We have a lot going on these last few weeks!

We finished our last math topic for the year–perimeter. It was challenging for students when area was incorporated into this topic as well. Friday, students took their test. Next week we will begin reviewing math concepts from the year and dipping our toes into some 4th grade math concepts.

In writing, students are having fun drafting fairy tales based on Cinderella, The 3 Little Pigs, or The 3 Little Bears. They are typing their stories into a Google Doc.

In reading, we have finished our research  on the zoo animals. Students are working together in both STEM and ART where they are creating an enclosure. In class, we are also creating an informational banner on these animals.

We are all excited for the field trips to Connor Bayou and John Ball Zoo!

Math: Last week we completed a mini unit on geometry. Our focus was on quadrilaterals. Ask your child: What is a quadrilateral? a polygon? parallel sides? right angles? What is the difference between a parallelogram and a trapezoid?

Friday, we began our last math topic on perimeter of shapes.

In grammar we explored poetry and learned about lines, stanzas, and line lettering. Our word sorts focused on the  /f/ sounds spelled ph, gh, f, and ff.

in reading workshop students have been continuing to research their group animal. The animals are frogs, penguins, wild cats, and bears. Students worked on taking notes in main idea/details format, sequential format, and compare/contrast format.

Volunteer opportunities:

Our Connor Bayou trip (May 26), Field Day (May 27), and John Ball Zoo (June 1) are all opportunities to participate with your child.

Math: This past week we have worked on a time and measurement unit. We also began a sneak peek at geometry to ensure that we cover important concepts before the math MSTEP.

Grammar and Word Study: We focused on the suffixes -y and -ly, as well as using pronouns in our writing.

Writing Workshop: Our next writing unit will be on fairy tales. Students have been reading alternate versions of Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and The Three Little Bears to notice what fairy tales have in common and what changes are made from one version to another.

Reading Workshop: Students are working in groups of 3 or 4 to research an animal. They are learning strategies researchers use, how to document important information, and share their learning with their research club.

Questions to ask for home conversations:

If a movie begins at 11:40 and ends at 1:10, how much time has elapsed?

How many milliliters are in 1 liter? Would you measure the capacity of a bathtub in milliliters or liters?

If a dog has a mass of 3 kilograms, how many grams would that be? (reminder: 1,000 g = 1 kg)

Would you find the mass of a hamster in grams or kilograms? What would be a reasonable estimate?

A polygon is a closed figure made of at least 3 straight lines. Name 2 shapes that are examples.

What are parallel lines?

We enjoyed a fun Winn-Dixie celebration with the movie, pickles, sandwich triangles, Scooby Snacks, Litmus Lozenges, and Dump Punch! It was a joy to see their excitement with all the dog photos. Thank you for your help in this!!

We have been comparing and contrasting two different characters from Opal in our previous text to Dyamond Daniel, in our new text. This work is carried over into students’ book club reading to help deepen thinking and discussions. We will wrap up book clubs this week.

In our writing, students wrote a new literary essay on a book titled: Jabari Jumps. Again, these essays were typed using Google Doc. They are getting good at typing text into a document and learning to paragraph. This week, we will compare two characters in an essay format.

Fractions have been challenging, but fun! Students will take a test on Topic 13 on Monday. The remainder of the week we will finish up with some crafty fraction activities.

We are finishing our unit in science about clouds, temperature, and weather. We will review some of the main concepts in a game style called Kahoot. We will also end the unit with a craft to display the various types of main clouds.

Link to Sign Up to Volunteer for Kids’ Marathon:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0e4da8ab2ea4f58-spring

Link about Kids’ Marathon:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ipZRXKvUysicCVUc9VMvM5MaFq79q1px7daUwxmUB-M/edit#slide=id.g117c4d288ef_0_20

Last week, students took their test on our first topic about fractions. It went home on Tuesday. We also started the second topic about fractions. Each day we play a fun numerator/denomination game to warm up. It is much like Simon says.  Here are some questions to ask your child:

When the denominators are the same, how do you compare fractions? Ex. 3/8 and 5/8

When the denominators are different, but the numerators are the same, how do you compare the fractions? Ex. 3/4 and 3/8

What is another name for one whole in the fourths fraction family? 4/4

In science we are learning about different climates and weather patterns around the world.

In reading, we will continue book clubs and reading strategies as I begin another book titled, Diamond Daniel. We will begin comparing and contrasting the main characters in several ways from the two books we have read together.  They will carry over this work into their own book club books.

Literary essays have remained our focus in writing. Last week, students worked in groups to generate a paragraph together that went into a class essay on Harry Houdini. Students learned that literary essays can be written from narrative nonfiction pieces as well.

In our grammar, we worked on different homophone words. Ask your child for an example. We also worked on spelling, sorting, and knowing the meaning of the prefixes: mis, dis, pre, re, and un.

Reminder: No school on Friday, April 1st as we begin Spring Break. 🙂

Here’s the latest . . .

MATH: We began a fraction unit last week. This is the first of two units that will help provide a foundation for the fraction work that will continue in 4th grade. I find these units challenging but fun for the kids!

GRAMMAR & WORD SORT: Last week we finished compound sentences made by adding a conjunction and touched on contraction words. This week we will work on noun and verb agreement in sentences.  Our word sorts will contain the -or pattern. Since the last round of district assessments, I now use  3 different levels of sort lists to meet the changing needs of my students.

SCIENCE: We began our last science unit called, Stormy Skies.  We are currently learning about the water cycle and clouds. Ask your child what clouds are and how they form.

WRITING WORKSHOP: We began our literary essay writing unit. Together, we wrote an essay together on a character named Jeremy from the book, Those Shoes. We are developing a thesis statement based on the character and looking for text evidence to support our thesis.

READING WORKSHOP: In our read aloud, Because of Winn Dixie, we are on the lookout for character traits and evidence, much as we are in our literary essay unit. Starting this week, students will practice the fiction skills being taught in their book clubs. They will also be learning how book clubs are carried out and will be practicing group discussion and accountability.

DATES TO NOTE:

May 26th: All day field trip to Connor Bayou

May 27th: School Field Day (pm activities) The JPO will be looking for volunteers to sign up for this event.

This past week we have been very busy in 3rd grade!

Math: We worked on a mini unit focusing on two-step problem solving involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It can be a tricky unit, but with lots of practice and a fun “escape room” challenge, much growth was made.  This week, we begin a topic on fractions.

Grammar: We worked on recognizing subjects and predicates in a sentence. In our word sorts, we continued r controlled patterns with er/ir/ur.

Social Studies: We wrapped up our Michigan history unit, learning a lot about the Native Americans, French, and British.

Writing: Students finished typing an opinion essay of their choice in Google Docs. Students also wrote an “On Demand” opinion piece based on a book, “You Don’t Want a Unicorn”. They are very cute! This last unit will be a good foundation for our next unit on literary essays.

Reading: We have started our character unit. I am reading “Because of Winn Dixie ” to model reading strategies as students read in their own books. After conference week, students begin fiction book clubs.

Reminder: Half day Thursday (11:50 dismissal), No School on Friday

What have we been up to?

In math we are finishing Topic 9–all about strategies for adding and subtracting larger numbers. We will review and take the test after mid-winter break.

For word sorting, we practiced the patterns au, aw, al. In grammar, we have been working on conjunctions and compound sentences.

In our writing, we are continuing to learn how to write a persuasive/opinion speech. This has been a slower process as much of our district assessments have been completed during this time.

We are finishing our work on mystery reading and will be taking a skills assessment after break. Our next unit is about characters, and students will be reading in book clubs.

In social studies, students have been learning about the early people of Michigan. Ask your child about The Three Fires and primary and secondary sources.

Make ups for vision screening will take place on February 24th.

Mark your calendars–we have a field trip scheduled at Connor Bayou for May 26th. The county park program will be teaching students about the Native Americans and early pioneers.

We had a busy 4-day week last week.

In math, we finished Topic 8, which focuses on mental math of 3-digit addition and subtraction. On Thursday students took the test. Our next topic will focus more on different addition and subtraction strategies for 3-digit numbers.

Our grammar skill this past week was on adjectives and adverbs as comparatives and superlatives (happier, happiest).  Our word sorting skills focused on making words plural by adding -s, -es, or knowing when to change y to i and add -es.

We completed our science unit, “The Power of Flowers” and reviewed by playing a “Kahoot” game before taking our test. Our next unit will be social studies: The History of Michigan.

During our writing time we began taking our district’s iReady assessment. We did squeeze in an activity based on Martin Luther King, Jr. This can be found in your child’s Seesaw. This coming week, we will get back to our writing unit on opinion speeches. Previously, we wrote a class speech convincing Mrs. Peets to give us an extra recess. 🙂

In our Reading Workshop, students are continuing to read mysteries during class time with a partner. Predicting, noticing clues, retelling, and being aware of red herrings are all skills we are focusing on. Mrs. Myaard set up a fun mystery for us to solve during our library time as well!

This coming week we will continue to finish our district assessments.

Dates:

Tuesday and Wednesday (January 25/26): School Store

Friday (January 28): Vision Screening takes place in school