A Note From Your Third Grade Teachers
Third Grade Connections
March 30th, 2017
Dear  Third  Grade Families,

It was a pleasure meeting with each of you and discussing your child's progress. It's hard to believe we're entering the third trimester already. Between the  Wetlands and Economics study, these last few months will be filled with plenty of inquiry, excitement, collaboration and learning. Please be on the lookout for specific emails and updates with our timeline of events.

Last week, a representative from the Rotary Club, Catherine Yaque, presented the  third   graders  with their very own hard back  dictionary . They enjoy using it to look up vocabulary words for reading and science. 

Sincerely,

Jen Guevara & Kathe Bybee
What We Have Been Learning
Reading/Writing
Writer's Workshop has been colorful. The Third Graders have been reading their articles on wetland animals and highlighting important information. They have color-coded the articles into the following categories: Green (where they live), Blue (how they look), Yellow (behaviors), Pink (reproduction) and Purple (fun facts). The process consists of highlighting, conferencing with the teacher, putting their color-coded facts in their own words in Google Slides, and preparing to write a first person narrative from the animal's point of view in Google Docs. 
Science
in Science, students are working on building a model wetlands on a classroom wall and will be learning a song to help them understand the different parts of the estuary. On  April 7th, the Third Graders will be visiting the wetlands at Don Edwards Natural Wildlife Refuge. On  April 19th, we will visit our local wetland bluffs again to investigate the habitat.
Students proudly shared their astronomy projects at the Academic Learning Celebration. 
Math
Along with building arrays, skip counting, and repeated addition, this week students focused on various methods to practice multiplication facts to increase fluency.
The children enjoyed a class on Mars, a planetarium show and exhibit at Chabot. 

Third Graders enjoying their dictionaries, a gift from the Rotary Club. 
Ask Your Child About

Talking with your child is the best way to support classroom learning. The following questions can help you get started.

  • What is the scale size of your organism versus the actual size? How do you know this?   
  • Where does your organism live in the estuary?
  • Do you have any fact strategies to share? 
Celebrating March birthdays
Homework

Thank you for supporting your child with reading daily and signing their planner!

Use games, oral or written practice practice multiplications facts 5 minutes every day this week and 10 minutes next week. Please remember to sign the log each day.
Upcoming Events
Online Auction is Open! Now through Sunday, April 2nd. Over a hundred items are available, including Sea Crest Exclusives, fun teacher excursions and our amazing class projects! Click here to bid now!
Annual Ginger Girvin Scholarship Run is coming up!
  • Enter your original artwork by Monday, April 3rd and your drawing could be on the front of the run t-shirts that will be given out to all students, teachers, and staff. Click here to learn more.

  • Kick-Off Assembly, Friday, April 7th, 8:30 a.m., featuring ultra-marathon runner and former MLB player Eric Byrnes.

  • Scholarship Run, Friday, May 5th. Save the date!
Field Trip to  Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge, April 7th. Students will  study the wetlands first hand. We need chaperones who will also lead groups in activities. No experience is necessary. We are short drivers for this one. Please let us know if you can drive/chaperone. This is another fun one.

Spring Break - No School, Monday, April 10th - Friday, April 14th.

Professional Day - No School, Monday, April 17th.

Field Trip to  Wavecrest, April 19th. Students will visit our local Wavecrest area to investigate the frog habitats and local surroundings. Details to follow.

Third Annual Entrepreneur Fair, April 26th, 8:45 - 10:00 a.m. Details to follow soon.

Clam Dissection, April 28th, 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Students will dissect clams. Please keep your eyes open for a Track it Forward to help with this activity.
Additional Photos & Videos

Do you have photos you'd be willing to share with the school?  Please  click here to upload them to SmugMug, or email us at [email protected].
How to Reach Us
If questions ever arise, please do not hesitate to reach out! We are available by email at  [email protected]  and/or  [email protected] . Email is our preferred method of communication. We will check our email after school daily. If there is an emergency, please call Cathy at the front desk, at 650.712.9892 .
SEA CREST SCHOOL  |  seacrestschool.org  |  650.712.9892