With September drawing to a close, third graders have been hard at work in the classroom. In reader's workshop this week, third graders read an article, "Are Trampolines Too Dangerous?" with their reading groups. After reading, students were tasked with developing a paragraph expressing their opinion on the subject. Many third graders had quite convincing arguments! Look for those coming home next week.
We continued our study of the Northeast Region in social studies this week. Third graders learned more about historical cities like Boston and New York City. They also explored fun sites like Hershey, Pennsylvania--That seemed to be a class favorite! In math, students have been hitting their stride with the introduction to multiplication. This unit in particular challenges third graders to analyze their thinking and be creative with their problem solving strategies. Our classroom forums have allowed third graders to share their thinking with the class, which opens new avenues for discussion and study! This week marked the final bend in our informational writing unit. Most third graders turned in their final copies, and now their books are in the process of being bound! This unit proved challenging for many writers, as it asked them to teach others using a lot of details, pictures, and descriptions. Many third graders showed great progress from beginning to end! We will soon be transitioning into descriptive writing strategies--particularly, how to "beef up" our writing with more in-depth descriptions and adjectives. Below, find pictures of writers at work! What a whirlwind of a week! The days in third grade are absolutely flying by. This week in our study of the United States regions, third graders were asked to determine the location and name of cities depicted via photograph. Clues like the annual rainfall received, population per square mile, and latitude and longitude were given to help narrow down possible choices. It was great to see third graders putting their map skills to use! We also learned more about the Mississippi River. Students competed against each other in a questioning round to determine who could find or remember facts about the river. Students learned about the Mississippi River's levee system, the impact of hurricane Katrina, and even the influence of the river on Mark Twain! In Reader's Workshop this week, third graders reviewed the importance of questioning and making predictions before, during and after reading. Naturally, our discussion segued into a focus on inferring (when you connect your background knowledge with clues from the text to ultimately draw conclusions). These concepts are not new to third graders, but they are a vital aspect of the reading process. Active readers ask questions, make predictions and infer to better understand the text. We will continue to stress this throughout the school year! Writer's Workshop this week centered on students wrapping up the revision process for their informational pieces and moving on to final drafts; however, before students could start their final drafts, they were tasked with creating an introduction and conclusion for their pieces. Why would students write an introduction after they had already written their chapters? Having chapters already written helped students craft introductions that drew their readers in and explained what their piece was all about. Next week, third graders will finish their final drafts and be given the opportunity to share their writing with the class! In the coming weeks, third graders will be introduced to multiplication via Bridges Unit 2. Rather than focus on the rote memorization of multiplication facts, the goal of this unit is to provide students with strategies to help understand the properties of multiplication. In other words, we're building the foundation and walls before picking out the flooring and drapes! By the end of the unit, third graders will be able to: Solve story problems involving multiplication, develop efficient strategies for multiplication facts up to 10 x 10, and represent problems using arrays, number lines, and ratio tables. Find more information on Bridges Unit 2 under the curriculum tab! Business:
You may have heard your student talking about "Terrific Tickets" in our classroom. Terrific Tickets are small slips of paper given to students when Mrs. Minatta notices a student ROAR. Sometimes, the act is small, like walking with a purpose in the hallway. Most often, tickets are given to students that are helping others, demonstrating a growth mindset, or simply doing a great job! When given a ticket, third graders put their name on it and turn it into the ticket bin. Every Friday, five lucky winners are drawn from the bin and receive a small prize. They are also entered into the school-wide ROAR drawing that happens on Friday mornings. Early on, third graders figured out that the more tickets you have in the bin, the more likely you are to win... Such mathematicians! So far, this positive reinforcement has been a great success. We will continue to use it throughout the school year! This week in third grade, students worked hard at finishing the first drafts of their informational pieces. Students chose to write about a wide range of topics from elephants and zebras, to Minecraft and Pokemon. Students completed writers' checklists, analyzing what they had already written and revising it to be even better! Next week, we will continue the revising and editing process. Students will be challenged to add detail, check spelling, and edit conventions. Reading this week was a treat! In addition to participating in our Reader's Workshop here in the classroom, third graders went to the library, where they received instruction from Mrs. Sianko. Third graders learned more about book genres and how to find them within the walls of our fantastic library. Next week, we will be focused on the traits of an active reader--specifically, how inferences help our understanding and comprehension of text. We have almost reached the end of Unit 1 in math, and will soon be transitioning on to Unit 2: Introduction to Multiplication. Many students are quite excited about this! Look out for information on Unit 2 coming home with your student on Tuesday. In Social Studies this week, we started our study of regions of the United States. Students had the chance to explore various maps of the United States including ones depicting population, elevation, and annual rainfall. To feel more comfortable and better about their map reading skills, third graders partnered up and completed a map scavenger hunt. It was great seeing them work together! They were quite the experts by the end of our "hunt." Business:
Third graders returned from a long weekend refreshed and ready to learn! In writing, students began drafting their information pieces. After a few days of brainstorming, creating, and revising a table of contents, they were ready to jump back into the writing process! In third grade, adding detail to writing can sometimes be a bit tricky. To help in this process, third graders positioned themselves as the teacher, and thought about what details were required to teach their "lessons" effectively. We will continue this process next week, and work to add more and more information as we go! Reader's workshop is also in full swing, with students targeting comprehension strategies, fluency, and vocabulary. Third graders have also been meeting with me to read one on one and create reading goals for the trimester. I am so impressed by their personal reflections and targets that they develop independently! We will continue this process next week. In math, we continue to focus on addition and subtraction. This week, third graders participated in a math forum and problem strings. Math forum features students discussing the strategies they use to solve various math equations. In problem strings, third graders solve anywhere from 4-6 problems of increasing difficulty. In both forum and problem strings, students have the opportunity to share their work with the class. Below, you will find pictures of students participating in "workspaces," which is when third graders are partnered up and play fun math games centered on current learning. Run4Funds was a school wide success! Thank you SO much to those of you that fundraised in our class. Many students earned individual prizes, and our whole class earned a Kona Ice party! Business:
What a week in third grade! Students were hard at work in all subjects, including teamwork and citizenship... In our classroom, the "Guess the Message" board motivates students to work together toward a common goal. When third graders demonstrate positive classroom collaboration, they earn the chance to guess a letter from the message board. Today, third graders completed the message and earned a popsicle party! This week in the classroom, third graders began informational writing. Students brainstormed possible topics and narrowed down their choices to just one. They were then asked to teach their chosen topic to other classmates and separate it into subtopics. We concluded the week with the development of a table of contents. Next week, students will begin the writing process! In reading, we discussed "Fix Up Strategies" to use when we get lost in our reading. Third graders learned that when they are confused while reading, using strategies like: rereading, reading out loud, using context clues, slowing down, and making connections can help get them back on track! In math, we discussed and revisited subtraction strategies; putting them into practice with a plethora of story problems! We also practiced our measurement skills. Third graders participated in a classroom scavenger hunt centered on length and width--It turned out to be a very fun activity! Rounding out the week, third graders finished their exploration of Denver History with a final project. Students learned that the group, Discover Denver, works to preserve and protect buildings and artifacts with historical significance tied to Denver. Students were tasked with writing proposals to Discover Denver about buildings or objects they believe to be historically significant--therefore worth protecting. Students were quite creative with their choices, and did a great job crafting informational and persuasive proposals! Business:
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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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