Welcome to Eastern Heights's 3rd grade Website.  

We look forward to teaching your child this year and hope this web page will be of help to you.

Check back as we add and update our pages to reflect an exciting year of learning. 

The photograph is of our classroom library.  The children use it to check out books for reading at home and independently.  They choose new books when they have finished the books in their book bags which they use for their independent reading during the day.  The children have a daily routine.

Each morning your child comes in and chooses a book from our libraries to replace those that he or she has finished.  Your child knows his or her level. 

Your child should be reading at home for 20 minutes.  Research has shown that this is a very effective tool for improving achievement.     

Each day your child participates in reader's workshop. The workshop routine is the same every day.  It consists of a short mini-lesson where we teach directly, a much longer period of work time and a sharing.  During work time, s/he may work in a small group with the teacher for intensive reading instruction geared to his or her reading level. (The goal for your child is to be reading with understanding at level P by the end of third grade.) He/she is also involved in working in a partnership, learning to talk about and therefore understand better the books that he reads. Finally, your child spends an ever increasing period of time reading independently.  We are working to increase your child's reading stamina.  Our goal is for your child to read by himself, without being distracted, for 30 to 40 minutes.

Your child also participates in writer's workshop.  The workshop routine is the same every day.  It consists of a short mini-lesson where we teach directly, a much longer period of work. During writer's workshop your child spends at least 30 minutes writing independently.  An introductory mini-lesson which presents a skill or strategy gives your child focus for his writing for the day. The children share their work with each other.

St. Paul School District uses the Everyday Math Program. This is a challenging program that fosters children's problem-solving skills and encourages children to become math thinkers and to share their thinking. It is a very exciting and engaging and hands-on approach to math. The majority of your child's homework comes from this program. If you find any of the homework confusing or difficult to explain to your child, please feel free to call us. You can also jot a note to us on the bottom of the homework page.