Week in Review: November 14-18

What a great week it has been! Throughout the week, we celebrated International Children's Week with assemblies on Monday and Friday, a guest speaker on Monday to teach us about Sweden, and the Thursday evening event for families that I hope many of you were able to attend. I was committed to a Coach's Dinner for Girls on the Run so I was not able to attend.

In language arts, students are in the middle of researching about trash, recycling, or ocean pollution (their choice of topic) for our PBL project. We will be using that research to write expository articles about what we have learned before winter break. We had a guest speaker, the owner of "Break It Down," a company that diverts waste from landfills.

In math, we began studying division, and how it is related to multiplication. If you have time over the Thanksgiving break, please spend a few minutes practicing math facts (especially multiplication) with your child.

In social studies, we are continuing to learn about the three branches of government, focusing on the judicial branch this week. Students served on a "Supreme Court" and participated in a mock trial to learn the process that our Justices go through.

In science, we are learning about forces such as gravity and magnetism. We spent one afternoon simply exploring with magnets, and learning about repelling and opposite poles.

And what better way to learn about gravity than by designing and testing parachutes for army men? The students enjoyed this project and it was a fun way to wrap up our week.

I think the highlight of the week was cup stacking! On Thursday, the entire third grade participated in a "Stack Up!", which is a challenge to have the most people sport stacking at multiple locations in one day. Yes, stacking cups really is a thing...I had no idea. The kids had a great time trying several different challenges and timing themselves. Special thank to Ms. Potral for organizing this for us!

Just a reminder that there is no school next week. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your family, and I will see everyone on Monday November 28. This year, I am especially thankful for such a wonderful group of third graders!

Week in Review: November 7-11

This week in language arts, we learned a couple of different note-taking methods, including 2 column notes and Boxes and Bullets. We also discussed various purposes an author can have for his/her writing. Students finished their Sweden research and turned in their Google Slides about Sweden.

In math, we are wrapping up our first unit on fractions, but we will revisit fractions again later in the year. We begin division next week!

Quick review of 2D shapes as a math warm-up

Using counters to work with set fractions

In science, we are continuing to study natural resources. This is especially timely as we begin to delve into our PBL project about recycling and reducing waste.

Sorting materials based on what natural resource they are made from

 And finally, in social studies, we are continuing our study of government. We focused on the legislative branch this week, and students were assigned a role in Congress or as the President and Cabinet, to explore the process of how laws are passed (or vetoed in our case!).

With so much rain, we had to have indoor recess for three days, which was a fun change of pace. But we were certainly glad to get back outside by Thursday and Friday!

Have a great weekend! Only one more week until Thanksgiving break!