Week in Review: August 21 - September 4

Our first 5 day week was a success! In writing this week, we talked about how Writing Workshop runs and we started generating ideas to write our own personal narratives. We also wrote "Friend Wanted" ads, where students described their ideal friend, and what makes them a good friend. In reading, we discussed Reading Workshop expectations and got matched up with our first reading partners. We learned how to decide if a book is just right for us, and we talked about about how all the time we are reading...we are also thinking. Reading IS thinking! We also visited the school library for the first time to check out books. Students were excited to use the library's new iPads to take an interactive quiz about how to properly use the library.

In math, we reviewed the simple place value and comparing numbers they learned in 2nd grade, and then extended that knowledge to the hundred thousands place.

For social studies, we spent the week creating our classroom Social Contract. This contract is an agreement between each member of our classroom community about how we want to be treated, and how we plan to treat others.

In science, we learned about the tools that scientists use. We also investigated many different careers in science and learned about some famous scientists in the past.

On Friday, we met with our kindergarten buddies for the first time. The buddy pairs worked together to create a buddy book where they compared their lives and wrote about something they have in common. As they finished the books, third graders read picture books to their kindergarten buddies. I took a few photos of them reading, but did not get any faces in the pictures, for the privacy of the kindergarten students.

It's been a great second week, and I look forward to many more. Remember, there is no school on Monday for Labor Day, so I hope you all enjoy the three day weekend!