Our new guided reading groups are focusing on character traits and emotions, and how characters change over the course of a story. Our books are:
* Freckle Juice
* Shoeshine Girl
* 100 Dresses
* Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear
In addition to focusing on the characters, we are trying to have productive Book Talks without too much teacher "interference." To help us keep meaningful conversations about our books going, we have Say Something bookmarks, that offer us ideas for what to ask, clarify, or say about what we have been reading. One group had a great 10 minute book talk, and then had to stop so the next group could meet!
Writing
Students continue to draft, publish, or add text features to their informational books. Some students are working on adding details, introductions, or closings to chapters. Others were able to add tables, diagrams, captions, and even front covers/About the Author sections! We hope you can join us for a Writing Celebration on Thursday, March 29 at 8:20 in room 31!
Math
In math, we finished up our studies on triangles, quadrilaterals, perimeter, and area. Then we started working on patterns with cube trains. We learned how to write equations that describe the location of certain cubes in the trains. We also had a guest lesson from some expert 4th graders. Next week, we will learn how the cube trains and patterns can help us to relate multiplication and division!
S'Math
Students enjoyed sorting our S'Math cubes by different properties, including weight, material, and appearance. Then, we did an observational drawing and analysis of an every day object... a pencil! Students thought about why the materials of a pencil help it to work well, and came up with other materials that could work.
Special Events
We had our Multicultural Dance Performance and a fun All School Meeting. We also are building up our Quiet Time stamina and working on showing empathy, our core value for the next 2 months!
Thank you to everyone, especially the student leaders, who came conferences in the past few weeks! Third graders have done an excellent job of explaining their work, progress, and goals. I really appreciate everyone being flexible about all of the re-scheduling!
Upcoming Events
- March 29th: Writing Celebration, 8AM
- March 30th: No School