This year has been an exciting and successful one in our third-grade classrooms. Students have been hard at work mastering their multiplication and division facts. We recently launched our “World of Multiplication Facts,” a classroom initiative where each student moves their car “around the world” on our bulletin board after passing a timed fact test. The motivation is high, and the pride students feel as they advance on their journeys is wonderful to see.

In reading, our class has explored stories from a variety of genres while building important skills in story elements, vocabulary, and foundational spelling. Each week brings new opportunities for creativity in writing as students complete seasonal writing projects—holiday time offers some of the best prompts! Along with writing, students practice typing each week and type at least one final writing piece each month, giving them valuable experience in digital literacy.

Because third grade is the first year of standardized testing, our students have also been practicing weekly testprep questions to help them feel confident and prepared for the tests in March. Their effort, focus, and determination during these sessions have been impressive.

We are fortunate to have an incredible group of students this year—kind and hard-working. Their positive attitudes and willingness to try their best make our classrooms a wonderful place to learn each day.

As we celebrate the holiday season, our third graders and staff would like to wish the community a warm and joyful Christmas filled with peace, kindness, and cheer.