It's official! The end of the school year is here. Third grade students are becoming fourth graders... And they are certainly ready for the transition.
I am so proud of all the hard work and dedication this class of third graders has shown throughout the school year. Students conquered new concepts like multiplication and division, were encouraged to think critically about complex texts, and took on the challenge of in-person and remote learning during a global pandemic. WOW. Not only were third graders shining stars academically, but they developed and maintained friendships that will last well past this school year. Students were thoughtful and kind toward one another and learned what it means to be a true friend. A sincere thank you to parents, family members, and friends for consistently supporting students and always having their best interests at heart. Although I will not be returning to Cottonwood next school year, I will always cherish these fun memories with third graders. Scroll through the gallery below to see some of what we've been up to our last couple of weeks. Have a fantastic summer! Wishing you all the very best. 🌻 Another week down in third grade and the end of the school year is quickly approaching! Students are taking time to solidify much of their learning and are working on some fun projects along the way. In addition to their academic learning, third graders had a chance to watch Mr. Mondragon get slimed for Kids Heart Challenge and earned a movie party for responsible and respectful behavior during the month of April. Woohoo!
In math, third graders are focused on determining fraction equivalency, plotting fractions on a number line, and multi-step algebraic operations. We're also circling back to concepts practiced throughout the school year like: triple-digit addition and subtraction, multi-step word problems, and multiplication and division concepts. Moving forward, students will begin working on a culmination project that puts all their mathematical skills to the test! Science this week has been centered on animal adaptations. We learned what it takes to survive in the arctic, how animals use camouflage to become invisible, and why butterflies are so colorful. Next week, we'll transition over to social studies and begin learning about the western region of the United States. During reader's workshop, our focus has been on comparing and contrasting themes within folktales, fairytales and myths. Students learned that many of these stories follow a specific pattern and feature common elements. After our Earth Day learning, writer's workshop shifted focus to recycling. Students researched landfills, types of plastic, the process of recycling, and how likely people are to recycle. Third graders are now using this information to frame opinions on whether or not recycling should be required. We will continue with this topic into next week! We've had another productive week in third grade! Students celebrated Earth Day by enhancing their knowledge on the recycling process, learning more about how to keep our planet happy, and even playing some Earth Day-themed BINGO! When third graders weren't learning about the environment and topics like pollution, students were wrapping up their geometry unit in math, giving Google Slides presentations centered on southwestern states, and preparing for the upcoming CMAS assessment. Next week (Tues. - Thurs.) third graders will be taking the CMAS ELA assessment in the morning. In the afternoons, students will be working on a review of math concepts learned throughout the school year and comparing/contrasting myths and legends. Our new science unit, Structures of Life, has begun! Third graders will investigate the structures and behaviors of living things. We’ll be sprouting seeds, learning about animal habitats and adaptations, and even look into skeletal structures. We already kicked off the unit with a study of animals over time, and will be transitioning to plant life next. We have officially begun our geometric unit of study! In this unit, students will calculate area and perimeter, represent fractions as parts of a whole, and classify two-dimensional shapes. It is a fun, all-encompassing unit. Third graders have been using tangrams, geoboards, and rulers as special tools to help work through complex problems! In social studies, we have been learning more about the Southwestern Region of the United States: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Much of our discussion and learning has been centered on the culture of the Southwest, with a particular focus on the Mexican and Native American influences on the region. Next week, we'll be transitioning into learning about the West, which includes Colorado!
In reading and writing, our focus has been on folktales. Third graders have read and watched videos on: How the Tiger Got its Stripes, How the Koala Got a Stumpy Tail, How the Zebra Got its Stripes, The Fox and the Goat, and The Fox with No Tail. Students were tasked with identifying the characters, setting, problem/solution and moral/lesson in each of the stories. They also compared and contrasted their similarities and differences. Up next, we'll be learning more about myths and fairytales. Students will also begin a writing project centered on "unsolved mysteries." So much fun to come! We've also been learning all about figurative language in class. See below for pictures of students practicing their simile skills! Happy Spring Break! We have had quite the productive week in third grade! Students are making great progress across all subject areas. Below are a few highlights from the week. In reader's workshop this week, our focus was on "Forgotten History." To start things off, third graders read a non-fiction article about Matthew Henson, a black explorer responsible for co-discovering the North Pole in 1909. Because Henson was Black, he was largely forgotten from the history books. His exploration partner, Robert Peary, was the one who received credit for their discovery and all the accolades that went with it. It wasn't until 1988 that Henson was properly honored with a headstone at Arlington National Cemetery. As a class, we discussed the unfortunate reality that many noteworthy people from the past were not recognized for their achievements because of their gender or skin color (or both). We decided to learn more about some of these important people. After researching a specific individual, third graders created infographics using Adobe Spark. Some examples are pictured below (Mary Anning, Garrett Morgan, Katherine Johnson, Chester Nez, and Sylvia Mendez). Be sure to talk with your student about the person they studied. These individuals are responsible for important discoveries and moments in history, and should all be celebrated! During writer's workshop, third graders officially wrapped up their research on endangered animals! Students all became experts on a specific endangered species, and created webpages to help inform others about these awesome creatures! Head to the "student resources" tab to check out their webpages.
It's been another busy week in third grade! Students were hard at work across all subject areas and are putting forth their best effort, as usual! During reader's workshop, third graders connected their study of endangered animals to current events in the news. It was recently reported that a black footed ferret named Elizabeth Ann was cloned from the DNA of a ferret that lived over 20 years ago. The black footed ferret happens to be an endangered species, and scientists have suggested that cloning may be a tool used in saving animals from extinction. As a class, we learned more about cloning animals from a few news articles and then discussed the subject. Third graders had tons of thought-provoking questions and opinions. Interesting stuff! During math this week, third graders were focused on fact families, specifically how they are interconnected. We talked about how we can use fact families to help solve both division and multiplication problems. Third graders then transitioned to studying the language of multiplication and division word problems. We worked to determine key words that help the problem solver determine what the question is asking. Students then had the chance to create and solve word problems of their own! This proved to be a great system of practice and helped solidify how to break down complex word problems. Quick note: Third graders should be practicing their multiplication facts at home. I highly encourage students to memorize their multiplication facts (0-12), as getting a handle on them now will be immensely helpful in the future! Third graders can practice their facts via our class blog, with websites accessible through the ‘Student Resources’ tab. Old fashioned flashcards work great as well! What a week in third grade! Students have been hard at work across all subject areas. We also enjoyed a fun Valentine’s Day celebration with one another!
In writer’s workshop, students have been busy researching endangered animals with a focus on how these creatures survive, why they’re endangered, and how people can help save them. Third graders all chose their own animals, learned the animals’ endangered classifications, and have been using online resources to learn all they can. Now that students have thoroughly researched, we will begin crafting reports on each animal. Eventually, third graders will create web pages to educate others on conservation efforts! For the past couple of weeks, our reader’s workshop focus has been on tracking characters’ response to conflict. Our mentor text, Because of Winn Dixie, and our read aloud book, A Series of Unfortunate Events, have both served as excellent examples to practice on! Students also concluded their first book clubs of the year and will be starting new ones next week. This week, our mathematical focus was on measurement of mass, volume and length. Third graders worked with scales, measurement cups, measuring tape, rulers, etc. for some hands-on practice. We wrapped things up with a post-assessment on our math unit. Next week, we’ll begin more practice with multiplication and division concepts. See below for pictures of third graders practicing their measurement skills and celebrating Valentine’s Day in class! What a week we've had here in third grade! In addition to completing their academic work, students participated in Read4Fund$ activities throughout the week. In math this week, students continued practicing telling time on an analog clock. We took things a step further by solving elapsed time word problems. One of our whole-group tasks was to solve a problem called "All Aboard" from Graham Fletcher's 3-Act Tasks. The problem asks students to determine how long it will take a train to pass based on a few pieces of evidence. Everyone did a great job collaborating and working to complete the task together. Feel free to click below and try to solve it yourself! In reader’s workshop, our focus has been on developing deeper theories about characters based on the patterns we perceive. As a class, we discussed how theories are often like icebergs; it’s easy to see the top 10% but we need to look deeper to see the remaining 90%. Often, readers develop what we refer to as ‘surface level’ theories based on simple observations. To successfully dive deeper, readers must track patterns and truly know a character’s personality traits. Expert readers move beyond asking ‘what’ and transition into the ‘why’. This is very much a complex way of thinking, and we will keep practicing in the weeks to come. This week, we also learned about the Australian bushfires that took place last year. Third graders researched what bushfires are, how they impact the environment, and what has happened to Australia’s wildlife because of them. Sadly, over a billion animals likely perished due to the fires. Thankfully, wildlife conservation groups and are helping to save what's left of Australia’s iconic animals. Next week, we’ll expand our learning to that of animal endangerment itself. Each third grader will then choose an animal to study as part of an endangered animal research project. Cottonwood's Read4Fund$ fundraiser was a huge success this week! Students were eager to get in some extra reading minutes and loved tracking their progress. Reminder that donations/pledges are due back 2/5 and prize day will be celebrated 2/17. Thanks so much for your support and generosity. Below are some pictures of 3rd graders earning those reading minutes! What a week! As we jumped back into in-person learning, students took some time to catch up with one another. One of our learning targets this week was defining successful collaboration. Students learned that cooperation is a life skill and helped to develop a collaboration rubric for our classroom. To test out out their collaborative skills, students took part in a socially distanced team-building activity that involved popsicle sticks, rubber bands, a plastic spoon and marshmallows... Be sure to ask your student about what they built with their team! Math this week was all about using number lines to compare unit fractions. Third graders worked on ordering fractions from least to greatest on a number line and filling in shapes with a specific fraction in mind. To further master their skills, students collected data on each others' eye colors and plotted the information on a number line. Third graders learned that 3/5 of their classmates have brown eyes, 1/5 have blue, and the remaining 1/5 have hazel or green eyes. This week in Writer's/Reader's Workshop, our focus was on tracking character change in fictional stories (all of which featured themes related to attitude). To start things off, we read The Bad Seed. As a class, we discussed how the main character's attitude and disposition were impacted by events in his past and those around him. We then read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. We compared the main characters from both books, noting how they are similar and different. We then discussed how a willingness to change impacted their overall attitude.
Next, we watched the Pixar Short, Boundin'. The video's theme song features the phrase "Bound and Rebound." In groups, third graders developed and shared strategies that they use to move from a negative attitude to a more positive one. To round out the week, third graders were asked to determine the meaning of the Helen Keller quote featured below. They did a wonderful job finding the underlying theme and had many insightful responses! The focus on maintaining a positive attitude proved to be a great way to transition back into our work as third graders. We will continue to focus on maintaining positivity and what strategies we can use to do just that! We've reached winter break, and third grade students deserve some rest and relaxation! Thank you ALL for your teamwork in making these weeks of remote learning meaningful. I am astounded by the learning that has taken place, and am grateful for such a wonderful classroom of third graders. In math this week, we continued our work in comparing unit fractions and determining equivalency. Starting our math block with estimation practice has been a big hit with students. This week, one of our favorites was estimating the amount of snowballs in the glass. Can you make an accurate estimate and explain your reasoning? Literacy this week was dedicated to learning about holidays and traditions celebrated around the world. We learned about: Las Posadas, La Befana, Hanukkah, German Christmas, St. Lucia Day, Diwali, Kwanzaa and Chinese New Year. As a class, we realized one commonality amongst all these different traditions: a theme of togetherness!
Wishing you all a wonderful Winter Break! I hope you can take this time to be with family and enjoy quality time together. See you in 2021! |
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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