Another rainy Friday....

but a great week of learning! Here is the rundown...

Math...
We have turned our focus on algebra...and are having a lot of fun! We worked this week mainly with function tables. Function tables were introduced, each table group attacked one together, and then each student was given a table to figure out independently. THEN...each child developed a function table of their own. We hung them all over the room and did a "Function Table Gallery Walk" where we walked around trying to solve each others' tables...many had double functions and were very hard...but the kids were very into figuring them out. It was a fun activity...we will continue with algebra next week!

Language Arts...
As I'm sure you've heard...we're into our "play unit"...no this is not a time for playing :-)...it is a time to analyze the elements of plays and become part of a production. The kids were very excited to practice and audition...they were wonderful! We even had one student bring a costume for the audition!! :-) The casts of our two plays were announced today...most kids were happy about their parts...a few were disappointed...and I cannot stand disappointing kids...but when casting plays it's part of life, I guess. We will work for the next two weeks on these plays and hopefully perform them the third week of May...I will let you know as soon as possible what days we will be performing, so you can come see your lovely third grader in action!!

Science...
We are hot and heavy into science! We have an investigation going on right now...Bigs and Littles...ask your kids about it! If I had put more salt in the water (as I'm SURE they'll tell you) our investigation would have gone a little smoother. We have terrariums waiting for critters to observe, and we have bean plants growing in cups...we went on a schoolyard field trip to the Wetlands to observe all different kinds of organisms...we are so lucky to have that beautiful area on our property! Our populations unit is in full swing and the kids will be spending the next month or so observing different populations and how they interact and depend on each other!

Remember last week's photo story about our field trip!? Well...this week your kids were instructed on how to use the Photo Story program and they created a photo story of their own....Photo Story is a free download from Microsoft...and it's a wonderful tool for retelling stories and saving memories! Now that they know how to use the program, we will be incorporating it into our Science unit later this month!

Have a wonderful weekend...stay dry!