Mrs. Fox's Third Grade: January 2020

Friday, January 31, 2020

January 31, 2020

Announcements

Thank you to everyone who returned the conference form already! Please return these as soon as possible so I can begin scheduling conferences. Your date and time will come home in the Friday folder on February 7th.

We have all spots filled for our Valentine's Day Party on February 13th! Please have students bring their valentine cards and boxes (if they would like to make one) on that day. If you need another copy of the class names, let me know.

In the Classroom

We have been focusing on multiplication strategies in math. Students have learned how to decompose facts in order to solve them faster. For example, taking the fact 7 x 9 and breaking it down into 5 x 9 and 2 x 9. These two facts are easier for students to solve and then add the products. We tested over unit 5 this week and also began unit 6.

We continued our discussion about non-fiction summary writing this week. Each student took place in a guided reading group that focused on pulling out the main idea and supporting details from a chapter. We used books about sea animals, whales, and lizards to do this. As a whole class, we also read a book about the Appalachian Trail to model this skill.

We are drafting our non-fiction pieces in writing. Most students have finished their first draft. On Thursday, students used a rubric to grade themselves. Then, they made revisions based on getting a 4 for each section in the rubric. We will continue revising next week. We hope to have them finished for parent teacher conferences!

We are wrapping up our Health unit! This week, students learned about body defenses such as skin, white blood cells, and stomach acid. We also made prevention books to discuss how to keep from getting infectious diseases.

Last week, Ms. Zapata discussed the nutrients water and protein. She also taught about the 4 tastes; sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Students were given a food from each group to try. Finally, we learned about our digestive system.

We had another guest speaker on Friday. Ms. Dana works for Nutrition Services of CPS. She came to review My Plate and helped us create a salad that contained something from each group. Make sure to ask your third grader what was in their salad!

Upcoming Events

Valentine Room Party-February 13

No School-February 14, Teacher Work Day

No School-February 17, President's Day

Field trip to Planetarium-February 19

Parent Teacher Conference Week-February 24-27

No School-February 28

No School-March 11

Spring Pictures-March 12

Spring Fling-March 13

Spring Break-March 23-27

Friday, January 17, 2020

January 17, 2020

Announcements

We have now had 2 weeks back and are getting into the groove! I loved hearing the third graders share about their winter breaks.

Now would be a great time to check in with your student about supplies. We have quite a few third graders who are out of pencils. While I have a classroom supply, I would love for that not to be completely used up this early in the year. Ear buds are also a supply that seem to be missing frequently. These are necessary for the upcoming MAP test in the Spring, so please make sure your student has them. If you would like to donate pencils or ear buds to the classroom, I would gladly accept donations!

As Valentine's Day is coming up, please look for the pink piece of paper next week with details. Students are encouraged to bring a decorated box or bag to collect cards.

We had a guest speaker on Wednesday! Meteorologist Kenton Gewecke was supposed to visit us in December as part of our weather unit. However, weather played a role in why it was cancelled, as that was one of our snow days. The students were great listeners for Kenton and learned more about meteorology, severe weather, and climate.

In the Classroom

In our new math unit, we have spent time learning about fractions. Students explored wholes and parts using fraction circles as well as the notation with numbers. We also circled back to multiplication. We are building our tool kits with strategies to solve unknown problems. Students have learned how to use helper facts, add or subtract a group, and use doubling. Students also played a game they know from 2nd grade called Salute. Instead of addition/subtraction, we practiced our multiplication and division facts through this game.

We have been working on summarizing in reading. This week, students focused on finding the main idea and supporting details in a non-fiction text. We also spent some time discussing Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King Jr.

We began our 2nd non-fiction writing unit last week. Each student will be creating an expert book centered around a topic with which they already feel like an expert. In our class, we have experts on dogs, baking, soccer, Julius Caesar, Minecraft, and more! So far, students have brainstormed facts about their topic and organized them into chapters using a color code. We have also started drafting our pieces.

We started our Health unit last week. Students have learned about diseases, symptoms, and infectious vs. non-infectious. We have also discussed germs including what they are, where they come from, how they multiply, and how to get rid of them.

Along with our classwork in Health, we are also partnering with Sandra Zapata from the University of Missouri. She comes in twice a week to teach the students about nutrition. Students are focusing on the six nutrients as well as exercise. Ms. Zapata has food tastings most days. Last week, students tried whole grain quinoa and blood oranges.

This week, students compared low fat and whole chocolate milk. They also learned about vitamins and minerals by trying cucumber, plums, pineapple, and sweet potato.