I'm always amazed as we near the end of each month just how much we have accomplished! Your child has grown so much up to this point and will continue to grow as a learner in the upcoming months.
In reading workshop we are nearing the end of our first mystery. We have just learned about red herrings and love trying to figure out who committed the crime! This week we'll begin a new mystery in the same series to see how we can use our knowledge about our characters and how the author writes to assist us with a new mystery!
We are investigating non-fiction books to help us with our own non-fiction topics. We're discovering how authors include various features to make their book look appealing. This week we'll begin organizing our topic and thinking about how we can include various features to enhance our own writing.
Division will be our main focus this week in math. We'll begin each math class with a review of our multiplication facts. PLEASE continue to practice these facts at home. It is necessary for your child's success in math! Their chapter 6 math test will come home this week. They will need to make corrections and you'll need to sign it and return it for homework.
Social Studies and Science continues this week with discussions about civil rights and the solar system. We became so wrapped up in our conversation about segregation and integration last week that we lost track of time and went right up to the bell! I loved how each child was engaged and asking really complex questions while expressing outrage over laws that were in place in our recent history. It is discussions like these that make me LOVE what I do.
HOMEWORK CHANGES: Spelling homework has changed! On Friday, your child came home with a letter describing the nature of their new assignment. Every Monday night, your child will need to write a spelling story including all 5 of their spelling words. They will need to think of a "big idea" for their story and include appropriate mechanics. We did a sample story together in class. They understand that they may need to include sentences in their story that may not contain a spelling word to be sure their story makes sense.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
This week at a glance...
Reading Workshop: We'll continue with mysteries. We have begun collecting clues, generating lists of suspects, and have looked at how sidekicks assist the detectives. This week we'll explore what a hunch is and how important it is to go back and reread earlier parts of the mystery as more clues unfold.
Writing Workshop: We'll begin diving into informational writing. We'll look at published non-fiction authors and how they entice a reader to read about their topic. We'll identify how we'll entice our own readers about our topics.
Math: This week we begin exploring division concepts. Please continue to work on multiplication facts. You will see both division and multiplications concepts coming home for homework. We will take a multiplication chapter test on Friday as well as our math fact quiz.
Science: Our next unit is the Solar System. This week we'll begin developing questions we have about this amazing topic.
Social Studies: We'll begin discussing civil rights and look at influential people who helped bring about change in our own country, specifically Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll understand what was going on in our country and how people brought about change.
We are also looking at modern day Egypt to compare/contrast Egypt today to ancient Egypt.
Thank you to all of you for making our third grade event last week a success! I hope you found the event meaningful and enjoyed the time with your third grader.
Writing Workshop: We'll begin diving into informational writing. We'll look at published non-fiction authors and how they entice a reader to read about their topic. We'll identify how we'll entice our own readers about our topics.
Math: This week we begin exploring division concepts. Please continue to work on multiplication facts. You will see both division and multiplications concepts coming home for homework. We will take a multiplication chapter test on Friday as well as our math fact quiz.
Science: Our next unit is the Solar System. This week we'll begin developing questions we have about this amazing topic.
Social Studies: We'll begin discussing civil rights and look at influential people who helped bring about change in our own country, specifically Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll understand what was going on in our country and how people brought about change.
We are also looking at modern day Egypt to compare/contrast Egypt today to ancient Egypt.
Thank you to all of you for making our third grade event last week a success! I hope you found the event meaningful and enjoyed the time with your third grader.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Star Lab!
Tomorrow we will be going into Star Lab! We will be looking at the constellations and learning the vocabulary of horizon, middle, and zenith. Later in the week to prepare for our next Star Lab visit we will be learning all about Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. It is such a great experience.
In reading we'll begin a unit on mysteries. We'll work in small groups to understand the structure of this genre and enjoy putting all of the clues together to solve the mystery! We'll also begin a discussion on cause and effect relationships.
We will begin our non-fiction writing unit. Begin discussing with your child an area in which they are an "expert" on. Topics could include: dance, basketball, baseball, gymnastics, a certain animal, etc. The topic they choose will be the one they write a cohesive non-fiction piece about.
Continue to practice multiplication facts with your child. At this point we have learned factors of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10. This week our focus will be on a factor of 6 and 7. I will be sending home a guide to help you practice these facts in the same way we are practicing them in class.
Friday Letter will resume this week. Be on the lookout for an extremely detailed account of our Star Lab experience from Monday and other news from this week!
I am excited that so many of you are able to attend the third grade event next week! Remember to RSVP by this Tuesday!
Tomorrow we will welcome a new student to our class named Kira.
In reading we'll begin a unit on mysteries. We'll work in small groups to understand the structure of this genre and enjoy putting all of the clues together to solve the mystery! We'll also begin a discussion on cause and effect relationships.
We will begin our non-fiction writing unit. Begin discussing with your child an area in which they are an "expert" on. Topics could include: dance, basketball, baseball, gymnastics, a certain animal, etc. The topic they choose will be the one they write a cohesive non-fiction piece about.
Continue to practice multiplication facts with your child. At this point we have learned factors of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10. This week our focus will be on a factor of 6 and 7. I will be sending home a guide to help you practice these facts in the same way we are practicing them in class.
Friday Letter will resume this week. Be on the lookout for an extremely detailed account of our Star Lab experience from Monday and other news from this week!
I am excited that so many of you are able to attend the third grade event next week! Remember to RSVP by this Tuesday!
Tomorrow we will welcome a new student to our class named Kira.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
I hope you all have had a wonderful break with your families! I am looking forward to a fantastic start to 2013 with your children. It's hard to believe we are approaching the halfway mark of this school year!
With the upcoming week being only 3 days we have many things to accomplish. We will complete our non-fiction reading unit by looking at how the table of contents, the index, and the glossary are all important features in a non-fiction book and how to utilize them appropriately.
We will begin a non-fiction writing unit and use all that we learned during our reading unit to help us as we write non-fiction. We will have to choose topics that we feel we are "experts" on to teach our readers something about our topics.
Our focus this week during word work will be understanding the subject and predicate of a sentence. All of us have been focusing on our sentence structure being sure to incorporate the basic mechanics consistently so we now will be moving towards writing more complex sentences.
In math, we'll continue to practice our multiplication facts as well as learn about the factor of 4. You will be seeing more word problems as these continue to be a challenge for most and we need to practice these types of problems.
We will be wrapping up our study of Egypt by looking at pyramids and King Tut. This has been an exciting unit!
It is January, and for the third grade this is an exciting time! Our portable planetarium Star Lab will be visiting us for 3 weeks! This week we'll go in to learn about the fall/winter constellations that we can see in the night sky during this month. We'll learn how to locate them using a star map and will learn about the horizon line and the zenith.
Please be on the look out for more information coming home with your child this week about the third grade night at Elsmere on January 16th. I hope to see all of you there!
With the upcoming week being only 3 days we have many things to accomplish. We will complete our non-fiction reading unit by looking at how the table of contents, the index, and the glossary are all important features in a non-fiction book and how to utilize them appropriately.
We will begin a non-fiction writing unit and use all that we learned during our reading unit to help us as we write non-fiction. We will have to choose topics that we feel we are "experts" on to teach our readers something about our topics.
Our focus this week during word work will be understanding the subject and predicate of a sentence. All of us have been focusing on our sentence structure being sure to incorporate the basic mechanics consistently so we now will be moving towards writing more complex sentences.
In math, we'll continue to practice our multiplication facts as well as learn about the factor of 4. You will be seeing more word problems as these continue to be a challenge for most and we need to practice these types of problems.
We will be wrapping up our study of Egypt by looking at pyramids and King Tut. This has been an exciting unit!
It is January, and for the third grade this is an exciting time! Our portable planetarium Star Lab will be visiting us for 3 weeks! This week we'll go in to learn about the fall/winter constellations that we can see in the night sky during this month. We'll learn how to locate them using a star map and will learn about the horizon line and the zenith.
Please be on the look out for more information coming home with your child this week about the third grade night at Elsmere on January 16th. I hope to see all of you there!
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