3rd Grade Weekly Newsletter
Each newsletter describes what your child has been learning in school, what they will be learning the following week, and homework assignments your child will be receiving.
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Each newsletter describes what your child has been learning in school, what they will be learning the following week, and homework assignments your child will be receiving.
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Reading – This week in reading we started a new unit on reading expository non-fiction texts. We anchored our learning in the book Morning Meal Around the World by Maryellen Gregoire. We explored how certain text features help readers better understand non-fiction expository texts. Specifically we looked at the table of contents, the index, and the description on the back of the book. We also saw other text features like a Fun Facts section, Glossary, and Learn More section. Students also started choosing non-fiction expository texts for their own independent reading. Chat with your student about what text features they’ve spotted in their own independent reading and how it has helped them understand their topic. Vocabulary –From the book Brave Irene we learned the words coax, snug, cherish, delirious, fret and advise. Check in with your student about what these words mean and how they were used in the story. Writing – On Monday, we started our first narrative performance task. These are week long activities designed to prepare students for the fourth grade language arts test during which they will have to read articles and then write to a prompt in which they must reference the texts. We will work through a narrative piece with the students, reading two articles together and then drafting and writing to a prompt with guidance. Students worked to use evidence from the task and to write in complete sentences. Students then began to draft a narrative about going on safari in Africa. Students needed to apply all they have learned about personal narrative and use the information from the articles we read and notes we took to create a narrative about going on safari in East Africa. Math – This week in math students continued to explore perimeter and area by measuring with rulers/meter sticks and working with tetrominoes. We explored the relationship between the area of squares, rectangles, and triangles. Students also worked to find the perimeter and area of different figures, including everyday items around the classroom and at home. As students explore area, they are getting exposure to the foundation of multiplication which we will begin soon. Next week - Reading – Next week students will continue to practice asking questions before, during and after reading another nonfiction biography. Writing – Next week we will be working on finishing our narrative performance task and writing the story about going on a safari in East Africa. Math – Next week students will continue to explore the characteristics of 2D shapes and area.
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A few dates to remember as we look forward to next week.
This week – Dec. 11-15 Reading – This week in reading we finished our unit on asking questions and wondering while reading. Students also worked to make inferences about Irene, the main character in Brave Irene, who faces great challenges during the story. We learned a lot about her as we read about how she rose to the occasion and faced hardships. Students worked to record questions and wonderings about their own reading during independent reading time. Vocabulary – We learned the words slog, commence, flabbergasted, permissible, impermissible and adventuresome, which came from the book Mailing May. Check in with your student about which word was their favorite and how it was used in the story. Writing – Everyone learned from each other and asked questions and gave compliments during our Author’s Chair share for personal narratives. We have been having some creative writing days where students get to write about their favorite holiday traditions and a gift they would give to the world. Chat with your student about what they’ve written so far this week. Math – This week in math students finished Unit 3 and took their end of unit assessment. We focused on strategies for solving word problems and equations up to 1,000. When we return from the holidays - Reading – After the holiday break, we will begin a new unit which will again focus on wondering and asking questions but will be anchored in the genre of nonfiction biography. Writing –We’ll begin our Narrative Performance Task, where students will be using articles to write a response to a prompt. Math –We will move onto Unit 4, which focuses on perimeter, area and polygons. Dates to Remember:
Barberville Pioneer Settlement permission slips and chaperone forms will be sent home Monday, December 11th. All forms and chaperone ticket money are due by Friday, December 15th. Permission slips, chaperone forms, and chaperone ticket money will not be accepted after December 15th. Wednesday, December 13th- Friday, December 15th Early Release at 12:30 Winter Holiday begins Monday, December 18th and ends Tuesday, January 2nd School Resumes Wednesday, January 3rd Friday, January 19th- 2/3 Community Fieldtrip to Barberville Pioneer Settlement This week – Dec 4-8 Reading – This week in reading we continued to practice asking questions and wondering while reading. We read a charming book called Brave Irene by William Steig. Students also had an opportunity to make inferences about the main character as she faced problems. Students wrote down questions they had while reading the story and talked them over with their partners. It is important that students ask questions before, during, and after reading. Even if they cannot find the answer to their questions, asking them and thinking about the answers deepens a reader's understanding of the text. Vocabulary – This week we reviewed the words shuffle, swarm, urgent, motion, prowl, and "blow your top," from the book A Day's Work. In addition, we took a Vocabulary Check-in to monitor students’ knowledge of our words from the past 3 units. Writing – Everyone continued to work on publishing/typing their personal narrative. We’ve been asking students to proofread their work even after they’ve finished typing it to ensure their story is their best draft. In addition to typing, students are also working on “other parts” of their stories like a title page, illustration, dedication page, About the Author page or back cover blurb. Ask your student about their publishing and what other parts they’ve been working on. Author’s Chair is also starting this week and next week. Math – In math we are continuing to add and subtract 3 digit numbers through word problems. Continue helping students with their strategy as this skill is supposed to be more solid than others in the past units. Next week - Reading – Next week we will finish this unit on asking questions and wondering and take an assessment to gauge how students are doing applying their skills and strategies in a testing situation. Writing – Next week students will continue to share in the Author's Chair, and stretch their imaginations with fun holiday inspired creative writing prompts. Math – Next week students will continue perfecting their strategies for solving subtraction and addition word problems.
Dates to Remember: Wednesday, December 6th- Wacky Wednesday- Please have your child wear closed toes shoes. Friday, December 8th – 2/3 Community Fieldtrip to Lowry Park Zoo- Information will be coming home on Monday, December 4th about this trip. Please check their folders. Wednesday, December 13th- Friday, December 15th Early Release at 12:30 Winter Holiday begins Monday, December 18th and ends Tuesday, January 2nd School Resumes Wednesday, January 3rd Friday, January 19th- 2/3 Community Fieldtrip to Barberville Pioneer Settlement Reading – This week in reading students continued to practice the strategy of asking questions before, during, and after reading. We used the book Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell to practice. Students also are working to discuss their questions and answers with partners, referring to the text to support their thinking. While students are asking questions, they should also be visualizing and inferring about characters. Good readers do all of these strategies while reading when they are helpful in understanding the book. Vocabulary – This week we learned the words shuffle, swarm, urgent, motion, prowl and “Blow your top” (idiom) from the book A Day’s Work by Eve Bunting. Talk with your student about which word was most interesting to them and why. Writing – This week in writing students edited their personal narratives for spelling and run on sentences. Then they copied over their drafts in preparation for a meeting with their “editor” or teacher. Students will share their pieces in Author’s Chair next week. Math – This week in math we worked to find the difference between two numbers in stories which asked for a distance between Point A and Point B. Students were jumping up or down on a number line or using equations to do the same to solve these problems. We also played a new game called How to Get to 100, where students figured out how far the numbers they drew from the deck were away from 100. We also looked at finding the difference between two distances via Trip Word Problems. No matter which kind students are working on they should visualize what is happening in the problem and this will help them know how to solve it. Please continue practicing the number line strategy with our students. Next week - Reading – Next week we will continue to practice asking questions to help us understand our reading better. Writing - Next week we will continue to work on getting our personal narratives typed and meeting witht the editor/teacher for feedback. Math – Next week we will begin a new investigation-number 5, which will focus on students adding and subtracting fluently and understanding different types of addition and subtraction problems. A few dates to remember as we look forward to next week.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Reading – This week in reading we continued to practice the reading strategy of asking questions or wondering while reading. We used the books The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen and A Day's Work by Eve Bunting to practice. Students ask questions about a story only when they can understand what they are reading. It is important that the questions relate to the main action or ideas of the story. It is not helpful to ask questions about minor details. When asking questions, reader seek out the answers. Sometimes the answers are found in the text and sometimes they are not. However, the act of asking questions and seeking answers deepens a reader's comprehension. Vocabulary- This week we learned the words belongings, faint and cling from The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble. Check in with your student about these words and how they were used in the story. Writing – This week we worked on the grammar skill possessive pronouns like my, his, hers, their, etc… We will begin to edit and revise our personal narratives after the holidays. Math – This week in math students focused on strategies to solve 3 digit plus 3 digit problems. We also worked on rounding the exact numbers to get an estimate. For example: 321+189=? My estimate would be 320+190 rounded to the nearest tens or 300+200 rounded to the nearest hundreds. Students should continue to practice rounding to the tens and hundreds place at home as well. We also played a game called Capture 300 to help us with triple digit addition. Ask your student how they were able to play this game. Next week: Reading – Next week we will continue to practice the strategy of wondering and asking questions while reading. Writing – Next week we will continue to look at our personal narratives and revise them to a final draft. Math – Next week we will continue to work on adding, but we’ll also focus on subtracting 3 digit numbers fluently. Continue practicing those multiplication and division facts on Reflexmath.com. Need the login info? Please email your student’s teacher. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
A few dates to remember as we look forward to next week.
--3nd grade teachers Reading – This week in reading we started a new unit focused on a new reading strategy: wondering/questioning. Good readers ask questions as they read. They ask questions about what is happening in the text, and also about why the author made different choices. Readers look for answers to these questions, and sometimes they are found in the text and sometimes they are not. The two books we used this week to introduce and practice this new strategy are: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble and The Emperor and the Kite by Jane Yolen. Check in with your student to find out what these books were about, and what they wondered. Vocabulary – This week we learned the words obstinate, immature, mature, fantasize, barricade, and reconsider. These came from the book Alexander, Who’s Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move by Judith Viorst. Ask your student how these words were used in the story and which one was the most interesting to them. Writing – students selected their favorite personal narrative that they had written throughout our unit. This is the piece they will now take through a long revision and editing process to get it ready for publication. This week we focused on using temporal words (like then, next, later) to help the reader understand the order of events in the personal narrative. We also focused on adding more sensory details to make our personal narratives rich and interesting. This week in writing students revised their personal narratives by focusing on opening sentences and endings. Opening sentences should grab a reader with excitement and intrigue. Closings should wrap up the emotions of the story. We also focused on two writing skills which will help students when we start editing next week: possessive pronouns and contractions. Math – This week in math students learned about rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. Next week - Reading – Next week students will continue to practice wondering and asking questions while reading. Writing – Next week we will continue to learn a few writing skills and then begin editing our personal narratives to get ready for publishing. Math – Next week students will explore strategies for addition and subtraction word problems. Wow! What a week in the 2/3 community!
--2/3 teachers Reading – This week we wrapped up our unit on making inferences with one more book for practice: Alexander, Who's Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move by Judith Viorst. Students worked to make a double-entry journal about Alexander to study how and why he changes from the beginning of the book to the end. Students also worked in their own reading to examine how characters are solving problems and how readers can infer about characters while they solve problems. Vocabulary –We learned reluctant, cluttered, handy whoosh and two idioms "have eyes in the back of your head" and “have a change of heart” from The Raft by John LaMarche. Check in with your student about what this story was about and how the words were used. Writing – This week we focused on grammar skills-Subject and Object Pronouns, Adjectives, Singular vs. Plural Nouns, and Common vs. Proper Nouns. We will continue to encourage students to use these skills in writing, especially publishing. Math – This week in math, students were playing two new games, Close to 100 and Go Collecting. Each game helps our students with strategies for knowing pairs that add up to 100 in Close to 100, and place value in Go Collecting. Next week - Reading – Next week we will begin a new unit on wondering and questioning while reading. Writing – Next week students will begin to publish a personal narrative. Math – Next week students will continue to work on numbers that add up to 100 and rounding. Then, we’ll continue place value using that knowledge to help us add and subtract fluently. It has been another busy week in the 2/3 community!
--2/3 teachers Reading – This week in reading we continued our reading of the book The Raft by Jim LaMarche. Students recorded inferences about the main character at the beginning of the story and at the end. We talked about what caused the character to change throughout the book. The problems he faced and how he solved them let to a change in his feelings. Students also worked to make inferences in their own reading about the characters in the stories. Partners talked to each other about the inferences they made while reading independently. In addition, we talked about why setting is important in a book. Chat with your student about the setting of this book, and what their favorite part was. Vocabulary – This week students learned the words particularly, speechless, realize, savory, cross, and reunite from the book Boundless Grace. Ask your student which word is most interesting to them, and how each word was used in the story. Writing – This week in writing students heard a few more personal narratives. These were written by young children and described lessons they learned through incidents in their lives such as the first day of school and facing a challenge. Students wrote their own personal narratives and worked to incorporate sensory details to help the reader understand what is happening. Students also worked to incorporate a "lesson" through a personal narrative, to show the reader something they learned in the incident. Math – This week in math students took a Quarter 1 math assessment on the computer to gauge their learning from our first two units of Investigations Math. We began Unit 3 , where students learned a new game, "Capture 5" in which students add and subtract with numbers to capture their partners chips. Talk with your student about how many chips they captured when we played in class. Next week - Reading - Next week students will continue to make inferences about characters both in shared reading and independent reading. Writing – Next week students will choose one personal narrative they have written in this unit to take through the revision and editing process. Eventually this piece will be published. Math – Next week students will continue to practice adding and subtracting within 100, and moving up to 300. Wow! We had an amazing week in the 2/3 community!
--2/3 teachers Reading – This week in reading we focused on how a character changes from the beginning to the end of a story. We studied Grace, the main character in the books Boundless Grace and Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman. Students continued to make inferences about Grace compared and contrasted both books. Vocabulary – This week we learned the words dazzle, quiver, and command from the book Julius, The Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes. Writing – This week in writing we are working to learn about and write our own personal narratives. Students heard several examples of personal narratives and are working on their own. Students are including sensory details to make their writing more interesting and vivid. Students have written about chores, their home, a favorite memory or doing something special with a loved one. Eventually, students will be publishing one of these pieces in the next few weeks. Math – This week in math students wrapped this unit on Data Collection, and we’ll be moving into Unit 3, which focuses on solving story problems. Next week - Reading – Next week we will continue to make inferences about characters in our reading. Writing – Next week we will continue to explore and practice writing personal narratives. Math – Next week we will continue to work on strate What an amazing week in the 2/3 community!
Oct. 9-13 Reading – This week in reading students continued to practice making inferences about characters through our work with the book Julius, The Baby of the World. The main character, Lilly, changed greatly from the beginning of the book to the end. We studied why and how she changed. The author writes clues for us to do this work and we talked together as we decided about how and why Lilly changed. Students helped make a character web to record the characteristics of Lilly. Then students worked to make inferences in their own independent reading books. Vocabulary – We learned the words fierce, magnificent, and ungrateful from the book The Paper Bag Princess. We also learned the words doubtful, nifty, and ghastly from the book Julius, The Baby of the World. Writing – We started our next unit, which will focus on the genre of personal narrative (true stories that have actually happened to the author). We read the books Grandma's Records and Our House to see examples of this to help students get ideas. Students will all be working to write personal narratives during this unit. Math – This week we looked at pictographs and how this is another way to represent data. We also began collecting data by using measurements of our feet and distance of blowing a block across the table. Next week - Reading – Next week students will continue to practice making inferences with a new text, Boundless Grace. Writing – Next week we will continue to explore personal narratives by working to include sensory details. Math – Next week we continue our work in this unit on collecting data using measurement. |