Over this break, I have asked students to read and record on their reading log at least twice for these 6 evenings they have. I was so happy to hear many say they want to record every night! 😉 We want to keep those reading skills sharp!

Here are a few pictures with our 1st grade buddies. Today we made Blessing Mix with them.

The 3rd graders did a great job at the concert on Thursday evening! Kudos to them!

We have a short 2 day week ahead of us. We will continue working on strategies to help us become stronger readers of nonfiction texts. This past week we focused on finding main ideas and supporting details within the text, as well as strategies to help us become experts on a topic and teach others about our topic. In class, we are reading “just right” nonfiction books, but the students know they may opt to read their fiction books for their reading logs at home. In writing, we will continue working on opinion/persuasive writing. Last week we wrote an 8 sentence paragraph on what we like about Thanksgiving. Please look for your child’s writing and reading of their work on Seesaw this coming week.

In math, we are wrapping up Topic 4–all about division and how it is related to multiplication. I anticipate finishing this topic the week after Thanksgiving break. I’m so proud of the progress each student is making on their facts! We are zooming along!

In science we have focused on force and motion. Hopefully you heard all about our marshmallow shooters and how we tested variables, such as, the amount of force we used, as well as the size of the marshmallow. This past week, we also tested the surface of an area to learn about friction. We tested the materials of cardboard, wax paper, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and felt.

On Friday, we took our spelling test on your child’s sort for the week. There will not be a word list for this coming short week.

On Tuesday this week, we will have Buddies with our first grade friends. A snack request was sent home Friday for our activity with our buddies. We are making a friendship snack. If it is possible, please send in the item on Monday.  Mrs. Burke and I appreciate every donation! Thank you.

Also, book orders for Scholastic Books are due on Tuesday the 22nd. You may order online with code: GVG22, or send in the order to me with checks written to Scholastic Books. Thank you!

A few dates:

November 23, 24, 25: No School for students

November 28: Santa’s Workshop for 3rd graders

November 29: Morning field trip to Holmes for Miner assembly

December 1 and 2: Half Days for students: 11:50 dismissal

December 23-Jan. 2: Winter Break; school resumes Jan. 3

This was a week of a lot of new learning for us. We wrapped up our unit in math and began Topic 4. We are starting to look at the relationship between multiplication and division and learning about “fact families”. Math tests will go home Monday.

In reading, we began our unit on nonfiction. Each student will be reading a just right nonfiction book in class to practice our reading strategies with nonfiction. For nightly home reading, students may continue to read their fiction books if they wish.

In writing, we had a writing celebration. With soft music playing, we rotated around the room to read our classmates’ stories and give them positive feedback. Then we compared our September writing to our finished piece and looked for “Bright Spots” and “Growth Opportunities” in our writing. We ended the week by learning to write 8 sentence paragraphs around a single topic. We are working on detail sentences, example sentences, and transition words. Ask your child about: bun, mustard ketchup, mustard ketchup, mustard ketchup, bun!

We began a unit on Force and Motion in science this week. We learned about variables, force, motion, and conducted investigations involving making a toy bus move across the floor.

Tips for home:

We are making progress with memorization of our multiplication facts! We have several apps to help master facts in a fun way. Your child should be very familiar with them. My hope is that your child is spending at least 5 minutes per school night working on those facts!!! Math will be so much easier if they are mastered!

Reading: As 3rd graders, we need to read every school night–our goal is at least 25 minutes. Students WILL grow in their reading skill by reading “Just Right” books on a regular basis. It puts them in a level in which they can practice the skills we are learning in class, without too much struggle. Reading needs to be logged each night, except for weekends. I collect logs on Fridays to review an make comments on.

Spelling words: Word sorts go home on Monday for students to study throughout the week. We take part in activities at school to practice the words too. Our tests are on Fridays.

Pasties: They were a mixed review on taste! One thing was unanimous–they all enjoyed making them!