3rd

Important Dates:

• Friday, March 20 – Spring Forward to Fourth Grade during Parent Coffee – Third grade families are invited to visit fourth grade from 8:30 – 8:50!
• Saturday, March 21 – Saturday Series 9:00am 
• Tuesday, March 24 – PFA Meeting (Zoom link to be sent out) 
• Friday, March 27 – Freedom Friday and 11:30 Dismissal
• Saturday, March 28 – Celebrate! 
• Thursday, April 2 – 11:30 am, Early Dismissal for Easter Weekend
• Monday, April 6 – No School
• Tuesday, April 7 – Classes Resume

Click the link below to stay up to date on more whole-school events! 

https://here.wcdsedu.com/events/

Greetings Third Grade Families!!

🎨✨Our students are creating some truly incredible artwork that will be featured in this year’s annual auction at CELEBRATE WCDS! Each piece showcases their creativity, imagination, and hard work—making these one-of-a-kind masterpieces something you won’t want to miss bidding on. **Stay tuned for upcoming sneak peeks!! 🎨✨

⚖️📏 Math: Students explored how to find the area of composite figures by breaking larger shapes into smaller rectangles and adding the areas together. They practiced using multiplication and addition to determine the total area of each figure. In another lesson, students were introduced to the concept of mass, learning that mass measures how heavy an object is. They compared the mass of everyday objects and began exploring how mass can be measured using metric and standard units.

📚 ELA: Students explored new vocabulary from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, discussing the meanings of interesting and descriptive words from the story. They practiced using these words in sentences and talked about how authors choose vocabulary to make stories more exciting. During phonics lessons, students focused on the wr spelling pattern, learning that the w is silent in words like write, wrap, and wrist. They read and sorted wr words and practiced using them in their own writing.

✏️🎉Writing: Students practiced wrapping up their “how-to” writing with fun and satisfying endings that remind readers what they just learned. They added cheerful closing sentences that encourage the reader to give the steps a try and feel like a “how-to” expert too!

💰🛍️ Deep Dive: Students learned about goods and services and discussed what it means to be consumers and producers in everyday life. They explored examples of goods people make and services people provide, and talked about how consumers make choices about what they buy. To make the learning extra fun, students participated in a paddle-raising auction, where they used fake money to bid on different items and practiced making thoughtful spending decisions.

CELEBRATE WCDS is just around the corner!! Join us for an evening of FUN and GAMES at everyone’s favorite annual event. See the Flyer below for more!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Miss Madison and Mrs. Buck

  **Please contact us BOTH if you have any questions or concerns this school year: 

mkmcdonald@wcdsedu.com & pbuck@wcdsedu.comOr Talking Points (send to both if you can)

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• March 2nd through the 6th: Spring Break
• Monday, March 9th: Classes Resume
• Friday, March 27th: Early Dismissal @ 11:30 am
• Saturday, March 28th: Mark your calendars for CELEBRATE!

What a BIG week we’ve had in third grade! We have been busy learning, creating, measuring, building, and reading our hearts out!

We are so lucky in third grade to have extra support built right into our classroom each week! Mrs. Lori joins us five days a week to work alongside students in phonics and reading. She provides targeted support, helps strengthen foundational skills, and gives students additional practice and confidence right in the moment. Having her consistent presence allows us to meet students exactly where they are and keep them growing every single day. Mrs. Bishop is with us four days a week supporting math instruction. She works with small groups for reteaching and skill-building, while also providing enrichment opportunities to extend learning for students who are ready for more challenge. Having three teachers in one classroom is truly a gift! It allows us to differentiate, collaborate, and give your child more individualized attention and support. We absolutely love working together and are so grateful for the team approach that benefits every third grader.

Area and Perimeter Adventures: Third graders have been diving into area and perimeter! Before jumping in, we did a quick review of shapes and their attributes – talking about how we classify shapes into different categories based on their sides and angles. Then, we got hands-on! Yes, we taped the ground! Students worked together to tape off sections of our classroom (including our carpet!) to find the area and perimeter. It was such a fun and meaningful way to see that geometry is truly all around us, even in our own classroom!

How-To Pros in Action: We are officially in writing mode! Students are deep into the writing process. Drafting, revising, peer editing, and improving their work every single day. Each student chose their own “How-To” topic, and they are doing an incredible job breaking down steps clearly and thoughtfully. Be sure to ask your child what stage of the writing process they are in and what their “How-To” is about!

A Deliciously Exciting Novel Study: Our class novel study of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl has been deliciously exciting! We are reading two chapters each day and completing comprehension questions to deepen our understanding of characters, setting, and the plot. Students are loving the adventure inside Willy Wonka’s factory, and discussions have been thoughtful and insightful. Ask your child who their favorite character is and what happened in the factory this week!

Spelling Spotlight: Our spelling pattern this week was the suffix “-est.” We practiced a variety of fun ways such as musical spelling words and engaging word work activities. Our third graders are becoming the strongest spellers around!

Pulleys, Magnets and Gravity: We wrapped up our deep dive on pulleys, magnets, and gravity, and wow – the hands-on learning has been incredible! Students built bridges, experimented with pulleys, explored magnet strength and tested how gravity impacts objects. 

We hope you all have a very wonderful Spring Break! We will truly miss their smiling faces in our classroom, but we can’t wait to see everyone back on Monday, March 9th refreshed and ready for more third grade learning. 

Enjoy the sunshine, the rest and the sweet family time!

Madison and Paula

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Saturday, February 21st: Open House at 9:00 am
• March 2-6th- Spring Break
• Monday, March 9 = Classes Resume
• Friday, March 27th- Early Dismissal @ 11:30 am
• Saturday, March 28th- Mark your calendars for CELEBRATE!
• Several of our WCDS families will be traveling to Chile with FC Wheeling Soccer over spring break, including Miss Meredith and Mrs. Fuentes, and will have the opportunity to visit a local school while they are there. As our students are learning Spanish as a foreign language, we are excited about the chance to support children in Chile who are learning English. If you have any bilingual English/Spanish children’s books at home that you would be willing to donate, they will be shared with the school as a way to support their English language learning. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library books are often bilingual and are a wonderful option to donate! Thank you for helping us share language, learning, and kindness beyond our classroom. Muchas gracias!

Math = Students are learning that equivalent fractions are like math twins—they look different but have the same value. Through hands-on activities and practice problems, they are learning how to find and explain equal fractions. We wrapped up the week, on Friday, by rotating through Math centers to practice and check for understanding.

ELA = In language arts, students are strengthening their spelling skills through engaging activities focused on the “augh” spelling pattern, including reading, writing, and word work. Students continue to actively engage in a book club centered around Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where they share ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and discuss key characters and events. Through guided conversations and activities, students are building comprehension skills while enjoying this imaginative and classic story together. 🍫📚

Writing = Students are learning how to grab a reader’s attention by writing a strong hook to introduce their “how to” writing pieces. They practice using questions, exciting statements, or fun facts to make readers want to keep reading. Students are also developing clear materials lists to help readers know exactly what they need before getting started.

SEL = During Social Emotional Learning, students are learning about Black History Month heroes and the positive character traits they showed, such as perseverance, courage, and kindness. Through stories and discussions, students reflect on how these heroes faced challenges and stood up for what was right. These lessons help students build empathy, respect for others, and an understanding of how they can make a positive difference in their own communities.

Deep Dive = Students enjoyed an exciting field trip to a local science education center, where they explored magnetism and electricity through hands-on activities. They experimented with magnets, circuits, and interactive exhibits that helped bring science concepts to life. This engaging experience sparked curiosity and helped students make real-world connections to their classroom learning. ⚡🧲 Get charged up! Enjoy the photos below, capturing our students’ exciting science explorations.

Miss Madison and Mrs. Buck

  **Please contact us BOTH if you have any questions or concerns this school year: 

mkmcdonald@wcdsedu.com & pbuck@wcdsedu.com

Or Talking Points (send to both if you can)

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Monday, February 16th: Bring a Friend to School Day
• Thursday, February 19th: Third Grade Field Trip to the SMART Center (Information Below)
• Saturday, February 21st: Open House at 9:00 am
• Friday, February 27th- March 8th- Spring Break
• Saturday, March 28th- Mark your calendars for CELEBRATE!
• Several of our WCDS families will be traveling to Chile with FC Wheeling Soccer over spring break, including Miss Meredith and Mrs. Fuentes, and will have the opportunity to visit a local school while they are there. As our students are learning Spanish as a foreign language, we are excited about the chance to support children in Chile who are learning English. If you have any bilingual English/Spanish children’s books at home that you would be willing to donate, they will be shared with the school as a way to support their English language learning. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library books are often bilingual and are a wonderful option to donate! Thank you for helping us share language, learning, and kindness beyond our classroom. Muchas gracias!

We are excited to share that our class will be going on a field trip to the SMART Center on Thursday, February 19th, 2026. Students will be transported to and from the Smart Center using school vans, and we will return to campus before lunch. To help our day run smoothly, please be sure your child arrives at school on time, as we will be departing from the main campus promptly at 9:00 a.m.

We hope everyone stayed cozy, warm and well-rested over the winter long weekend! Even though we were only together for three short days, our third graders jumped right back into learning and filled the classroom with energy, creativity, and lots of smiles.

🔢 Math Moments: In math with Mrs. Buck, students explored fractions and worked on naming fractions as a whole. In Miss Madison’s and Mrs. Bishop’s groups, students focused on unit fractions and connected them to real-life situations, especially tasty ones like pizza! Fractions are quickly becoming a favorite topic here in third grade!

📖 Reading Wrap-Up & What’s Next: This week we wrapped up our book club groups! Over the past few weeks, students read and discussed different books in small groups. Be sure to ask your child which book they read, they’re excited to share! Up next, we’ll be starting a whole-group novel study, and we’re heading straight into the deliciously wild world of Willy Wonka’s factory! 🍫🎩

📝 Writing Like Experts: In writing, we dove into how-to writing and practiced breaking tasks into clear, organized steps. Each student is choosing their own “how-to” topic, and we cannot wait to learn from their ideas and expertise.

💗 Love, Friendship, and Valentine Fun: This week was filled with love and friendship as we celebrated Valentine’s Day together. Students kicked off the fun by solving the mystery of the Poisoned Valentine using reading clues. Be sure to ask your child who they believe committed the crime! It sparked some great discussions!

🏗️ Deep Dive Discoveries: Students became engineers and architects designing and building their own bridges. We were blown away from their creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.

💝Valentine’s Party Celebration: To end the week, we celebrated with a classroom Valentine’s party complete with sweet treats, healthy snacks, drinks, and fun activities – all made possible by you! Thank you so much for your generosity and support! We headed over to our first grade cougar buddies and read them a story called “The Monster Who Lost His Mean” and gave each of our cougar buddies a Valentine’s Day card. We are so proud of the kindness they all share with their first grade friends!

💌 With love from our third grade classroom,

Madison and Paula

• Monday, February 9th: No School 
• Tuesday, February 10th: No School 
• Friday, February 13th: Third Grade Valentine’s Day Party (Information Below)
• Thursday, February 19th: Third Grade to SMART Center (Information Below)
• Our Classroom is getting ready for a sweet and cheerful Valentine’s Day celebration, and we can’t wait! All important details are shared in the picture down below and will also be sent home in students’ folders. We would love your help making this day extra special! Families are invited to sign up to bring a sweet treat, healthy snack, drink, cups and plates, or a fun activity. Just click the SignUpGenius link below to join the fun! Thank you so much for spreading the love and helping us create a day full of smiles, laughter, and friendship! 💕🍭🎉
• Third Grade Valentine’s Day Party Sign Up 

A note from Mrs. Fuentes and Mrs. Shah: Several of our WCDS families will be traveling to Chile with FC Wheeling Soccer over spring break, including Miss Meredith and Mrs Fuentes, and will have the opportunity to visit a local school while they are there. As our students are learning Spanish as a foreign language, we are excited about the chance to support children in Chile who are learning English.

**We are excited to share that our class will be going on a field trip to the SMART Center on Thursday, February 19th, 2026. Students will be transported to and from the Smart Center using school vans, and we will return to campus before lunch. To help our day run smoothly, please be sure your child arrives at school on time, as we will be departing from the main campus promptly at 9:00 a.m.

🍕 What does math have to do with Pizza!? We discussed that A LOT this week as we began learning about fractions! Students identified equal and unequal parts and learned how to name equal parts: halves, thirds, fourths, and more. Instead of saying, “the numbers on the top and bottom,” kiddos learned the math terms: NUMERATOR and DENOMINATOR. Ask your child to tell you which is which!

📝 Write On!! Students were introduced to a new writing purpose called “How To.” We built some background by hearing two stories: “How to Babysit Grandpa and Grandma.” Students were also challenged to write the steps in the process of brushing their teeth. Then….. Some of the kiddos volunteered to read the steps out loud as one of the teachers acted out the steps! It was so fun!!!

🔡 Language arts time this week was spent practicing the OUGH sound, comparing/contrasting, and re-stating questions while forming complete sentence answers. Students worked independently and in small group rotations to practice these skills. We practiced our spelling words through a game of musical “chairs” and the students loved racing to the white board tables to show what they know!

📚 Students continued reading with their book clubs, having meaningful discussions, and flexing their comprehension muscles by answering questions. This round of book clubs will soon be coming to a close. Our next book club will be experienced as a whole class; We are really looking forward to this one as it is centered around a “deliciously fun” book. Stay tuned!!!!

💫 The latest deep dive is science based and centered around forces and motion. Students have been discussing different forces like gravity and friction. Students also explored pushes and pulls during an activity called “Hopper Popper.” Ask your kiddo to tell you more about what they created with a piece of cardboard and a rubber band!

SEL (Social Emotional Learning): This week, students are learning about perspective-taking. Perspective-taking is the ability to understand another’s thoughts, feelings, and point of view. This is an ever-important skill for students and adults to practice, to see how others see the world, work together in groups, and show empathy. Ask your students what they are learning about perspective-taking and share your own insights on how you see life through your own perspective. Talk about how your perspectives are similar or different.

We hope you enjoy your long weekend and we will see you all back on Wednesday!

Paula and Madison

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, February 6th: 11:30 Early Dismissal (No aftercare) and 8 am Parent and Coffee
• Monday, February 9th: No School 
• Tuesday, February 10th: No School 
• Friday, February 13th: Third Grade Valentine’s Day Party (Information Below)
• Thursday, February 19th: Third Grade to SMART Center (Information to come)

Our third grade classroom is getting ready for a sweet and cheerful Valentine’s Day celebration, and we can’t wait! All important details are shared in the picture below and will also be sent home in students’ folders. We would love your help making this day extra special! Families are invited to sign up to bring a sweet treat, healthy snack, drink, cups, and plates, or a fun activity. Just click the SignUpGenius link below to join the fun! Thank you so much for spreading the love and helping us create a day full of smiles, laughter, and friendship! 💕🍭🎉

We had an amazing time celebrating our 100th Day of School! Our third graders have officially reached days of growing, learning, and working hard together. Students enjoyed special activities focused on the number 100, including math challenges, creative writing, reading fun, and hands-on projects. From counting collections to sharing what they’ve learned over the past 100 days, our classroom was full of excitement, teamwork, and smiles. It was a wonderful way to reflect on how far we’ve come and stay motivated for the rest of the school year.

During our recent snow days, it was so wonderful to see our students creating their own learning at home using the activities that were sent. We loved seeing their creativity, effort, and enthusiasm shine through – even from a distance. We hope everyone stayed bundled up, warm, and cozy while enjoying special time at home with family. ❄️☕📚

We hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Madison and Paula

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Tuesday, January 27 – PFA Meeting on Zoom at 7:00 pm
  • If Interested in being on the PFA, please email pfa@wcdsedu.com to get added to the list so you can hear about volunteer opportunities on campus throughout the year
• Friday, January 30th: Freedom Friday and 8:00 am Parent Coffee
• Friday, February 6th: Early Dismissal at 11:30 am (No Aftercare)
• Monday, February 9th: No School
• Tuesday, February 10th: No School (Teacher Professional Day)

In honor of MLK Day, we held a day of service at Wheeling Country Day to give back to the community. We were so grateful to welcome Susan and Linda from Street MOMs into our classroom. They spoke with our students about the important services they provide, what homelessness is, and some of the reasons a person or family may experience homelessness. Their visit truly opened our eyes and sparked thoughtful conversations. Our students were eager to help and proudly worked on making blankets to donate – showing compassion, empathy, and a true desire to make a difference in our community. While the street MOMs were visiting we created a craft with them called Kintsugi to learn about how Street MOMs helps put people back together.

We kicked off our next big math topic… DIVISION! Students learned important division vocabulary and began practicing how to divide by 2, 3, and 4. They are learning to think carefully about equal groups and are already building confidence as they tackle this new concept. We created our own ways to help us remember our vocabulary for division such as “Mr. Dividend helps us with Division like Mr. Jividen helps us at school.” We played boom, snap, clap with division and we had a fun time racing to find the answer to the division problems!

Our book clubs are in full swing. Students continue to meet in their groups, take on roles and engage in meaningful discussions about their texts. We are especially focusing on the main idea, practicing new strategies to identify what a passage is mostly about and how details support the idea. It’s been wonderful to see the students sharing their thinking and learning from one another.

In phonics this week, we tackled “ey” spelling and practiced suffix -ed sounds. Students practiced that -ed can sound like /t/, /d/, or /id/ and the best part? We learned it all through games and hands-on activities. Our third graders stayed engaged while building confidence with these challenging sounds. Phonics was full of fun, focus, and lots of “aha!” moments this week!

We began the week reflecting on Dr. King’s message by writing about “I Have a Dream” and brainstorming ways we can help make the world a better place. We reflected on how Street MOMs is a non-profit that makes the world a better place so our students came up with their own clubs and organizations that would help others as well. Later in the week, students officially launched their informational writing projects by creating strong introductions and identifying clear subtopics.

In West Virginia history deep dive, we explored important state symbols and learned what each one represents and why it is meaningful to our state. We are building a strong connection to our state’s history and identity. Each third grader created their own symbols book which was so fun to participate in. We ended our deep dive with a sweet treat… sugar cookies and icing! Students were challenged with drawing the state of West Virginia on their cookie! We truly enjoyed this deep dive and loved having Mrs. White join us for it!

We hope you enjoy a snowy weekend! Stay warm and safe!

Madison and Paula

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Monday, January 19th: MLK Day of Service: Street Moms Blanket-making 
• Friday, January 30th: Freedom Friday and 8 am parent coffee
• Friday, February 6th: 11:30 Early Dismissal – Winter Long Weekend
• Monday, February 9th: No School 
• Tuesday, February 10th: No School

✖️➗Math: We are learning about multiplication and division fact families and how these related facts are connected. Students practiced using the same three numbers to write both multiplication and division equations, which helps deepen their understanding of how the operations work together.

📚Reading: Students used short texts to practice identifying the main idea and supporting details. Breaking the text into smaller parts helped them focus on what the passage was mostly about and which details supported it. Third graders are continuing with book clubs featuring a variety of engaging titles, including Clementine, Teddy Mars, I Survived: Hurricane Katrina, Ranger in Time: Escape from the Great Earthquake, and Frindle. Students are enjoying the opportunity to read different genres while discussing characters, themes, and important events with their groups. Book club discussions are helping students build comprehension skills and a love of reading.

🔮Grammar: Our third grade kiddos are learning about past, present, and future tense verbs and how they show when an action happens. They practiced identifying and using different verb tenses in sentences and short writing activities. This ultimately helps students make their writing clearer and more accurate.

🌳Deep Dive: West Virginia History: Students are learning about West Virginia’s state symbols and what each one represents. They are exploring symbols such as the state bird, flower, and motto while discussing why these symbols are important to the state’s history and culture. This learning helps students build pride and a deeper understanding of West Virginia.

👏Spelling Bee: Allie got 4th place and will be going to the middle school spelling bee! Cash got 5th place! Way to go!! We are so proud of each third grader as everyone who was present at school participated!!

This week, we held an SEL-based school assembly where Mr. Joe discussed our MLK Jr. Day of Service is coming up. Each grade shared what they are doing, along with the items or supplies they hope to collect. That was followed up by the incredible Mr. Ron Scott (Cousin Ron), as the kids refer to him now. Mr. Scott discussed the importance of one of our WCDS values, respect. Through his playful and engaging storytelling, the kids learned about respecting others, materials, and themselves. We are extremely grateful that our kids were able to learn from him this week and hope to welcome him back soon! 

Miss Madison and Mrs. Buck

  **Please contact us BOTH if you have any questions or concerns this school year: 

mkmcdonald@wcdsedu.com & pbuck@wcdsedu.comOr Talking Points (send to both if you can)

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Wednesday, January 14 – Spelling Bee!
  • Students were sent home with a list of possible words. 
  • The winner advances against middle school, then to the county! 
• Monday, January 19 – MLK Day of Service (More info below)
  • Street Moms and Blanket Making
• Friday, January 30 – Freedom Friday and 8 am Parent Coffee 
• Friday, February 6 – 11:30 Early Dismissal – Winter Long Weekend 
• Monday, February 9 – No School 
• Tuesday, February 10 – No School 

New year… same awesome third graders! We kicked things off with adventures, learning, and lots of reconnecting, and the excitement is already filling our classroom. Buckle up— 2026 is going to be full of growth, memories, and fun!

Math: We are wrapping up our multiplication skills by tackling the 11s and 12s. Our third graders created hands-on tools like our 11s multiplication fact origami, they collaborated with their partners, and used loose parts to strengthen their understanding. As a class, we reviewed that a dozen equals 12, making real-world connections to our learning such as a dozen of donuts!

Reading: Our third grade readers are about to jump into their next book club! Before starting our next book club, all the students participated in a fun mini book tasting to preview the different chapter books that we will be using in the coming weeks. The students quickly wrote down three interesting things that caught their eye about the book and then ranked all five books from their favorite to their least favorite.

Writing: We have some experts in training as our writing focus has been informational writing. Using mentor texts, we explored topics such as Jamaica and Tim Tebow, and we became detectives as we decided whether a text was informational or not. These third graders did a great job finding facts, headings, and clues that helped them determine if the text was factual or opinion based.

SEL (Social Emotional Learning): As we kicked off a new year, we discussed goal setting and what New Year’s resolutions are. Each student created their own goal using a “wheel” that focuses on three main categories: school, home, and our hobbies. Each student then created their three steps on how to make that goal a reality! We can’t wait to cheer them on as they achieve their goal! As a class, we created our own goal of building independence and responsibilities as we prepare for fourth grade!

Deep Dive: We are diving right into West Virginia History, and our third graders are already excited! This will be a two week mini lesson where we will learn all about our West Virginia. We kicked off our learning with a class trip to Northern, where students spent the day learning in our off-campus classroom, visiting the local library to read some new books, and we took a visit to Independence Hall. This hands-on experience sparked lots of curiosity and questions as we began learning all about our state. Our third graders truly enjoyed seeing inside of the courtroom, post office, and they even made their own flags!! What a day!

Our third graders are excited to begin a very special community service project! We are partnering with Street MOMs (Mothers of Many) here in Wheeling, an organization that provides compassionate, non-judgmental support to individuals and families experiencing homelessness and hardship. Street MOMs works to meet immediate needs such as warmth, food, and hygiene while helping people take their next right step with dignity and care.

As part of this project, our class will be making blankets that Street MOMs will distribute throughout Wheeling during the cold winter months. To kick off our project, Street MOMs will visit our third graders and give a presentation about their mission and how they help our community.

How families can help:
We are accepting blanket-making kits (fleece or no-sew blanket kits) that students will use to create the blankets in class. These kits will be turned into warm, cozy blankets and donated directly to Street MOMs to share with those in need.

This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn about empathy, service, and giving back, while making a real difference right here in Wheeling. Thank you for helping us support this meaningful project and for being part of our caring classroom community!

The new year reminded us just how special our classroom community is. We explored, learned, laughed, and reconnected—and this is only the beginning. Thank you for being part of our third grade journey. Big learning and even bigger smiles are ahead!

Enjoy your weekend and we will see you on Monday!

Madison and Paula

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

January 5th: School Resumes at normal start time

January 7th: Field Trip to Northern Campus

This week was full of holiday cheer! We started the week off by heading down to Junior Kindergarten where our third graders got the opportunity to read some of our favorite holiday books to some of our littlest WCDS students. Throughout the week, we celebrated the winter holidays by dressing in theme and we loved seeing their amazing outfits and accessories! We finished our last week together in 2025 by hopping on the Polar Express where we watched to movie as a classroom family with hot chocolate and even a ticket was used to get our hot chocolate on the train!

❎ Students had fun learning clever tricks to multiply by 9. They used finger tricks and patterns to help find answers quickly and accurately. These strategies made multiplying with 9s easier and helped build confidence in their math skills.

🔤 Students explored phonics lessons focused on the ie pattern that makes the long e sound. They practiced reading and spelling words like field and chief while spotting the pattern in books and activities. These lessons helped strengthen decoding skills and build confidence with unfamiliar words.

🖋️ Students applied their informational writing skills by creating engaging poster projects, namely the highly anticipated “Freeze Lab.” They organized facts using headings, clear sentences, and visuals to teach others about their topics. This project helped them practice sharing information clearly and confidently. We took a quick break to talk about reindeers, yes… reindeers! Students watched a video and worked together to find informational facts about where they lived, what they ate and even learned that baby reindeers (at just one day old) can beat an olympic sprinter in a race! How cool!

📚 Students wrapped up their book club by completing presentations based on the I Survived book series. They shared key details about their stories, characters, and historical events with confidence. The presentations were a great way to celebrate their reading and teamwork.

🥶 Students conducted a FREEZE LAB to highlight the journeys of famous explorers, using informational texts as their guide. Our third graders took information and pictures gathered from research to create a fantastic focus for their presentations. Each presentation station was equipped with a button for viewers to press, and activate each student into a brief oral presentation. Thanks to all who participated!

Warmest wishes for a wonderful, winter break! We will see you all in 2026!

Miss Madison and Mrs. Buck

  **Please contact us BOTH if you have any questions or concerns this school year: 

mkmcdonald@wcdsedu.com & pbuck@wcdsedu.com

Or Talking Points (send to both if you can)