Monday, December 15, 2014

Math/Science/Social Studies

Math: Students have been working hard to develop a deep understanding of the measurement called PERIMETER.  We have explored patterns in perimeters of rectangles and other quadrilaterals.  This week, we will have more practice finding the perimeters of a variety of polygons, as well as solving number stories involving perimeter.  Next we will move into the measurement of AREA.  Keeping these two concepts separate can be a challenge, so we will spend the rest of the week exploring, practicing, and defining their differences.     
INDEPENDENT STUDY:  To finish off a fantastic 2014, students have each chosen a personal goal for the week.  Perhaps they are still trying to master addition or subtraction. If they’ve achieved fluency there, they may be working on x2, x5, or x10.  Whatever the goal, students will record what they have done each day to reach their personal goal.  On Friday, they will take a one-minute quiz.  Ask your child about their goal and how you can help support their success!!
Science: Our investigation this week will hot and cold water.  We will construct a basic thermometer to observe that water expands as it warms and contracts as it cools.  This will lead into a discussion and exploration of the various states of water—as a solid, liquid and gas.
Social Studies: We are wrapping up our study of Native American legends.  Next we will begin looking at the interactions between the people of The Three Fires and the early European explorers, specifically the French Voyageurs.

End of Year CELEBRATION


We Are Celebrating!

Who:  Mr. Peri and Mr. Grzesik's/Darling classes
What:   A TERRIFIC 2014, and Looking Ahead to a FABULOUS 2015
When:   Friday, December 19th  (afternoon)


Needed:   Treats, juice boxes, napkins, plates, ziploc bags

If you can help by sending in one of the items above, please write a note/email/or comment below to your child’s teacher.

Thanks in advance for your support!


               

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Winter Diamante Poems

Winter will be here before we know it! The 3rd graders in room B3 decided we wanted to be creative and combine some beautiful artwork with a very cool poem design, a diamante poem.

A little about diamante poems,

The Structure of a Diamante Poem
A diamante poem is made up of 7 lines using a set structure.

Line 1: Beginning noun
Line 2: Two adjectives about line 1
Line 3: Three verbs about line 1
Line 4: A short phrase about line 1
Line 5: Three verbs about line 1
Line 6: Two adjectives about line 1
Line 7: Ending noun


Here are our very own winter diamante poems! Enjoy!




Reading / Writing / Spelling News

READING NEWS:

This week we will be continuing in our Understanding Characters unit. We will start the week by learning about how to predict what and how details will happen by using empathy. We will also notice and think about places that create strong emotions to learn more about their characters by using emotional moments in our books to learn more about our characters.

WRITING NEWS:

We received a call from the President! He told us how to end our personal narratives in a fun and interesting way. We will also use everything we've learned to write about our best birthday ever! This will become a published piece and will be graded using a rubric

SPELLING NEWS:

Spelling words went home on Monday. (Words spelled with plural endings, -s and -es)

flags
inches
dresses
pies
bushes
classes
apples
colors
drums
branches
things
buses
benches
tracks
brushes

The spelling test will be on Thursday.


HOMEWORK: Your child should be studying their spelling words every night as well as reading 20 minutes and recording it on their December reading log that was taken home yesterday. Those reading logs will be due January 5th.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Reading / Writing / Spelling News

READING NEWS:

This week we will be continuing in our Understanding Characters unit. We will start the week by learning about our characters by noticing when characters act differently from themselves. We will do this by reading more from our mentor text “Because of Winn-Dixie” and building theories about our main character ‘Opal’. We will also use empathy for characters to make predictions about what characters will do next by discussing that as we actively read and empathize with our characters we can predict what they will do.

WRITING NEWS:

We will focus on two new types of leads in our writing: action and snapshot leads. We will review a number of examples of both types of leads and then practice writing our own leads. As always, we will do our 20 minute quick write on a number of different topics to wake up our brain!

SPELLING NEWS:

Spelling words went home yesterday. (Words spelled with a long i sound, spelled i and igh)

night
bright
find
light
wild
high
blind
fight
sight
kind
sign
knight
mild
right
sigh

The spelling test will be on Friday.


HOMEWORK: Your child should be studying their spelling words every night as well as reading 20 minutes and recording it on their December reading log that was taken home yesterday. Those reading logs will be due January 5th.