I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Spring Break!
Third grade is MAP testing on April 28, 29, 30, and May 1st. Please try to avoid vacations or appointments on these days, especially during the morning. More information about MAP testing will be given after Spring Break.
If you have not returned the permission slip for our field trip to the Capitol on April 3rd, please do so as soon as possible!
We have some upcoming school-wide functions coming up in April. Our Spring Sing is on Thursday, April 17th. Students will perform songs they have been learning in Music. Third grade will perform at 1:45 in the gym.
We also have Comet Culture Night on April 24th from 6:00-8:00!
We have had a busy last week before break with lots of learning and fun activities. Mrs. Hanson, our media specialist, has been in everyday this week for a Lego We-Do Project. Students started by learning about how engineers have helped solve the problem of flooding. Then they built a robotic floodgate out of Legos that used code open, close, and alert the community.
On Friday, we headed to the library for Tinker Time! Students are allowed to choose a STEM, problem-solving activity where they would like to tinker.
In the Classroom
In reading, we have been using fiction stories to practice a variety of skills. Students have learned how to summarize using the main ideas. We have also practiced how to analyze a character's actions and how they impacted the plot. Finally, we have learned how to identify the central message of a text.
Students learned how to writing to an informational prompt last week. We used a short text about a woman named Mary Leakey. We had to write about how her work changed the world and use the article for text evidence.
We have been learning all about fractions in math this week! Students have now seen fractions as circles, strips, and on a number line. We have used benchmark fractions like 1/2 and 1 for comparing.
To wrap up our Weather and Climate unit, we had a meteorologist come and speak to the third grade! Beth Finnelo taught us about her job, including what it's like to wake up at 2:30 everyday for the morning news on KOMU. We also learned about severe weather and what we should do to be prepared.
Your conference date/time came home last week and will be written in Friday folders again next week. Please let me know if you need to reschedule.
We had a wonderful Valentine's Party! Thank you to all who donated and came to help make this party a success.
In the Classroom
In reading this week, we have used articles about technology to practice various comprehension skills. Students have practiced finding important information, inferring, and using text features while learning about how technology has changed over time.
In writing, each student was asked to choose which technological invention they feel is the most important. We are drafting an opinion piece with reasons and details to support our thesis statement.
We have spent more time practicing multiplication strategies. Students learned a game called Beat the Calculator where they learned their brain can be much faster than a machine!
We finished our Force unit by exploring and experimenting with magnets!
We also squeezed in a short Health unit. Ms. Zapata, a nutritionist from MU, will be visiting every Wednesday. We are studying the 6 nutrients, and she often brings food for a tasting for hands-on learning. For carbohydrates and grains a few weeks ago, students tried cous cous and mixed fruit!
We are finally getting back into our routine! Students did a great job this week and worked hard on their assignments.
Please note that Conference forms for February are coming home in the Friday folder. Please return these as soon as possible so I may begin scheduling. If you have more than one Paxton student, the teacher(s) and I work to plan these conferences back to back. Please indicate if you would like a break between them.
We will be attending a field trip to the Rock Bridge High School Planetarium on Thursday, February 13th. We will leave Paxton around 9 and return before 11. Parent volunteers are not needed on this trip. Please sign the field trip form (front and back) in the Friday folder this week and return.
If I have any academic or behavior concerns, there will be a midmester form in the Friday folder next week.
In the Classroom
We spent time this week completing the Reading iReady. Scores will be shared at our conference. We also started reading a new folktale called "Rabbit and Coyote." We used this story to practice asking questions, recounting story events, and analyzing illustrations.
For writing this unit, students will be completing a narrative journal entry. We are studying point of view, and students will be retelling the Rabbit and Coyote folktale from a different character's perspective. So far, we have analyzed character traits and planned for our writing. We will complete our first drafts next week.
In math this week, we have been studying fractions. Students have learned about numerators/denominators and identified equivalent fractions. We also did more work with our multiplication facts.
We began our Force unit in Science. Ask your third grader how a group of kids could beat a group of adults in tug of war! We also studied balanced/unbalanced forces, and looked at bridge engineering.
