act as a suffix that changes the word to a noun) factor, rumor, prior
 or can make the /er/ sound when it follows the letter w: word, work
R-controlled:/er/
There are three spelling of /er/ er, ir, ur er is the most used
 er: in a word when followed by a consonant
medial: person, clerk, certain, adverb, concert, permit
 er: used as a suffix to create a noun or pronoun
archer, banker, camper, burner, boxer
 er: as a suffix at the end of word to create a verb
barter, filter, litter
 er: suffix to create an adjective
Comparative adjectives: bluer, damper
the /er/ sound can be spelled with ir
 initial: irk
 medial:chirp, flirt, thirst
 final: fir
the /er/ sound can be spelled with ur
 initial: urge, urban
 medial: curl, return
 final: fur
or and ar can say /er/ in an unaccented syllable
doctor, dollar or after a w worth, word, worship
5. Vowel Team
Vowel Team Syllables: A vowel team syllable includes vowel sounds spelled with more than one letter. Sometimes,
consonant letters are used in vowel teams.
These are hard-teach explicitly (see chart below)
Example of explicit teaching:
 Vowel team ai is usually at the beginning and middle of a base/root. (vowel team syllable)
 Vowel team ay is usually at the end of the base/root. (vowel team syllable)
 Vowel team oa is usually at the beginning and middle of a base/root. (vowel team syllable)
 Vowel team ow is usually at the end of a base/root. (vowel team syllable)
Spellings of
Long a
At the
end of a
syllable or
(open
syllable)
a
ta/ble
In the
middle of a
base word
or syllale
At the end
of a base
word
Spellings are not used as often
a_e
cake
ai
(n, l)
rain, rail
ay
say
eigh
eight
ei
vein
ey
they
ea
break
(c) ei
ceiling
ey
key
Long e
e
be
ee
feet
ea
seat
y
fun/ny
e_e
Steve
ie
cief
Long i
i
hi
i_e
time
igh
night
y
my
ie
pie
y_e
type
Long o
o
o/pen
o_e
hope
oa
boat
ow
show
ou
shoulder
oe
toe
Long u
/y/ /oo/
u
mu/sic
u_e
cute
ue
cue
ew
few
eu
feud
Long u
/00/
u
ru/by
u_e
rule
ue
clue
ew
few
ou/oo
soup
food
6. Consonant Le
Consonant Le:
Consonant –le syllables are only found at the ends of words and are spelled with a consonant followed by le. The sound of
the le is a schwa sound. Show students how to write the schwa sound / /. The schwa vowel is found in an unaccented
syllable. Any of the single vowel spellings can represent the schwa.
Remember the syllable types when dividing the Consonant –le syllable.
Example of Cle words
wiggle(closed and consonant-le)
little (closed and consonant-le)
stable (open and consonant-le)
bugle (open and consonant-le)
jungle(closed and consonant-le)
staple (open and consonant-le)
puzzle(closed and consonant-le)
throttle closed and consonant-le)
apple(closed and consonant-le)
ripple(closed and consonant-le)
waffle(closed and consonant-le)
paddle(closed and consonant-le)
puddle(closed and consonant-le)
cable (open and consonant-le)
maple (open and consonant-le)