Week in Review: October 10-12

We packed a lot of learning into such a short week! In language arts, students spent our writing time writing another personal narrative. This one is required for all 3rd graders in RRISD, and is done without any guidance from the teacher. It gives them a chance to demonstrate what they learned from our first personal narrative writing process. We have also been reading and writing a lot of poems. Ask your child to tell you about their favorite poem they have started over the last two weeks. We also did our first STAAR-like reading passage, with a poem and comprehension questions based on the poem. We worked on this one as a class, but next week, they will try one on their own.

In math, we began the week with some noticings and wonderings about arrays found in packages of Halloween objects. Next, we focused on 10s and 5s multiplication facts, as well as learning how to double and halve multiples of 10.

In science, we learned about sound energy and make some noisy straw kazoos (that we tested outside!). We also learned about light energy by investigating a mystery object, which turned out to be a radiometer. Finally, students enjoyed experimenting with snap circuits during E-SLOT on Friday. Next week, we will continue the energy unit by learning about heat and solar energy. This culminates with a fun activity of building a solar oven to make s'mores. Let's hope for a sunny day to test them out!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Week in Review: October 1-5

This week we continued our study of poetry in language arts. We began by reading several poems and recording what we noticed about those poems. This led to a discussion of common features of poetry.  Students are reading lots of poems, and trying their hand at writing several as well. We are learning about different types of poems like narrative and free verse. Next week, we will take a small break from poetry as students complete a district required writing assessment, where they will again write a personal narrative, but we will get back to poetry after that!

Noticing common features of poetry

In math, we wrapped up our unit on addition and subtraction with a test on Wednesday, and then moved onto our first unit on multiplication. We will be learning different ways to represent multiplication such as equal groups and arrays.

Reviewing for the math test

In science, students took a test over our mixtures, and then we moved onto energy. This unit always culminates with a favorite activity....making s'mores in student-created solar ovens to learn about solar energy.

Observing energy from different household objects

In social studies, students did some online research about a historical figure of their choice. They then used the information they learned to create an "Instagram profile" for that person. We will take a look at those in a gallery walk next week to learn about the contributions of citizens in history.

We wrapped up the week with a visit to our kindergarten buddies to do some fall-related activities. They played a "Roll a Pumpkin" game and then wrote fall sensory poems. They really seem to enjoy their monthly visits with the kindergarteners!