I absolutely LOVE your kids...we are having so much fun while stretching our brains...thanks for sending such responsible, hardworking, "eager to learn" kids!! Please read all the way through...important CONFERENCES message at the end!
FALL FESTIVAL DAY
We had sooo much fun...click on the date below to see a picture video of our day...enjoy!
LANGUAGE ARTS
We finished narrative writing and we are now headed into a unit where the kids will be information writers. I LOVE this unit and it fits nicely as we segway from novels back to reading non-fiction. Take a look at the editing/revising/publishing process in our classroom (this also happened to be PJ/Stuffed Friend Day.)
SCIENCE
We are coming to the end of our Chemical Tests unit in Science. We have been testing five mystery powders in order to try to draw some conclusions about their identity. We've tested with water, vinegar, iodine (your child knows what iodine can indicate), red cabbage juice (a pH indicator), and finally, on Monday, we will watch what happens as heat is applied to each powder. We've worked with water mixtures and discussed whether the mixture is a solution or a suspension. We've recorded observable properties and looked for chemical changes. The kids love this unit and cheer every time I say it's time for science! We have done a lot of reading for information alongside this unit. We read rigorous text and pull it apart to find meaning. Its how we tried to make sense of testing with iodine and red cabbage juice...we've also watched video clips about what to look for when a chemical change takes place. After Thanksgiving we will move into our next Social Studies unit: Immigration and Government.
MATH
What do I want to say about math? Phew...making sure each child has been exposed to and works toward mastery of all third grade concepts is one thing...challenging those that come already mastering them is another...I keep busy in the math classroom as I work with flexible groups every time we change a skill or concept. PLEASE, PLEASE have your child practice multiplication and division facts. One important reason is because by the end of third grade they are to be proficient...but an even more important reason is because not knowing facts slows down so many other processes. As we work through multiple strategies in multiplication and make connections between those and the most efficient strategy, the algorithm, kids who do not know that 4 x 7 is 28 are really stuck on skip counting instead of the other processes. All students should be studying their multiplication and division facts AT LEAST three times a week. There are multiple sites on our Math Google Classroom for practicing. The students also made monster wheels in the classroom to aid them in studying at home. They only created one, but after mastering that one, they are more than welcome to take home another to create there.
CONFERENCES
If you returned a conference slip saying you are unable to come to the time you signed up for, please email me for an alternate time. The slip said to contact the office, but they will just send you to my voicemail...its a much quicker process if you email me.
For my conferences this year, please use the OUTSIDE DOOR of my classroom to enter. This way you do not have to stand in the other third grade classrooms if you are early and have to wait. (It's also so much quicker to just come to me from the fire hall parking lot than having to walk to the office and come back.) Although I hate to end conferences before all has been discussed, I have 29 conferences that are 15 minutes each. I will be using the clock to ensure you are not left waiting or short changed on time. That being said, if I am one minute late, please be patient. I promise you will get your entire 15 minutes regardless of what time we start. I will put the schedule on the door outside of my classroom and be using my iPhone clock to keep us on schedule. If we cannot finish our discussion during our conference time, or you have unanswered questions, do not hesitate to send me an email and we can either discuss over email or we can schedule to meet again. I greatly appreciate your patience on those three days knowing I have spent hours upon end preparing for these conferences and do all that I can to stay on time. Please be prompt because there will not be any extra minutes anywhere. Thank you.
VETERANS DAY
Last, and most importantly...your kids learned about Six Word Memoirs this past week...and after gathering information about Veteran's Day, they wrote six words with so much meaning. I can't post them all...however they are all posted in the art room hallway...make sure to visit that bulletin board after your conference. It is an extremely moving bulletin board. One of my students had this to say about Six Word Memoirs...
"So little. So much meaning. How?"
God, I love these minds.
