December 15, 2017

Announcements

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help at our Winter party next week! You should have received an email from our room parent coordinator, Nicole, if you signed up to help.

Weekly journals were not completed this week. Both weekly journals and Friday folders will not be completed next week. They will resume on January 12th.

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Holiday Open House on Friday! Here are a few pictures from the performance.

In the Classroom

In math this week, students focused on finding the perimeter and area of varying polygons. We learned efficient strategies for calculating these numbers and played a game to practice. We also studied how to decompose shapes into rectangles. 

We completed our famous inventor biographies! Students typed their pieces this week and completed their covers. Next week, we will study non-fiction features to prepare for our next non-fiction unit when we get back from Winter break.

We completed a whole group book club this week for the book Freckle Juice. Students focused on a variety of comprehension strategies that we have learned so far this year. Next week, we will read about different holidays around the world. 

In science this week, we explored force concepts further. We studied contact vs. non-contact forces, friction, and magnet strength. Students had the opportunity to see a paperclip fly on Tuesday!

We also explored how different surfaces provide different levels of friction. Students experimented with this through some ramp races!

I was so impressed with all of the science inventions! Students did a fabulous job presenting their projects and demonstrating the simple machine that was incorporated. Thank you for helping your 3rd grader with this assignment. 

Upcoming Events

Winter Room Party-December 21

Winter Break-December 22-January 3

School Resumes-January 4

December 8, 2017

Announcements

The annual Paxton Keeley Holiday Open House is quickly approaching! The event will take place on Friday, December 15th. Each grade level will perform in the gym and then go to the classrooms for an open house. Third grade is performing at 12:15 and the open house in our classroom will begin at 12:35. All family is welcome to attend the performance and open house. We will be sharing our invention projects in our classroom. Here is the schedule for all grades. (The first time is the performance in the gym and the second is when the open house in the classroom starts.)

Kindergarten 11:15, 11:35
1st Grade 11:35, 11:55
2nd Grade 11:55, 12:15
3rd Grade 12:15, 12:35
Choir 1:05
5th Grade 1:25, 1:45
4th Grade 1:45, 2:05

In the Classroom

In math this week, we focused on finding the perimeter and area of shapes. 

Students completed their drafts of their famous inventor writing biography this week. We also started typing the pieces. We will have these on display at the Winter Open House next week. 

We focused on self-monitoring this week in reading. Students were asked to think about 3 questions as they read; 1. Does it look right? 2. Does it sound right? 3. Does it make sense? We used a narrative play to practice this skill as a whole group. 

In science this week, we further explored magnetism. Students discovered where the strongest parts of a magnet are. We also studied how opposite poles attract and like poles repel.

Upcoming Events

Winter Open House-December 15, 12:15 for 3rd grade

Winter Room Party-December 21

Winter Break-December 22-January 3

School Resumes-January 4