Hi Parents,
Thanks for checking out this week's post! We've been busy, busy, busy this week. Check out below to see what we've been learning...
Spelling/Grammar: We learned two spelling rules when changing a noun from singular to plural. We studied nouns ending in -y, change the -y to -i and then add -es and also nouns ending in -f or -fe, change the -f to a -v and add es. We took our assessment on Friday. Remember to practice sentence writing with your child at home. Expected third grade conventions are capitalization at the beginning of sentences, correct spelling of grade level words, and punctuation at the end of sentences. We'll begin to apply more challenging punctuation rules, such as how to punctuate dialogue and compound and complex sentences as we move through the school year.
Reading: We continued our book clubs this week. We read through chapter 5 in our selections, met with our groups to discuss the setting and characters and also to practice reading fluency. We read several chapters in our class novel, The White Giraffe. We did a close reading of a chapter and discussed challenging words and phrases to build our vocabulary and gain a deeper understanding of the story. We learned how to identify important cause and effect relationships in the story. I modeled the expectation of answering comprehension questions and we took a short quiz on chapters 1-4.
Math: We wrapped up our unit on multi-step word problems using addition and subtraction. We discussed the importance of first analyzing the entire word problem, then identifying what exactly we are trying to find, working the steps in order with the correct computation, then answering in a complete sentence. We played a game where the students chose a card with a three number equation on it. The first person had to begin the math word problem based on the card. That student passed the card and the next student had to continue the word problem based on the computation symbol and the next number... and so on. It was a great activity to focus on really analyzing a word problem. The students then wrote their own word problems related to given equations. We worked in small groups on Real World Investigations books, two-step word problem remediation, and our Conceptua online math unit. We also began exploring some basic algebra and balancing the values on each side of the equation.
Writing: We completed our first narrative, slowly learning about the entire writing process. We looked at some mentor authors and how they closed their stories. We designed covers for our books.
Social Studies: We began our unit on the US Government. We listened to an excerpt about the Revolutionary War and the struggles of our founding fathers. We learned about the Constitution and why it was put in place. We will begin learning about the balance of power and the branches of government next week.
Class News...
Enjoy the extra day this weekend! There will be no school on Monday.
Check out your child's agenda folder today. Our class is ordering class t-shirts. These will be worn on special days and field trips. Our turn around time on the order is pretty quick, so please get your order form and $$ turned in by next Friday. Be careful with the size you order, the vendor has said he cannot take returns because of the wrong size being ordered.
CoGat testing begins on Wednesday, September 5th. Please make sure your child is on time to school. Once testing begins, the office will not allow children to come in late to class. We will test through Friday.
Thank you to all the parents who sent in Pokémon cards! They were a hit today when the kids went to the prize box!
Next Wednesday, 4 week progress reports will be coming home to any student in danger of receiving a "1" on any standard. I will send an email to all parents with the progress report attached if you are interested in looking at the standards. If your child is progressing or meeting all first quarter standards at this point, he/she will NOT receive a hard copy of the progress report.
No comments:
Post a Comment