Week in Review: December 18-21

Happy Holidays! We spent this week wrapping things up. We finished our science unit on forces with a test on Tuesday. Our next unit is soil in January. As you are out and about over winter break, please collect about a one cup bag of soil that your child can use for some experiments when we come back to school. We would love to have soil samples from a wide variety of places!

In math, we started introducing our next unit on geometry by reviewing 2D and 3D shapes. Ask your child about the ChatterPix shape activity we did on Thursday with the iPads!

In language arts, we finished our expository essays, and did some creative holiday writing.

We fit in a lot of fun this week as well! On Monday, we experimented with the Dash Robots with Mrs. Swyers' class. Our class also used the tiny Ozobot robots after creating detailed maps for them to "drive" around. On Tuesday, we had a special guest speak to the class about how to approach students with special needs. She talked a lot about how even though they may be different in many ways from us, we can also have a lot of similarities. We also enjoyed a visit with our kindergarten buddies, as well a walk-through of the TAG showcase to see each student's independent research project. And of course, we had the winter party at the end of the day on Thursday.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable two week break, and I look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year! The kids come back to school on Tuesday January 9.

Week in Review: December 11-15

This week in science we have continued our Project Lead the Way unit on forces and interactions. Students worked in small cooperative groups to build different simple and compound machines with our VEX Kits. By the end of the week, they designed and built a tiger rescue device to rescue a tiger from a moat and move him carefully to safety. We will review for the test over forces on Monday with some online Stemscope activities, and take the test Tuesday morning.

In language arts, we have been revising our expository pieces, focusing on leads, transition words, and conclusions. We will finish those up before winter break. We are continuing to learn about different text structures, and how to use our inferencing skills with non-fiction texts. We took one day to work in groups with our new third grade Breakout Boxes. Students have to work together using clues to solve different puzzles in order to get combination to unlock the box. It was a great way to practice thinking skills, and working together!

In math, we wrapped up our unit on division with a test on Friday. Next week we will begin our geometry unit, which will continue after winter break.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Only four more school days until your child is halfway done with third grade! Time sure has flown this fall semester!

Week in Review: December 4-8

First of all, my apologies in advance for the lack of pictures this week. I was out on Monday, and seemed to be playing catch-up the rest of the week, and it was just one of those weeks!

I do have a photo from our movie day on Sunday. Several students joined me to see Wonder, and we all really enjoyed it. If you and your family have not seen it, I hope you get a chance to soon!

In science this week, we began our new Project Lead the Way unit on forces and interactions. We are learning about push and pull forces, and simple and compound machines. This unit will take us all the way up to winter break.

In language arts, we have done the planning for, and begun drafting, our expository writing pieces. We will continue on those next week. Our mid-year individual reading testing has begun, so students are doing a lot of independent reading practice while I am testing each student.

In math, we are continuing our unit on division, and have introduced dividing by 10, 5, 2, 4 and 8. Practicing these facts is always a great thing to work on at home! We will have a test next Friday over division and fractions.

In social studies, we are learning about the three branches of government. We have gone a mock tour of the White House, and acted as members of Congress to learn how bills are turned into laws.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and remember, only two weeks of school until winter break! That is just so hard to believe!

Week in Review: November 27 - December 1

We had a busy week with some very special guests. Mr. and Mrs. Brown from California talked to 3rd graders about their scuba diving experiences. They even brought in a great white shark jaw so the kids could get an idea of how big they really are!

We also enjoyed a visit from local author / illustrator, Don Tate. 

In math, we took a quiz over fractions and everyone did really well. Ms. Lampkin then introduced division to the students. We are working on the understanding that division is simply dividing a total into a certain number of equal sized groups.

In science, we began a new Project Lead the Way unit on forces and flight. Students designed gliders and tested to see how far they could fly. They were then able to redesign their glider to find out what shape wings and horizontal stabilizers worked best.

In social studies, we are continuing our studies of maps and government. Next week, we will learn about the three branches of government.

In language arts, we are continuing to learn about different expository writing structures. Students worked in small groups to write essays about why Nurse Michelle is so important to our school. Beginning next week, they will write an essay on a topic of their own choice.

Only three weeks until winter break! Don't forget to join us to see Wonder this Sunday afternoon at 1pm at Cinemark Cedar Park!