Sweetheart Breakfast! Save the Date!

I’d like to invite you to a Valentine’s Breakfast with your children on

Thursday, February 14th, 2019.

We will be serving a variety of breakfast foods and look forward to a fun time together!

I will be creating a signup genius to send via email. Please be on the lookout for that and sign up for what you’d feel comfortable bringing that day. I will also need some parents to arrive around 7:30 to help cook.

The kids look forward to this breakfast - can’t wait to see you there!

Mrs. Haulk & Miss Pouliot

Week 19

Dear Families,

I hope you are ready for some snow this weekend! I know my family is anxiously awaiting its arrival so we can get out and enjoy some good sledding finally! Also, don’t forget, no school Monday as we observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

In math this week your children have been continuing to learn strategies with multiplication and division facts. Miss Pouliot is doing an amazing job leading small groups through engaging activities. Don’t forget to be studying at home!

In science this week we found out if we could outrun a dinosaur. We learned about looking at animal tracks and analyzing them.

Writing is really coming along! We are working now on an informational piece of writing. They have chosen a topic that they can teach me about. We have learned how to create a logical table of contents. Within that table of contents they are now organizing their chapters. Each day we’re learning something a little more about the contents of the chapter. A lot of editing and revising to be done as we keep learning new strategies!

We learned about two new states this week - Virginia and West Virginia! Ask your child if they can recall a state nickname, capital or major waterway!

Next Wednesday we will have Dedham Pride Day. We will wear Dedham gear that you may have ordered, or school colors.

Please return the attached sheet regarding our Sweetheart Breakfast to be held on Thursday, February 14th. This will be our Valentine’s party and parents are invited to come eat with their children. I will need cooking volunteers as well if you’re available!

Have a wonderful weekend ~ stay warm and enjoy the snowfall!  ~Mrs. Haulk

Week 18

Third grade is on a roll and doing great this week! Miss Pouliot and I are proud of their accomplishments!

We have started a new unit in Science and are excited to be studying how habitats have changed over time. This week our focus was on looking at skulls and jaws of animals to figure out what type of food they ate.

In math we are building multiplication fluency and learning how to work on two-step word problems. Miss Pouliot is teaching math now with me in the room and she is doing a fantastic job! This Thursday was our first fluency quiz. This was to see how quickly your child could recall multiplication facts. We will do this every Thursday and your child will track their progress. I look forward to seeing improvements each week!

In writing we have started a new unit and third graders are learning about informational writing. We will not be researching too much, yet. We will focus on the structure and organizational aspect of how to get our thoughts organized. Our focus for this writing unit will be to teach someone about something we know a lot about already. The topics they’ve picked are awesome!

We are moving on to the Southeast Region of the United States in Social Studies. We will be learning about 2 states per week and will finish with another round of studying states/capitals in about 6 weeks.

Next week we have NWEA testing Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30. Please have your child get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast!

Please remember... studying multiplication facts is now mandatory. Learning these facts will be crucial as we are moving into fractions next. As your child shows me they can master 1-5 and 10 they will move on to 6’s, 7’s, 8’s and 9’s.

I hope you have a great weekend! Stay warm!

~Mrs. Haulk

This week in reading our focus was nonfiction text features! Here's just a sampling of the books we look at...

Week 16 & 17

   Welcome back! I’ve been eager to get back into the swing of things this week and everyone seemed to settle in great. I missed a newsletter the week before vacation, so this will be a combined one!

I’d first like to welcome Grace Pouliot, our new student teacher. She is from the University of Maine and is with us for the next 8ish weeks. Say hi the next time you’re in!

   Just before December break we finished up our unit of study of Holidays Around the World. We ended up visiting 13 different countries and seeing what their traditions look like this time of year. It was neat to see the similarities and differences between some of them. Your child ended the unit with their own suitcase of information from different countries. This should have come home this week!

   Your children are now fast and furiously working to memorize multiplication facts. I will be giving quizzes weekly to see how they are improving. These will provide a baseline for me to use for seeing how they are coming along with mastering the facts. Those who are making adequate progress will move along more quickly to the next math topic. Weekly quizzes will be on Thursdays.

  We finished our unit on the Northeast region of the United States. Your children will now be responsible for learning the states’ names and capitals. We have made flash cards. Please send those back and forth so we can practice at school too. We will also work to place those states on a blank map as well. This quiz will be on Friday.

  Your children have earned a few dojo rewards that I owe them. Two of them will be held on Wednesday, January 9th. Hat day and stuffed animal day. I also owe them a pizza party. We will hold that on Friday, January 11 during the normal lunch time. If anyone would like to sign up to bring chips and drink that would be great! Just shoot me an email :)

    We have moved on to our next science unit called: Habitats Through Time. We are learning about fossils so far and how they help scientists learn about habitats of the past in certain locations.

Have a great weekend! ~Mrs. Haulk and Miss Pouliot

Week 15

    What a whirlwind week here in third grade! We have had so much fun and learned a lot of new interesting facts!

    Our world travel led us to the countries of Australia, Mexico, Canada and Sweden. We will finish with three countries next week and your child will come home with their very own suitcase and passport. :)

Today we had to say thank you and goodbye to Miss Bloom. She has been an amazing student teacher and really got to know your children well. Good luck with your teaching career Miss Bloom!

Our focus in math is multiplication word problems and getting fluent with our facts. We will introduce 5s next week and students will be expected to be practicing these at home via flash cards (Walmart and dollar store have inexpensive ones) or the wrap ups I send home.

Today we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Chewonki. They did a presentation on “Mammals of Maine”. It was very engaging and the students loved it!

Next Wednesday is “ugly sweater day”. I will be out of town Thursday and Friday, but Miss Bloom will be back! Friday is a ½ day and also PJ day! Dismissal is 11:30

           ~ Mrs. Haulk

Week 14

Happy Hanukkah! Our class did such a great job at the concert this week - I loved watching them sing!

  This week in third grade we have been continuing our tour around the world. We made it to the countries of Germany, England, India and Italy. Simon and Elliott taught us how to play dreidel this week too! Next week we will travel to Australia, Sweden, Mexico and Canada.

    Next week we will have our classroom party on Friday. Please find the attached list to see the items we will need. Don’t forget, we’d love to have you join us as well! We will be starting around 12:45-1ish.

New spelling groups started this week. At the beginning of the first and then the end of each trimester I give your child a spelling inventory. This is a way for me to assess where they fall in the spelling continuum. This also helps me place them in the most appropriate group for their current spelling abilities. Practicing these words at home is huge - please make sure to find time for that!

Next Wednesday’s theme day is Grinch - have fun! Have a great weekend!    ~Mrs. Haulk

This week's books...

Newsletter image:

Week 13 (a little late!)

Third grade has started our tour around the world with our unit on traditions celebrated in different countries! This week we first made a suitcase and got handed out our very own passports. The first three countries that we visited were Israel, Netherlands and Greenland. We learned about Hanukkah, about Sinterklaas from the Netherlands and about the traditions celebrated in Greenland. We made our own dutch “wooden shoes” too!

Next week is the Holiday Concert! It is on Wednesday evening at 5:30. Your kids will come to the classroom anytime after 5:15. Please do not come earlier than that. My door will be locked and I won’t be here until 5:15 either! Holiday Concert attire is nice clothing. Fancy if you’d like, not so fancy (but nice) if you’d prefer.

Our holiday party will be on Friday, December 14th. I invite parents to participate from 1:00-2:45 if you’d like! :) We will be making ornaments, doing crafts and having FUN. A sign up sheet will be coming home regarding needs for that day.

We have some fun theme days coming up in December! Please see the calendar below and keep them handy!

I know homework is “optional”, but all activities sent home help to reinforce our units of study in the classroom. Please be encouraging your child to work on a few items each week. We had A LOT of kids earning homework points this week - that’s awesome!

Week 12

Week 12 may have been short, but boy was it fun! I was really hoping for school on Friday to finish up a couple of projects, but Mother Nature had other plans!

Our focus this week was the history of the First Thanksgiving and all the details that surround it. We learned why the pilgrims came to the New World, what happened when they arrived and how the first year of events played out. We learned about the Mayflower, Squanto, Samoset, the Wampanoag Tribe, what the pilgrims learned from the Native Americans and about the life of pilgrim children once they arrived at Plymouth Plantation. With so many kiddos having so many questions we even got into the history of the events that transpired after the First Thanksgiving. Totally no part of our original plan, but I love their inquiring minds! Miss Bloom created a timeline of events and taught them about these important dates in history.

In math we are really working hard at the multiplication unit. Our focus right now is learning our x2 and x3 facts. Please keep practicing at home!

After the kids return from Thanksgiving break we will be finalizing their personal narratives, which was the focus of Trimester 1 writing. We will invite you in for a writing celebration when we are ready to share!

Please mark your calendars!!! December 5th is the Winter Concert and December 14th is our ornament making afternoon. This will be our holiday party as I will be out of town the two days before December break. We’d love to have parents join us on the 14th, if you’d like! This will also be the kids last official student teaching day with Miss Bloom. We will honor her as well. Elisa and/or I will be in touch with details and items that we will need. Thank you!

Our picture book a day books were...

A view of our month!...

Week 11

It’s hard to believe that we are 11 weeks in and nearing the end of the first trimester!

If you are in town the week of Thanksgiving, please call Mrs. White to schedule a parent/teacher conference with me. I would love to chat with you about your child’s progress and take time to connect! If you are away or there are no time slots that work, email me and we will set up another time. I’d love to be able to meet with ALL of you! :)

This week our theme was learning about Veterans Day and the election. We had lots of really good discussions!

In math we are moving right along with our unit in multiplication. We learned about the Identity property and the Commutative property. See if your child can remember them both! We are now trying to become fluent with our x1, x2 and x3 facts. Please practice the wrap ups at home! Write down when your child practices and I’ll award dojo points!

Please mark your calendars for Friday, December 14th. We will have an ornament making party. This will be my last Friday with the kiddos as I am not going to be in school the Thursday or Friday before Christmas break. If you could find a way to join us, we would love that! Elisa and I will send more information as we near December 14th. We will plan on a 1:00 start time.

Week 10

Another week down in grade 3! It was a bit abnormal for sure with the excitement of Halloween. It was also exciting as our new student teacher, Miss Bloom, joined us on Wednesday for her 8 week stay in our classroom! She is super sweet and kind - I invite you to pop in and say hi sometime!

Friday, November 9th is our Veterans Day celebration. If you can, we’d love to have you here to watch it! It will start at 10:00 am.

Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up the week of Thanksgiving. Conferences are Monday and Tuesday. Also, your child will have no school that week!

Book orders for November will be coming home. These are due by Wednesday, November 7th in hopes that they will be here before Thanksgiving break! :)

In math we have introduced the idea of division and how it’s related to multiplication. We are going back and forth between the two to make a firm foundation. More wrap ups will be coming home to practice those multiplication facts. Please practice at night and mark off on your child’s homework sheet for dojo points!

In writing we are all just about ready to start revising and writing final copies. Hoping to have these ready to share at conferences with you!

In reading we have been learning ways to respond to literature/stories. Your children will be responsible for one reading response per week starting next week. They are excited to start this as they know in 4th grade they’ll be responsible for a chapter book a month; we’re working our way up!

I hope you have a great weekend! As always, any questions, please feel free to reach out at any time! ~Mrs. Haulk

This week's picture books....