Newsletter for the week of 9/27/2010

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Asalamu Alaikum Third grade parents,

The school year has been off to a great start alhamdullillah and we have been very busy in the Third grade at Al-Ihsan. We have completed chapter 1 of our unit on living things in Science and we will be having our chapter 1 test this Thursday inshallah. Students will bring home their Science book along with a complete study guide outlining what the test will cover on Monday. Students will be expected to know the vocabulary of the chapter which is located in the mini-vocabulary book that they made in class. Students will also be expected to name the parts of a plant cell and the parts of an animal cell. Students will be asked to give an example of an organisms development which was talked about in class. I believe that students are ready to be tested on the material, they love Science class. Guided reading groups will start on Monday, September 27 inshallah. We will have a 90 minute block of reading, writing, and grammar every single day. Students have been placed in a group according to their ability level, and each group will meet with me at least three times every week while the other groups are given independent reading and writing activities. Small group instruction is essential to student success. In math we have completed Chapter one of Houghton Mifflin Math. We learned how to write numbers in expanded form, word form and standard form, place value up to ten-thousand, rounding off numbers to the tens and hundreds place and are starting the three times table. In Michigan studies we have finished a chapter on Michigan georgraphy where students were taught the five great lakes, their locations, which ones border Michigan and which one does not. They were also taught which 4 states border the state of Michigan, Michigan's two parts, the Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula and the capital of Michigan. Students should also know that a county is a part of a state and that our county is Wayne county, and finally that the state of Michigan is one of 50 United States. I am confident that if you ask our children about any of these concepts they will be able to explain in detail. Last but not least we have started the writing process and learned about the writing trait "organization". We are now working on our own personal narratives and have completed the pre-writing part of it.  Our students have been working very hard and I am very proud of them. If you have any questions or concerns I can be reached at maha.mustafa1971@yahoo.com. I can also meet with parents during my prep time which is from 10:30 - 12:05 every day. Jazzakum Allah Khairan for your help and cooperation.

Sister Maha Mustafa