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Reading - We continued our study of theme, thinking about what home means to different people. We'll use another text to develop ideas about home next week.
Writing - Students finished revising their personal narratives, revising to show what the story's really about, and using an ending that emphasizes that idea for readers. We'll move to editing next week - keep your eyes out for information about an upcoming Writers' Celebration! Math - We started our study of subtraction by using problems that lend themselves to "adding up." (37 + ? - 76) We'll continue expanding our understanding of subtraction in different contexts next week. Social Studies - Students sketched their plans for friezes and associated captions. We'll draw them full-sized, then paint, next week! Miscellaneous - No school this Monday, November 2, due to a staff Professional Day. I'll be learning about science! Have fun and stay safe this Halloween! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Reading - Just a reminder that our monthly reading response project is due this Friday, October 30th! Students should bring in their mask as well as their organizer to accompany it.
We continued our study of home and theme, reading a new book (Going Home, by Eve Bunting) and looking at character change and its turning point. We'll continue with this next week. Writing - Students worked as their own "job captains" to continue drafting their second personal narratives. We looked at reliving a moment so the reader can live it, as well as balancing different types of details (action, dialogue, and setting). We'll try some new revising strategies next week. Math - We continued to analyze different addition strategies by looking at "starter problems" - the first step to solving a given problem. We'll begin transferring our understanding of addition strategies to subtraction next week. Social Studies - Students began researching their given season of Wampanoag life in the 1600s. They will finish their research and sketch a plan for their friezes next week. Miscellaneous - As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Reading - We continued exploring the concept of theme by digging into Cynthia Rylant's book Let's Go Home. We'll continue digging into this idea by looking more deeply at this text next week, as well as using the same ideas with small group reading.
Please remember there is a monthly reading assignment due October 30th. Your child should have returned the bottom half of the first page of the yellow packet sent home explaining the project. This was to let me know the book they're using and make sure that you and your child understand the project. If they haven't returned their yellow slip, please help them do so now! The book fair is next week! Students will have the opportunity to buy during their regular library time: for us, Tuesday. Writing - Students finished up their first narrative. They'll now do a second with increased independence, in a shorter time period. We'll "publish" this one - make final, best copies and invite families in to share their successes. Math - We worked with the 4 strategies for addition that I modeled on Curriculum Night. I was really impressed with how students took on new strategies and really made the effort to use 3 or even 4 strategies when they had the chance. We'll continue working on this next week. Social Studies - We finished up mapping and started our next unit, the Wampanoag. Next week, we'll begin researching Wampanoag life in the 1600s during the different seasons. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to Tuesday's Curriculum Night! I had a great time seeing and/or meeting many of you. Please remember there are additional curriculum-related documents on this website (Uploaded Documents page). Thank you also to those who have given the Instagram feed a try - the students and I have had a great time choosing what to photograph. This week it was mostly me, but I hope to start handing off that responsibility soon!
Reading - We practiced inferring more. Students read a mysterious text looking for clues and using their background knowledge to figure out what happened to the character. We'll keep inferring, but less formally, as we move on to our next unit: Home. We'll focus on two major questions throughout this unit: What makes home so special? and What is a theme, and how can it be represented in many texts? Students will continue to have a weekly reading log, but they'll also have a monthly assignment that asks them to respond to something they've read in some way. This month's assignment is to create a character mask. Details were sent home today - look out for the yellow packet that went home! Please send back the bottom half of the first page to acknowledge that you and your child understand the assignment, and email me if you have any questions! It is fairly open-ended, allowing students to be as creative as they want. Writing - Students continued drafting their personal narratives. They revised for the "heart of the story" (check out our chart on Instagram!) and began integrating the internal as well as external story into their work (internal = thoughts; external = what you can see/hear/etc.). Math - We worked with place value, calculating how many 10s there are in various numbers in the hundreds. In addition, we began using addition and subtracting strategies in the hundreds. We'll start analyzing these strategies (and models!) in greater depth next week. Social Studies - We studied Arlington landmarks, and students summarized a landmark and its important details. We'll wrap up this unit next week and begin our next unit: the Wampanoag! Miscellaneous - No school this Monday, October 12. Have a great weekend and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
I am proud to report that students have improved their transitions over the last few days! Please congratulate them on their hard work - we'll keep working on transitions and the school learning look!
Reading - We continued thinking about reading, stopping to jot observations and growing ideas from these observations. We also began practicing inferential thinking. Good readers infer by using their background knowledge and clues from the text. We started with a concrete example of inferring by having groups of students start with one picture clue and generate a series of guesses based on that clue. As groups began to see other groups' clues, they were able to infer more accurately using the clues as well as their background knowledge. We'll transfer this skill to text next week. Writing - Students continued working on their small moment stories. We analyzed another writer's work to see strategies that she used - dialogue, action, comparisons, "juicy" words (descriptive language), etc. Students used an impressive number of these strategies in their own writing. They'll reflect on their writing and continue drafting next week. Math - We began working with numbers in the hundreds. Students created a visual representation of 1000 (a thousands chart) and labeled landmarks - important numbers that will help them find other numbers. We'll begin working with place value and adding in the hundreds next week. Social Studies - We introduced important Massachusetts landmarks and learned a little of their history. Students will continue solidifying knowledge of Massachusetts geography next week, and we'll learn about Arlington history as well. Miscellaneous - Next week we'll continue building on our homework routine. Math and Social Studies will come home Monday through Thursday; the reading log will go home on Monday, due the following week. We'll also add in Word Study homework. Students should practice their words nightly from Monday through Thursday. Since each week is centered around a pattern, students should use the pattern to help them learn the words. Next week I will send home a tic-tac-toe board with options for studying Word Study words. Please keep this as it will be the only copy we send home! On Friday there will be a quiz for students to check in. They'll spell some words from the sort, as well as some words that match the pattern to see if they can apply the rule to new words. Students will also describe that week's pattern. Ultimately, the goal is that they are spelling the words correctly in authentic writing. Curriculum Night is this coming Tuesday, October 6! I'll will be presenting between 7 and 8 o'clock. I hope to see you there! |
Mrs. WalterPlease visit here regularly for updates on what we're learning in third grade! Subscribe to the RSS feed below. Archives
February 2016
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