Week of September 21-25

This week in writing, we have successfully narrowed down our topic for our first personal narrative to a tiny seed moment. We will spend the next week or so working on this piece and learning lots of new writing techniques to add details and grab our reader's attention. We also learned the difference between your and you're, and I will implement grammar lessons like this throughout the year. In reading, we have discussed how good readers visualize while they are reading, and learned some new symbols we can use when we "stop and jot" our thinking. We also read a lot about endangered animals and the loss of their habitats, and created a Padlet sharing our thoughts from that lesson, You can see the Padlet in the blog post prior to this one.

In math, we learned several new strategies for subtraction and worked on applying our new addition and subtraction strategies to some challenging problems. One of the strategies we learned was using a number line and they were thrilled to be able to write on their desks, drawing number lines there for practice.  I also introduced the kids to a fun new game that I use as a warm-up, called Four Strikes and You're Out. Ask your child about this one, they love it!! It's like Hangman for math! Next week, we will have a brief quiz over place value, and then wrap up the week with an addition and subtraction assessment. We will spend the early part of the week reviewing for Friday's test.

In science, we designed and built our solar ovens, and enjoyed some s'mores on Wednesday.

After an interactive review on Kahoot on Thursday, we had a district common assessment over all they have learned about energy on Friday. Because this assessment is developed and required by the district, we cannot send a copy home. Your child's grade has been posted however, and they were given an opportunity to see their graded test.

In social studies, we used our laptop day to learn about being safe and responsible digital citizens. We also discussed growth mindset, the idea that we are always learning and even if something is challenging at first, we need to have the mindset that we can do anything if we keep at it! We also worked on our PBL this week by reading The Great Kapok Tree, and watching a video about the destruction of forests, and then responding to that video in our PBL journals. On Friday, we collaborated with Mrs. Swyers class and experienced habitat loss from the viewpoint of an animal.

Its been another busy and successful week in third grade!