Third Grade News Summer Work Websites & More Workbooks Room 205 Mrs. Weis’ Class June 2016 Summer Work Do you know that students lose about 60% of what they have learned over the school year over the summer?! It’s called summer brain drain and we see the effects of this when students arrive to the classroom in the Fall. What teachers notice most is that students come into the new grade with lacking skills and low pre-assessments. To keep up the “balancing act” over the summer, allow some time everyday for your child to practice, review and possibly get ahead. Your child’s portfolio is both a collection and snapshot of your child’s strengths, weaknesses and progress throughout the school year. I always give all of my students the opportunity to reflect and revise their work. I have noticed that some students are not taking the time to check over their work or self correct their work when they have received a poor grade on an assessment. Please go through your child’s portfolio to see what you signed and returned that your child did not self reflect and correct their mistakes on. It is very important to self correct and understand why they got an answer wrong. It builds self confidence when they could try again, rethink it, get an answer correct and understand why it is correct. Our math workbooks could serve as practice and review, especially the earlier pages when your third grader didn’t have the skills to check over their work or self correct. Your child should complete the many unfinished pages that we did not complete this year. Take a look at your child’s math assessments and go back into the workbook to focus on areas of weakness. Have your child go back to the word problems to show their mathematical using the RDEW problem solving model. Take a look at other books that your child has brought home. Unfinished pages of workbooks that we did not use or finish could be extra practice and review all summer long.             Websites & More Workbooks There are many great websites out there that your child could learn and have fun on. Compass Learning is one to definitely utilize this summer. The educational links on our school’s website is another useful one. Sheppard Software online has tons of great math games to practice and review learned skills. We loved Khan Academy, Ten Marks and Discovery Ed too! Want more workbook practice? In years past, teachers have suggested that parents purchase summer skills workbooks to help reinforce these skills. These workbooks have been highly recommended by many families over the years. You can find information regarding these workbooks at the following website www.summerskills.com. We suggest that you purchase the grade level that your child has just completed. However, if your child is extremely high in a particular subject area, you may want to consider purchasing the next grade level. We do not order these workbooks at school, this is for each family to decide individually. Your Turn! Here are some fun summer ideas to help you maintain balance: Your child should read everyday! Ask your child to respond to a story orally or written so they can keep up their comprehension and reading strategies. It's a good idea for your child to write after reading. Keeping a summer journal is a great way to continue writing this summer. Practice addition/subtraction and multiplication/division math facts frequently. Play math games and math sprints.