Happy Winter Break!

 Thank you to the room parents and volunteers for running a fun party for the class!  Have a wonderful winter break and see you in the New Year!

December News

 Happy December!!

What’s happening in class this month?

Reading:  We are starting December with an author study on Janell Cannon, where students will be noticing similarities in her writing and illustrations, as well as getting to know some interesting characters.  We will work on some characterization skills as well.  

Guided Reading has been going strong.  Groups are working on summarizing texts, finding the message or lesson of the story, identifying nonfiction text features – so many important reading skills! :)  

Our December book report will be on a FICTION book at students’ personal reading levels.  It will be due after winter break, on Tuesday, January 7th..

Language/Writing:

We have published our narratives – yay!  Students had a “publishing party” right before Thanksgiving break where we rotated to read several classmates’ stories and leave compliments.  We are now starting our nonfiction writing unit.  This begins by reading mentor texts during which students will learn that authors write nonfiction to inform, explain, and even entertain their readers.  Many facts are included in these types of books, with pictures, diagrams, and drawings to support the text.  Authors also use figurative language (it’s not just for fiction writing!) and vary the font size to stress certain words.  After the mentor texts students will research an animal and will be utilizing the strategies they observed from nonfiction authors to write a nonfiction book. 

Students will also be practicing language/grammar skills including: proper nouns and recognizing and sorting words based on beginning & ending digraphs. 

Math: Students are continuing to work on our measurement module! We are measuring time, weight (in grams & kilograms), and liquid volume (in milliliters & liters).  We will take the mid-module assessment the first week of December before moving on to rounding to the nearest ten & hundred, and using the standard algorithm to add and subtract two- and three- digit numbers.  We are set to finish Module 2 on the last day before winter break.

Science/STEM:

Students are continuing to learn all about forces!  In November, students learned that the train rose because a force acted upon it.  Then, students investigated what objects magnetic forces can act on, and discovered that it was a magnetic force that caused the train to rise.  Students added the words attract & repel to their science vocabulary.  In December, students will wrap up chapter 3, focusing on the question: Why does the train fall?  While learning about gravity and in chapter 4, we will focus on the question: Why does the train float even though gravity is acting on it? as students explore the concept of balanced forces.  Ask your child to tell you what he/she has been discovering about forces!

November News

 Happy November!!

What’s happening in class this month?

Reading:  Students are moving onto our sixth text set on expository nonfiction.  The goal is for students to recognize that the authors of these texts give facts about a topic, to notice the different ways the author organizes the information, and to notice some of the text features that authors use to enhance their books.  Afterward, we will do an author study on Janell Cannon, where students will be noticing similarities in her writing and illustrations, as well as getting to know some interesting characters.  We will work on some characterization skills as well.  

Guided Reading has officially started!  Students are meeting in small reading groups to read stories/texts, discuss opinions and work on specific reading skills.  

Our November book report will be on a nonfiction book at students’ personal reading levels.  It will be due Monday, December 2nd.

Language/Writing:

We are beginning the month by revising and finalizing our narratives!  Students will be spending time trying to fix up their stories to include powerful hooks, strong endings, sentences that show-don’t-tell, and include many details and dialogue.  Editing and revising will occur with writing partners, too.  I am excited to see their final products.  Afterward, we will begin our nonfiction writing unit, which begins by reading mentor texts & noticing what nonfiction authors do to engage and inform readers.  

Students will also be practicing language/grammar skills including: sorting words based on different vowel sounds, contractions, and common nouns.  Spelling lists & tests will also continue. :)

Math: Students will complete Module 3 on Multiplication & Division Facts in the first week of November.  Please continue to practice these facts at home.  We will then go back to Module 2, on time and measurement.  The first 5 lessons involve telling time and finding elapsed time using a number line.  The following six lessons will have students measuring weight with grams & kilograms, and measuring liquid volume with milliliters & liters.  After that we will take the mid-module assessment before moving on to rounding to the nearest ten & hundred, and using the standard algorithm to add and subtract two- and three- digit numbers.

Science/STEM:

Science has begun!  As you may know, we have adopted a new science program, Amplify Science.  Our first unit is called Balancing Forces.  In this unit, students will be learning about the visible and invisible forces that are around them every day, and using this knowledge to understand and explain how a floating train works.

 Veterans Day

Veterans Day is on November 11.  After learning about the holiday, we will honor veterans by writing letters to thank them for their service to our country.

State Senator Visit!

 Ram Villivalam came to talk with third graders last week!

Students learned about what a state senator does, and

were able to ask questions about his job.  We are still

waiting to hear if he can do something about more 

recess. ;)

Solving 2-Step Word Problems

 

October News

Welcome to fall!  Here’s a glimpse of what is happening in Room 15 this month…

***Be sure to check out the Announcements page for some important upcoming dates.

Reading:

In Reading we just finished our second text set on Family stories. The essential question through this set of stories was: What is special about being a family?  Students were asked to find the message of each book and came up with ideas such as:

  Spending time with families brings us closer together.

Families love each other.

You can learn from people in your family. 

During this text set, we practiced responding to reading, and taking a few digital comprehension tests.  We wrapped it all up by describing our favorite family tradition and illustrating it for our class tradition “quilt”.

Next, we will move on to the third text set which is a collection of books on animals.  The essential question for this group of stories is: Why is it important to learn about the animals that share our world?  The end of October should bring us to our fourth text set on stories about authors’ special memories. The essential question will be: What makes some memories special?  Throughout the text sets, students will practice reading skills by taking comprehension quizzes, responding to questions in their Reading Response Journals, and focusing on identifying the genre, the overall message, and how to summarize the story/text.

Also, Guided Reading groups should begin by the end of this month! :)

Finally, book reports have begun!  October’s genre is realistic fiction & reports are due by November 1st on paper or digitally via Google classroom.  Directions and forms went home on September 30th.  Happy reading!

Language/Writing:

We will be continuing to focus on narrative writing in October.  Students have been practicing adding dialogue to their stories, replacing tired words such as ‘said’ with something more specific like ‘muttered’ or ‘yelled’, and adding more figurative language to their pieces. Please ask them what they have been working on!  If possible, please also help your child by discussing different life events that have occurred: first lost tooth, first time riding a two-wheeler, a birthday party, a rollercoaster ride, a camping trip, etc.  Students are expected to come up with their own story ideas to describe in detail.  They will “show, not tell” their readers about their event, with vivid descriptions.  

Students will also be working on various language skills such as prefixes, compound words, contractions, and more!

Math:

To start October, students will be wrapping up our first module in the Eureka series.  We’ll end with two problem solving sections that will have students solving two step problems using all four operations.  In general, students use the RDW strategy for solving math problems.  You may see them write these initials on their math homework.  The letters stand for:

 Read it – Students should read the problem (possibly more than once) & identify/underline any key parts.

Draw it – Students should draw a model to represent the problem.  This may include a number bond, tape diagram, array, etc.

Write it – Students need to write a number sentence (equation) and a word sentence to show their answer.

After we finish module 1, we will go to module 3 before going back to finish module 2.  At this point, students should be well versed in their x2, x3, x4, and x5 facts.  (Ask if they can sing the multiples of 3 or 4 to you! :)  Module 3 will continue to focus on multiplication & division facts, and we will cover the rest of the tables, through 10, in this module. Students should begin practicing their multiplication facts at home.  Some possible strategies are to use multiplication flashcards or play multiplication bingo.  Another way to practice facts is to play “War”, the card game.  For our purposes, A = 1, J = 11, Q = 12, and K = wild, you choose!  Play as you would the original card game, by splitting the deck and having each player turn over a card.  The student with the higher card has a chance to state the multiplication fact and product.  If he/she is right, he/she places the cards in their winning pile.  If the product is incorrect the other student gets a chance to solve the problem.  If students flip over the same card, they should flip over another card to break the tie.

Social Studies:

In Social Studies, students looked at maps for a map key, title, and symbols.  We also learned about directions using the compass rose.  Students practiced finding directions and learned the meaning of the statement “Never Eat Soggy Waffles.”  We wrapped up this part of the unit by designing our own cities and creating maps!

Then, we began locating & labeling the seven continents, 5 oceans, and the equator.  We will also focus on identifying & naming our continent, country, state, & city.

Special Guests:

Our Monarch presentations start this month!  This year, Jessie Bond from the Morton Grove Public Library will be coming in monthly to present the Monarch Award nominees to third graders.  (“The name Monarch was chosen because of its familiarity to K-3 children and to symbolize the growth, change and freedom that becoming a reader brings. The Monarch is designed to encourage children to read critically and become familiar with children's books, authors and illustrators. The program is open to all K-3 age children in Illinois.  For more information, click here.  Students will vote in March, and their votes will count! 

Readers' Theater

Students practiced & performed lines from one of our interactive read aloud this month.  This was a fun activity to help with fluency & comprehension.  We have some great actors in our classroom!  I have a feeling some of them will be asking to join Drama Club. :)

    

          

Landforms & Bodies of Water Projects

 

    

August News

 The first few weeks of school have been flying by!  Our class has been busy getting to know each other by participating in various activities including “Me Bags”.  A thank you to all the parents who helped their child pick out items that were special or meaningful to them in some way.  Students enjoyed hearing each other’s presentations and in turn, learned a lot about their classmates.  Meanwhile, we logged into our Chromebooks for the first time and took an online quiz using Kahoot!  Students had a blast answering questions about themselves!  It was a nice way for students to be introduced to using the Chromebooks. 

Students also worked on distinguishing between complete sentences and fragments.  We’ll use that skill as we then identify & use four types of sentences; exclamations, questions, statements, and commands

Students have begun our first module of Eureka Math. In this module students will be relating multiplication and division facts. Here are some terms that students will be learning and using:

array	commutative property
equal groups	distributive property
divide/division	factors
multiply/multiplication	parentheses
product	quotient
rotate	row/column

To start practicing our math facts, students learned how to play multiplication war with regular playing cards.

In Reading we have begun building stamina for Read to self, and determining which books are “good-fit” books for our reading time.  

In Writer’s Workshop, students were able to decorate their writing notebooks at the end of August.  They look beautiful!  During our launch of Writing Workshop, students have been building a sense of purpose in their writing while listening to mentor texts, noticing writing techniques, and generating ideas for what they could write about to use on days when it seems as though nothing interesting has happened, ever!

In Social Studies, we began learning about landforms and bodies of water and identifying these terms on maps.

First Day Picture!

 

Coming Soon...

 Hello Families!  

I hope you all have had a fantastic summer and that you are ready for an amazing year in third grade,  I am so excited to begin my twenty-first year teaching third grade at Hynes.  We will be working on many exciting and challenging activities this year!  Stay tuned for news & some photos of us in action!