Parents,

We are so excited to welcome your child to the third-grade team! We know this past year has been full of many challenges and we are looking forward to tackling the fall together. Third grade is an amazing year of learning and growing.  Students become more independent and responsible this year.  Third-grade students balance independence with collaborative group learning.  Students will strengthen reading strategies and become more confident independent readers.  Students will learn multiplication/division facts, create stories in Writer's Workshop, explore ancient civilizations, identify and create simple machines, use the scientific method and SO much MORE!  We are excited about being a computer immersion as we integrate computer science into our 3rd-grade curriculum.

Before your children officially embark on summer break, we wanted to share a few suggestions. 

• Choose a few family and friends to write a letter to this summer. Ask your child to write in full sentences, ask questions, and give details. Writing with a purpose makes it relevant and real for your child. Maybe someone will even write back!
• Encourage kindness. Find someone or several others that whom your child can do something simple to create a smile. Deliver cookies, make a card, pick flowers, complete a chore, or sing a song… something simply for a smile. 
• Read with your child. We can’t encourage reading enough. Please visit the library or make books a part of your summer days. Most importantly, let your child see you read to yourself and to them. Let them hear your silly voices. Let them tell you the best parts and predict how it will end.
• Let them play! Give them time to explore, to create, and to imagine. They need time away from electronics and time to explore nature. 
• Let them rest! Let them be bored. Let them solve their own problems. The school year is busy and many days are long. Everyone needs a break and time to rest.

We can’t wait to have our classrooms full of smiles in the fall!  

Sincerely,
The Third Grade Team
Mr. Adamczak, Mrs. Dickerson, Ms. Phoenix, and Mrs. Parker