Announcements
Wow! This past week and a half has been full of hands-on activities to help us learn. Students have done a great job of being flexible with our schedule, as we did not stick to our normal routine to squeeze everything in.
Thank you so much to the families that donated for our Comet Carnival Gift Card Basket! Our basket brought in the most money, so our class gets a Pizza Party! We will do this the week of Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Please note there is no school tomorrow, October 27th, or Friday, October 28th. These are teacher work days.
There were no Friday Folders or Weekly Journals this week. They will resume Friday, November 5th.
As the temperature continues to drop, please make sure your 3rd grader comes prepared to spend time outside.
On Monday, we did the Story Walk on our back trail! This was inspired by the book Actual Size by Steve Jenkins. We started by trying to guess a mystery object using clues given by a class at Grant Elementary. We then went outside to read the book and observe nature around us. Finally, we found what we wanted our mystery object to be and designed clues for another class. Ask your 3rd grader all about our object!
We have been participating in a program called Global Read Aloud for our book Dragons in a Bag. On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to connect with another class in Maryland that is also reading the book! We started by playing Mystery Zoom where we took turns asking yes/no questions to figure out their location. Then we had the opportunity to learn about their class (their school has a pool and swimming is one of their specials!) and discuss the book.
On Tuesday, we participated in our first Tinker Tuesday. Students had the opportunity to choose from a variety of science, architecture, technology, and creative activities. No matter which one they chose, they had to use their brains, be good problem solvers, and work through any frustration.
We had a wonderful Fall Party on Wednesday! Thank you to the families who sent in materials and snacks.
In the Classroom
Of course, the big thing for science was the hatching of our chicks! The students were so excited we were able to have all 12 hatch. While we didn't get to see one hatching live (we are thinking they liked the classroom nice and quiet before they came out), I was able to catch one on video while students were at lunch. We spent time discussing the animal adaptations the chick needs to break out of the shell, what eggs parts were still visible, and what adaptations it needs to live outside of the shell. The best part of course was playing with them. : )
This week in science, we have started our study of hereditary traits. On Tuesday, students learned why we have different varieties of apples. We did a taste test and used scientific words to describe looks and taste. For our favorite variety of apple, our class was split between Granny Smith and Envy.
In math, we have been working on efficient addition and subtraction strategies. We learned how to estimate using rounding or close but easier numbers. Students learned the addition strategies of partial-sums and column addition. Students are able to choose the strategy that makes the most sense to them when solving their independent problems. We also studied function machines. In the below picture, students are trying to apply the rule to the "in column" to calculate the "out column."
We finished our reading/writing unit 2. Students read a Cuban folktale called Uncle Parrot's Wedding. We used this text to practice making connections and identifying how illustrations help us understand better.
In writing, students finished their opinion piece about vivid characters. I will be sharing these with you at our conference in a few weeks. We will begin Unit 3 next week.
Upcoming Events
No School, Teacher Workdays-October 28 and 29
Parent Teacher Conferences-November 8-11
No School, Conferences-November 12
Orchestra Field Trip-November 18
Picture Retake Day-November 23
Thanksgiving Break-November 24-26
