Week 9

We have been learning a lot about continents this week! In class, students are watching brief films from The Continents of the World Series for Kids. These short films teach children about the people, landforms, climate and resources of each of the seven continents. Students have been practicing quick  note taking strategies and using their notes to help them talk about the information they have learned. We have also been practicing lots of information writing this week during Social Studies and Science.

In Writing Workshop, we have begun drafting our personal narratives. Children have been learning to write with greater details and are now trying to add dialogue into their stories.

Here's what is happening next week:

• Students will take home a Reading Response assignment. This assignment will be handed out on Monday and due the following Monday.  It builds on the work we have been doing in class regarding characters. We have been studying the main character of The Shoeshine Girl. Students have been naming character traits to describe the main character and paying close attention to how the character has changed as the story moves forward. As always, we use evidence from the story to support the ideas we have made. This is challenging work, and the children have come up with exciting ideas in our book talks!
• In Math, we are beginning a new unit on Multiplication Concepts. Multiplication will be introduced to students in this unit as the repeated addition of equal groups. We will have time in further units to deal with the multiplication facts but for these first lessons, we are looking at what Multiplication is and giving children strategies to find  products without relying on memorizing facts. Here are three links to preview the upcoming lessons:

https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/count-equal-groups
https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/identify-multiplication-expressions-for-equal-groups
https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/write-multiplication-sentences-for-number-lines

Have an excellent weekend!

Week 8

Thank you all for coming in to our first Family Friday of the year! We were excited to share our All About Me Museums and design a pretty rock to add to our school garden.

 

Here's what to expect for next week:

• We are visiting the Armory on Tuesday. This is also our normal gym day so  please make sure your child wears running shoes. 
• We will have the Chapter 2 Math test on Thursday. This test will focus on the graphs we have worked with in the last two weeks. The children completed a Mid Chapter Checkpoint on Friday; please keep and eye out for it in the homework folder on Monday so that you can use it as a study sheet if necessary. Here are two links to provide review of topics we have already taught in class:

      https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/interpret-pictographs

      https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/use-bar-graphs-to-solve-problems

• Here is a math link to preview a topic we will teach next week.

            https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/interpret-line-plots

Have an excellent weekend!

Week 7

Students have had their first Math test and should have brought home the results. Many children did well and should be complimented for their efforts. We will continue to work on some skills such as regrouping carefully and working through a multistep problem. At home, you can support your child by encouraging to pay attention to any feedback on the homework assignment.

We have begun working on Chapter 2 in Math. This chapter focuses on Interpreting Data which involves looking at numbers on charts and graphs. We are looking at the stories numbers tell and will often use comparison words to help describe the relationship between the numbers on the chart or graph. During this unit, we will also revisit addition and subtraction as well as begin skip counting, which helps set us up for the next chapter on Multiplication. Here are some links to help review some of the topics we have learned so far:

• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/interpret-tally-charts-and-tables
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/properties-of-addition

In Writing, we have moved on from writing about our All About Me artifacts to writing Personal Narratives. We had spent days gathering story ideas from our notebook decorations, and memories for true stories from our lives. This week we began planning our stories by making timelines on post its. Next week, we will start adding details to flesh out our stories. Many of the kids have enjoyed rehearsing their stories by using their story telling voices. 

Our next Read Aloud selection is The Shoeshine Girl by Robert Clyde Bulla. As we read this, we will focus on making ideas about the main character. Students will learn to support their ideas with text details. 

We have a busy week coming up:

• Picture Day is scheduled for Wednesday. Please note that all children will be photographed. Once the prints are made, you will receive a copy with instructions on how to order more prints online. 
• We will also have Tiny Scientist on Wednesday. 
• Family Friday will take place from 8:35- 9:20 am. Third grade classrooms will actually do two activities: The All About Me Museum from 8:35-8:45 and the Only One You rock painting activity for the remainder of the session. 

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming Week 6

This week, we have had our first Tiny Scientist visit. You may have seen the tongue depressor catapults used to demonstrate the concept of force to provide movement. The kids had a lot of fun and we continued working with that concept in class.

Next week, we will have our first math test on Wednesday. We have begun reviewing in class the major concepts taught and practiced test taking skills. If you would like to help your child study the basic skills, please feel free to have your child practice with these links:

• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/subtract-numbers-up-to-three-digits
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/add-two-numbers-up-to-three-digits
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/estimate-sums-word-problems
• https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3/estimate-differences-word-problems

You can also help provide your child with additional practice by doing problems that were not assigned on the other side of the homework sheet.

Here's what is happening next week: 

• Schools are closed due to Columbus Day on Monday.
• We have an Armory visit on Tuesday. It is also our regular gym day so please makes sure your child is dressed for movement and is wearing sneakers for running. 
• Chapter 1 Math test on Wednesday. This test will focus on addition, subtraction and estimation.

Have a lovely long weekend!