Author: DASD

Dallastown Area School District

In This issue

Room 213

Volume 7

March 2011

PSSA	1
Math	2
Science/SS	3
Reading	4
Writing	5
Closing	6

PSSA HELP
Animal Crackers
Fruit Snacks
Small bottled water
Bubble gum
Any other snacks!!

Items Wanted

We could use the following items in our classroom:
Soft Tissues– it’s still sneezing season and we are completely out of tissues! *We are totally out of tissues!
Thank you for the stickers and other items you have sent! I really appreciate it!!

Awaiting Spring

Dates to remember:
March 1– Wacky Socks Day (spirit)
March 2– Read My T-Shirt Day (for read across America)
March 3-Mismatch Day
March 4-Wacky Hat Day
March 11– Rock Star Day (spirit)
March 15-25th: PSSA TESTING
March 17th– St. Patrick’s Day– Green
March 21– No school– Teacher in- service day
March 31– March Madness (spirit)
*See your spirit calendar for details!

PSSA
As we move into the month of March we will continue practicing for the PSSA until the test date. Please see the PSSA HELP box to the left. This year we will not receive snacks from the school so I am asking the parents of room 213 to help! Research shows increased brain activity when consuming food– can you believe it?! During the test students will be allowed to chew bubble gum. I also like to give out one snack per test for the students. Since they are not allowed to get up during the test, it is nice to have a water bottle on each desk. If you are able to help supply our room, please contact me. Thank you!
Math
We will continue working with multiplication facts as the students will be moving into division soon! We will be focusing on PSSA specific skills that need to be reinforced based on our Study Island assessment. Division is taught through the relationship that it has with multiplication. If students do not know their multiplication facts, they will struggle with division so please continue to work with them.
Science/Social Studies
We will be finishing up Social Studies by discussing the branches of government. Next we will move into our study of matter and simple machines in science!
Reading
Students will finish studying How To’s and move into biographies. March is a month of poetry so after we finish with our biographies unit we will move into figurative language as we study how to read and write poetry!

Writing
Last week your child brought home a packet explaining their next writing assignment. They will be required to write a biography about an older individual in their life (the older the better!). We will put the biography together in class writing each section as a whole group. The research must be completed at home and proof read by parents or guardians due to the fact that I may be unfamiliar with certain names and places. I am excited to see what the students will learn through this project!

Closing
Thank you again for continuing to support your child in third grade! I cannot believe we’re entering March! It seems like they’ll be fourth graders before we know it so continuing to work hard to get them where they need to be must be our goal. Thank you!!!

March Birthdays
Ekomobong Inyang– March 1st
Macy Barker– March 12th
Virginia Ball– March 13th
Salma Youssef– March 20th
Maya Ness– March 28th

This story can fit 100-150 words.
The subject matter that appears in newsletters is virtually endless. You can include stories that focus on current technologies or innovations in your field.
You may also want to note business or economic trends, or make predictions for your customers or clients.
If the newsletter is distributed internally, you might comment upon new procedures or improvements to the business. Sales figures or earnings will show how your business is growing.
Some newsletters include a column that is updated every issue, for instance, an advice column, a book review, a letter from the president, or an editorial. You can also profile new employees or top customers or vendors.

This story can fit 150-200 words.
One benefit of using your newsletter as a promotional tool is that you can reuse content from other marketing materials, such as press releases, market studies, and reports.
While your main goal of distributing a newsletter might be to sell your product or service, the key to a successful newsletter is making it useful to your readers.
A great way to add useful content to your newsletter is to develop and write your own articles, or include a calendar of upcoming events or a special offer that promotes a new product.
You can also research articles or find “filler” articles by accessing the World Wide Web. You can write about a variety of topics but try to keep your articles short.
Much of the content you put in your newsletter can also be used for your Web site. Microsoft Publisher offers a simple way to convert your newsletter to a Web publication. So, when you’re finished writing your newsletter, convert it to a Web site and post it.

This story can fit 75-125 words.
Selecting pictures or graphics is an important part of adding content to your newsletter.
Think about your article and ask yourself if the picture supports or enhances the message you’re trying to convey. Avoid selecting images that appear to be out of context.
Microsoft Publisher includes thousands of clip art images from which you can choose and import into your newsletter. There are also several tools you can use to draw shapes and symbols.
Once you have chosen an image, place it close to the article. Be sure to place the caption of the image near the image.

Room 216

This story can fit 100-150 words.
The subject matter that appears in newsletters is virtually endless. You can include stories that focus on current technologies or innovations in your field.
You may also want to note business or economic trends, or make predictions for your customers or clients.
If the newsletter is distributed internally, you might comment upon new procedures or improvements to the business. Sales figures or earnings will show how your business is growing.
Some newsletters include a column that is updated every issue, for instance, an advice column, a book review, a letter from the president, or an editorial. You can also profile new employees or top customers or vendors.

This story can fit 150-200 words.
One benefit of using your newsletter as a promotional tool is that you can reuse content from other marketing materials, such as press releases, market studies, and reports.
While your main goal of distributing a newsletter might be to sell your product or service, the key to a successful newsletter is making it useful to your readers.
A great way to add useful content to your newsletter is to develop and write your own articles, or include a calendar of upcoming events or a special offer that promotes a new product.
You can also research articles or find “filler” articles by accessing the World Wide Web. You can write about a variety of topics but try to keep your articles short.
Much of the content you put in your newsletter can also be used for your Web site. Microsoft Publisher offers a simple way to convert your newsletter to a Web publication. So, when you’re finished writing your newsletter, convert it to a Web site and post it.

This story can fit 75-125 words.
Selecting pictures or graphics is an important part of adding content to your newsletter.
Think about your article and ask yourself if the picture supports or enhances the message you’re trying to convey. Avoid selecting images that appear to be out of context.
Microsoft Publisher includes thousands of clip art images from which you can choose and import into your newsletter. There are also several tools you can use to draw shapes and symbols.
Once you have chosen an image, place it close to the article. Be sure to place the caption of the image near the image.

Section 5
For writing we will spend a lot of time setting up our writing workshop. This involves discussing the writing process (gathering ideas, prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing), the differences between a sentence and a fragment, the use of capital letters and punctuation, as well as paragraph structure. Another area we will work on is focusing our writing and how to narrow down to one idea and develop that idea into a story.
Section 6
In social studies we will begin the year by discussing what a community is and how we can effectively build our classroom community. We will look at the role of each member of a community and the concepts of responsibility and respect. New to the social studies curriculum this year is Pennsylvania history. We will be learning about how Pennsylvania contributes to the United States by looking at different products and places in Pennsylvania. It is my goal for the students to experience Pennsylvania in a whole new way!

Section 7
I am looking forward to a great year with you and your child. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any point during the year. If you are not able to access a computer or the internet from home, please let me know so I can provide paper copies of important documents that will be posted on our website.

Closing

Phone: 717-741-2881
Extension: 6213
E-mail: brittany.smith@dallastown.net

Dive Into Third Grade!

Room 213

Dallastown Area School District

Check out our classroom website!
www.smiththirdgrade.weebly.com