Hello everyone! Here is a look at our wonderful week in grade 3:
Math: We finished up our Muffles Truffles unit with an excellent Math Congress, where we shared our math thinking and strategies. Our next unit is all about Multiplication and Division. We used cubes to make arrays and recognized different ways, or factors, that result in the same product. Then, we worked on division by using diagrams or counters to share a number in equal groups, such as 16 counters divided by 4 = 4 counters per group. We finished up the week with M.A.T.H centers to help us practice division.
Reading/Social Studies: In our guided reading groups, we are continuing with our Wampanoag books and answering open response questions. Students are making excellent connections about Wampanoag life. We also listened to Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. As a class, we created a Thinking Map to show how the main character changed from the beginning to the end of the story. Then, we worked hard to write our own responses about how Trisha's feelings about school changed. Students did an excellent job revising their work and supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.
Writing: Our expert writing is really taking off this week! We learned how to turn our notes into an organized "hamburger" paragraph. Students enjoyed using "teacher pens" to complete their thinking maps before writing a first draft of their different headings. We are still drafting and conferencing with teachers and peers to help make our writing informative and engaging.
All School Meeting: Third grade was in charge of the January All School Meeting this morning! We received a LOT of compliments about our meeting. We taught the entire school about mindfulness, which resulted in a very calm and informative assembly! First, we taught and modeled the greeting "hello" in sign language (Jasmine from our class demonstrated on stage!) Then, we read the book A Quiet Place, which is all about finding peace within yourself (Teagan and John both read a page from the story). Last, we taught the school our core Mindful Practice, where we ring the chime and practice deep breathing (see pictures below). Daniel was the leader, and the entire class/grade modeled the practice sitting on the risers. It was an excellent meeting and I am very proud of our grade for being such great examples!
Math: We finished up our Muffles Truffles unit with an excellent Math Congress, where we shared our math thinking and strategies. Our next unit is all about Multiplication and Division. We used cubes to make arrays and recognized different ways, or factors, that result in the same product. Then, we worked on division by using diagrams or counters to share a number in equal groups, such as 16 counters divided by 4 = 4 counters per group. We finished up the week with M.A.T.H centers to help us practice division.
Reading/Social Studies: In our guided reading groups, we are continuing with our Wampanoag books and answering open response questions. Students are making excellent connections about Wampanoag life. We also listened to Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. As a class, we created a Thinking Map to show how the main character changed from the beginning to the end of the story. Then, we worked hard to write our own responses about how Trisha's feelings about school changed. Students did an excellent job revising their work and supporting their ideas with evidence from the text.
Writing: Our expert writing is really taking off this week! We learned how to turn our notes into an organized "hamburger" paragraph. Students enjoyed using "teacher pens" to complete their thinking maps before writing a first draft of their different headings. We are still drafting and conferencing with teachers and peers to help make our writing informative and engaging.
All School Meeting: Third grade was in charge of the January All School Meeting this morning! We received a LOT of compliments about our meeting. We taught the entire school about mindfulness, which resulted in a very calm and informative assembly! First, we taught and modeled the greeting "hello" in sign language (Jasmine from our class demonstrated on stage!) Then, we read the book A Quiet Place, which is all about finding peace within yourself (Teagan and John both read a page from the story). Last, we taught the school our core Mindful Practice, where we ring the chime and practice deep breathing (see pictures below). Daniel was the leader, and the entire class/grade modeled the practice sitting on the risers. It was an excellent meeting and I am very proud of our grade for being such great examples!
Conferences: Since I will be on leave during Spring conferences, I am sending out a sign up for an optional student-led conference throughout the month of February. I discussed the student-led conference format with the class today, and they are looking forward to guiding our discussion about what is going well, what they are working on, and goals for the end of third grade! I only included before school time, but if you prefer evening/after school please e-mail me and I will designate a couple of days to stay late. Thank you!