Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a chance to look over your child’s work from week 1and see the great job they are doing.  Attached is your child’s work for week 2.  The students began testing in subjects this week and have done very well.  Here is the outline of the work for week 2.

Arithmetic
The students will continue to review and strengthen their skills in: addition and subtraction facts through 12, measurements, multiplication facts (0, 1, and 2), subtraction with borrowing, speed drills, and math puzzles such as 6+3-4×2+5+2-4=13. They will test in these areas next week.

Language
The students will continue getting familiar with interrogative and declarative sentences.   They are also learning how to: change an interrogative sentence into a declarative one and visa versa, answer questions in complete sentences with correct punctuation, and have been introduced to exclamatory sentences.  They will test in these areas next week.

Spelling
The class has tested in Spelling List 2 and has received List 3.  We are still working on our first poem, “Overheard in an Orchard” and will recite it from memory next week.

Penmanship
The students have completed their first Penmanship Test.  They have continued working through the cursive alphabet and have completed I through R.  They are also answering questions about animals by looking up the information in the dictionary.

Reading
The class has completed the review of the phonics sounds and special blends.  They are continuing their reading in the “Paths to Adventure” book and have read pages 33-67; answering questions regarding the stories they have read.  During this reading, the students are learning many new words and the definition of those words.

Science
The students had a great time learning about the 5 senses.  In week 2, they reviewed the Nervous System, learned about the human eye and ear and protection of the ear, and reviewed the different parts of the eye and ear.  We have also enjoyed doing several experiments.

A poster will be sent home for your child to complete entitled, All About Me!”  I encourage you to help them make it exciting, colorful, and filled with all types of things that show everyone who they are.  We will share and post these in our classroom for all to see!

My Sincere Thanks,
Mrs. Chamblee

FEBRUARY / MARCH

3rd Grade: 

• MATH: students are learning about fractions and reviewing Roman Numerals, multiplication, and division. 
• LANGUAGE ARTS: the students are working on sentence structure and identifying parts of a sentence.  By the end of March the students will be able to identify nouns, verbs, helping verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subjects, and predicates. 
• LITERATURE: The 3rd grade students have finished reading The Secret in the Maple Tree.  In March they will start reading the Christian classic, Pilgrim’s Progress.  

4th Grade: 

• MATH: we are working on common factors, advance application of fractions, multiplication, division, and Roman Numerals. 
• LANGUAGE ARTS: the students are working on sentence structures and identifying verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and helping verbs. 
• LITERATURE: The students just finished reading School Days With the Millers.  Next, they will be reading Wisdom and the Millers, and they will finish the school year with the Christian classic, Pilgrim’s Progress.

COMBINED SUBJECTS: The combination class is working together on Spelling 4, Science 4, and History 3. 

• SCIENCE: the students are wrapping up the unit on “life in the sea”.  Next, they will be exploring “life in space”. 
• HISTORY: the students will be studying Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Clara Barton, Ulysses S. Grant, and Louisa May Alcott.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoy teaching your child with the A Beka curriculum.  It is a constant learning experience for the students, and a gratifying experience for the teacher.

Welcome, from your teacher, Mrs. Juli Zamacona.  I am so excited about this new school year.  Our new curriculum; A Beka Books; is fabulous. Its structure allows me to spend quality time with each student, in each subject. 

During the first quarter, the 3rd and 4th grade students will study the lives of heroes in history: Christopher Columbus, John Smith,  Pocahontas, Miles Standish, Squanto, and William Penn. Science studies will include: insects, plants, birds, matter, energy, geology, oceanography, and astronomy.  The students will also study the state birds & flowers along with the provinces in Canada. In Language the 3rd grade students will learn how to write complete sentences; declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory; while the 4th graders will learn how to construct: fragment, declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. Math studies will focus on: 3rd grade multiplication, and 4th grade division. All of the students will work on penmanship, spelling/poetry, and reading.

To complement our curriculum, I will put together field trips to include visits to places such as the: zoo, ocean, redwoods, and a California mission.  Let me know if you have any suggestions for great field trips.

On Thursday, April 10th, my class (1st - 3rd) and Mrs. Grave’s class (4th - 6th) will travel to the Sonoma County Fair Grounds for Agricultural Days. We will depart from the school promptly at 8:30 a.m., allowing us to be ready to explore the exhibits by 9:00 a.m. We will take time for snacks and will remain at the fairgrounds for lunch following the conclusion of the event. A total of 28 students are attending the field trip, so we are in need of 4 more drivers. Please speak to me if you are able to drive for this field trip.  Each adult in attendance will be responsible to chaperon 5 students as we tour the exhibits and the fairgrounds.

The move to our new classroom has been completed. The LLC & MLC classroom is now located in Room 1(previously Mrs. Abshire’s K-4 classroom). This new arrangement will allow Mrs. Charon & Mrs. Zamacona to help supervise each other’s classroom. On Thursday we put a new coat of paint on the walls, and Friday we started putting the posters up. I hope each of you get a chance to come in and check out the new arrangement.