Whats Up? * AIMS ! and...…… *Rules/Respect *Rights/Responsibilities *Listening/Following Directions *Procedures/Routines *Problem Solving Skills *Manners/Courtesy *Cursive *Prefixes/Suffixes *Main idea/supporting details *Cause/Effect *Drawing conclusions *Adjectives *Sequencing/time order clues *Fact/Opinion *Writing summaries *Writing narratives *Multiplication *Division *Elapsed Time *Counting Money *Discrete Math/Number combinations *Logical problem solving/critical thinking *Geography/mapping skills Our Class News No.30 4/16-4/20 Spelling Words NO Spelling words this week! What’s coming! 4/16-20…AIMS TESTING WEEK, all week. Our third grade schedule follows: Tuesday: Reading, pt. 1 Math, pt.1 Wednesday: Reading, pt. 2 Math, pt. 2 Thursday: Reading, pt. 3 Math, pt. 3 4/17…..PTO Panda’s Night 4/19…..Midterm of 4 th quarter 4/20…..Make-up Testing (due to tardies or absences) and…..AIMS Celebration Day!!! 4/23…..Midterms come home today Vocabulary Words NO new vocabulary words this week! ! Keep Reading!

A note from me… Well…..this is the week you have heard about probably since before your child ever started school! This is the week of the famous (or infamous!)Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards, otherwise known as the AIMS test. By now you have heard plenty about it, read about it, and hopefully even taken a practice test or two with your child. The AIMS test begins in third grade, so this is your child’s first experience with the assessment. Tuesday begins our first day of testing and we continue throughout the week, with make-ups given on Friday for students who were absent or tardy. You will find our schedule for the week on the previous page. Thank you so much for your support in making sure that your child gets to bed on time, eats a healthy breakfast, and arrives at school on time. Those are always good habits to cultivate, but they are especially vital to your child’s success this week. I hope you have checked out the AIMS page on our class website re: important preparation information and testing strategies to review with your child. Your child’s positive attitude and excellent effort will go a long way in determining their testing success! Please remember that the first bell rings at 7:40, and the tardy bell at 7:45. Our first testing session begins immediately following announcements, so students who arrive after we have begun testing will remain in the office until we are finished. These students will participate in the make up schedule on Friday. Try laying out clothes, backpacks, etc. the night before to help with the morning rush. We are still trying to be winners of our “Beat the Bell” contest, without any tardies for an entire month. Thanks for helping your child be on time, especially this week! Thanks to all of you who have provided treats/snacks for the students to enjoy during our testing week. It helps to make our week a little more exciting and not quite so stressful. Chewing gum is a big thrill they are all looking forward to, especially since it is one of those taboo/off limits things to do at school. This is the one time of the year when we do chew gum, and actually encourage it. However, it is tightly controlled! I provide the sugarless, mint flavored gum for each student---- one piece per testing session (2/day). Students chew it only during testing, and it is then spit out in the “Gum Cup” before leaving the classroom. The research supports chewing mint flavors helps with thinking skills and also releases stress----no tutti-frutti or banana cream pie flavors! If your child brings in gum, it will be sent home. As mentioned last week, it a student is found to be wasting time/dawdling or goofing off, zipping through any of the material without carefully reading, not showing their work on the mathematical sections, not taking the time to carefully and thoroughly check their work, etc., the parent will receive a phone call that day to inform them of the situation. An AIMS Celebration will be held Friday morning for our students who worked carefully and sincerely did their best. (Our AIMS Celebration for the third grade classes will be spending some time at Falcon Hill Park Friday morning.) The mystery word is AIMS. Students who are absent during the week and miss testing will participate in the make-up sessions, beginning Friday. Attendance is very important this week, but if your child is truly ill, it is better to keep them home. A sick child will not be able to do their best, so that is when making up the test later would be in their best interest. As you are well aware, there are AIMS practice tests available online for your child to review. We will have lighter homework load this week, because of AIMS, but students still need to practice reading, reasoning, and thinking skills so those little minds will be sharp! “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins….not through strength but by perseverance.” ~~ H. Jackson Brown