What a week it's been in third grade! This week, third graders embarked on a new writing project, worked on area and perimeter in math, and had a brief lesson on the meaning of 'luck', in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day being celebrated tomorrow. Writer's workshop this week was our chance to transition from informational writing to crafting narratives. As a class, we read Dav Pilkey's book, Dog Breath, and worked to analyze his use of detail and humor in developing an effective plot. The story is about a dog named Hally Tosis. She is a good dog, but has incredibly bad breath. Hally’s family is considering getting rid of her, but after a series of events, Hally is allowed to stay. Third graders are mirroring this type of storytelling with their own projects. They created an animal main character that has a big problem in need of solving. Some examples include: a hamster that’s too stinky, a unicorn with a horn that’s too long, and a lizard that can’t stop laughing. We will continue with the project for the next couple of weeks! In math, third graders began working with perimeter and area. Students learned that finding the perimeter means finding the length of the outline of a shape, whereas determining area means to measure the surface/space a shape takes up. We also dabbled in finding the perimeter/area of irregular shapes, and will continue working on this next week! In the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, third graders also took some time to talk with one another about what the word 'luck' truly means. We discussed the different circumstances we've been in when saying the phrase "you're so lucky." Third graders talked about how luck, a lot of the time, is in reference to good fortune. Third graders talked about the things that make them 'lucky', and recorded them on clovers that are now displayed outside our classroom. We also experimented with the CMAS practice assessment in English/Language Arts this week. The state-mandated assessment is completed via the computer, so the goal was to get third graders comfortable with the format and buttons featured on the exam. Third graders can assess these practice exams via the 'Student Resources' tab. Our CMAS schedule is as follows:
Reminder: Our third grade program is this upcoming Thursday, 3/22! Students will be performing at both 1:45pm (for the school) and 6:30pm (for family & friends). Please encourage your student to study their lines at home! They can also access the songs via schoology. If you cannot make a performance or will be absent for both, please let myself or Ms. Herbert know. Comments are closed.
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Author
Mrs. Minatta is a third grade teacher at Cottonwood Creek Elementary. See and read all about what third graders are up to throughout the school year! Archives
March 2021
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