What Plants Need

Are you looking forward to Plant Jeopardy on Friday? I know I am! I can't wait to see you show your stuff in a friendly plant battle. Here is a song to help you review the needs of a plant. Enjoy!

A Seed Needs

To the tune of "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay"

I see you are a seed,
Tell me what do you need,
I need some soil to grow,
And then the sun to glow,
Water to make me wet,
Air for my leaves to get,
Space for my roots to spread,
Now I'm a plant.

Iram Khan

Newsletter

Social Studies

This week we will learn about another Native American tribe of the United States: The Cherokee. We will learn about their lifestyle in the rolling hills of the southeastern part of our country. We will also learn about how the arrival of the Europeans eventually resulted in the forced movement of the tribe to Oklahoma in an event known as The Trail of Tears. Despite this horrific event, many elements of their culture remained intact. We will discuss how the Cherokee were able to pass on and learn about their family traditions; we will also be making connections to how we learn about our own family histories. The quiz will be Friday.

Science

The unit test on plants will take place next Monday, October 4^th. No study guide will be sent home, however, students are welcome to bring home their science notebook and/or green folder to study and prepare. We will play Plants Jeopardy in class on Friday to study and prepare together. Students will need to know the parts of plants, the functions of plant parts, the needs of plants, as well as how plants can be grouped.

Math Workshop

We will have our weekly math quiz tomorrow, which will cover elements of Calendar Math that have been discussed in August and September. In math workshop, we will continue working on story problems, however, this week subtraction strategies will be reintroduced and discussed.

Plant Experiments

Our plant experiments are really coming along. As you know, we have four different experiments that are currently germinating in our classroom. Have you told your family about the progress of your plant? Have you told them which experiment is yours (light vs. dark, air vs. no air, Jell-o vs. soil vs. nothing, or water vs. orange juice)? It is so exciting to see some of our predictions coming true.

Perhaps our classroom experiments have gotten you more interested in performing other plant-based experiments of your own. If this is the case, then you are in luck. I have just the thing for you! Today you took home a username and password for a cool website called gizmos. I have already prepared an activity for you on this site that allows you to set up plant experiments all your own. So, pull out that yellow log in info sheet and get to it! Be sure to leave a comment about your experiment. You can even print the data and bring it in to share in class! Happy planting!

Newsletter Info

Social Studies
This week’s lesson focuses on the Navajo, a Native American tribe that existed long ago and is still around today in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. We will learn how these people adapted to their desert environment and learned to utilize the resources available there. We will also discuss the cultural traditions and religious ceremonies of the tribe. The quiz will be on Friday.

Science
There will be a quiz on Thursday. Students will need to know the structures (parts) of a plant, as well as their functions in helping the plant to live and grow. Students should study their notebooks and green packets to prepare; the blog is another great study tool. Take a peek into your child’s notebook and packets; are they using time wisely to complete their work?
The rest of the week will be spent conducting observations of our student generated plant experiments. Ask your child about their experiment. We will also begin discussing how plants are grouped (i.e. deciduous and coniferous), as well as how plants respond to changing seasons.

Math Workshop
There will be a math quiz on Tuesday, focusing on groups of 10, groups of 100, standard and expanded form, locating numbers on the 1,000 chart, ordering 3 digit numbers, and counting up and down the 1,000 chart by multiples of 10. These are all skills we have been working on for the past four weeks, so they should be very familiar to your child.

This week we will continue developing and practicing strategies for solving story problems and equations involving 3 digit numbers. We will also be learning a new game: Collections Match, which will reinforce this concept. If you would like to play a round with your child, encourage them to check out a deck of Collection Cards. Observe their strategies. Do they keep track of the steps in their strategy work? Are they accurate in their computations? Do they break the numbers apart efficiently (either by place value, multiples of 10 and 100, or combinations of 10 or 100)?

Newsletter

Social Studies
Hopefully your child is falling into the routine of bringing home their blue social studies folder to prepare for Friday’s quiz. Please take the time to chat with them about the main ideas of this week’s lesson: Our Land and Resources. Encourage them to connect the main ideas to their own life or share stories from our class discussions. This practice helps students to gain understanding of the material; simply rereading it does not guarantee understanding. This week we will focus on the natural resources available in our environment, such as water, soil, air, and other living things. We will discuss specific examples of landforms and resources, from the Mississippi River to the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Science
Our focus on the functions of stems and roots continues this week as we experiment with gravity’s role in plant growth. For example, what would happen to a germinated plant if we hung it upside down? Would the roots grow up or curve around and grow down? Which way will the stem grow? Or, what if we planted a germinated plant in soil on its side…would the roots grow sideways? Check with your child at the end of the week to see what we’re observing in these student generated experiments. There will be a quiz next week on the parts of a plant and their functions. Look for more information in the student planner this week.

Math Workshop
Our first math homework quiz will be tomorrow (Tuesday), as previously mentioned in the student planner. It will cover the material from the first three homework sheets. Students were instructed to make corrections as we reviewed these sheets in class, in order to be sure these sheets could be used as study tools. These sheets can be filed at home or discarded after the quiz.
In math workshop, we will be continue working on place value with story problems that involve adding and subtracting two and three digit numbers and finding the number of 10s or 100s in a given sum. Students are encouraged to use the two strategies that are most comfortable for them (the first to solve, the second to double check). They are required to form an equation before attempting to solve the problem; they are also asked to label their solutions. Please help them to follow the same routine when assisting with homework.

Plant Songs

Our standards say that as third graders we are to know the structures (parts) of a plant, as well as the function (job/role) of those structures. Here are two fun songs that can help you review some of the things we've been researching in class and recording on our Plant Structure and Function Chart.



Do You Know the Parts of Plants? Tune: Head, Shoulders, Knees, And Toes


Do you know the parts of plants,
Parts of plants?
Do you know the parts of plants,
Parts of plants?
All kinds of plants that grow and grow and grow.
Do you know the parts of plants,
Parts of plants?

The roots hold the plant in place,
Plant in place.
The roots hold the plant in place,
Plant in place.
The roots store food and water, too.
The roots hold the plant in place,
Plant in place.


The stem moves water up the plant,
Up the plant.
The stem moves water up the plant,
Up the plant.
The stem brings water to the leaves.
The stem moves water up the plant,
Up the plant.


The leaves soak up the sun,
Soak up the sun.
The leaves soak up the sun,
Soak up the sun.
The sun helps the plant to grow and grow and grow.
The leaves soak up the sun,
Soak up the sun.


The flower grows into a fruit,
Into a fruit.
The flower grows into a fruit,
Into a fruit.
Inside the fruit are little tiny seeds.
The flower grows into a fruit,
Into a fruit.


Parts of Plants Song (Tune: Muffin Man)

Oh, do you know the parts of plants,
The parts of plants, the parts of plants?
Do you know the parts of plants
That make them grow and grow?
The roots, they hold the plant in place,
The plant in place, the plant in place.
The roots they hold the plant in place
Soak up minerals and water, too.

The stem moves water up the plant,
Up the plant, up the plant.
The stem moves water up the plant
Brings water to the leaves.

The leaves soak up the rays of sun,
The rays of sun, the rays of sun.
The leaves soak up the rays of sun,
And help the plant make food.

The flower grows into a fruit,
Into a fruit, into a fruit.
The flower grows into a fruit,
Which holds the tiny seeds.

Now you know the parts of plants,
The parts of plants, the parts of plants,
Now you know the parts of plants,
That make them grow and grow.


Enjoy singing these for your family at home. Grab a hairbrush (microphone) and get singing!

Newsletter

Social Studies
This week we will examine the geography of Earth's land and water. We will focus on three popular landforms: plains, plateaus, and hills. We will discuss how different landforms affect the communities near them. In addition, we will discuss the benefits of living near water (i.e. salt water or fresh water). The quiz will be on Friday of this week. Please encourage your child to take advantage of the opportunity to bring home their blue folder to study each night.


Science
We've spent the past week germinating (sprouting) bean seeds and researching how the four main parts of a plant (root, stem, leaf, and flower) each have a function (job) in helping the plant survive. Ask your child about their plant. How has it changed during the last week? What have they observed? Discuss the role of the leaves and roots in the survival of the plant. This week we will continue investigating the functions of the stem and flowers, while developing our own plant investigations.

Math Workshop
We will continue developing our knowledge of the Base Ten Number System up to 1,000, while learning to represent the structure of 3-digit numbers as being composed of 100s, 10s, and 1s (i.e. standard form to expanded form). We will work to develop our ability to solve addition problems by breaking numbers down (decomposing) and recombining them. Read the following situation to your child and discuss how they would go about finding a solution: Miss P and Miss Hoffmann are collecting books. Miss P has 68 books. Miss Hoffmann ahs 234 books. If they put their book collections together, how many books will they have in their combined collection?
The district benchmark will be administered (in lieu of the diagnostic) on Friday of this week.