It's been a busy week for third graders! Students kicked things off with a review of addition regrouping strategies in math. Third graders also took on a few challenges and number talks that encouraged them to stretch their mathematical minds and engage in critical thinking strategies. One key focus this week was number sense. It's an important skill that students will be working on throughout the school year. This week, our number sense activity was called “Game of Totals.” The activity is a fun way to develop an understanding of quantity and ways to make a total of 25. It allows students an opportunity to count, add, keep track of totals, and use visuals to see the sum. See the game rules below… Can you stretch your thinking? In writing this week, third graders were focused on composing stoplight paragraphs. This is another essential skill, as students will eventually be writing multi-paragraph essays! Luckily, third graders are starting off slow and focusing on the major components of one successful paragraph: hook, topic sentence, details, explanations and a conclusion. Students will continue practicing stoplight writing into next week, where they will take on an opinion-based topic: Do you have to write thank-you notes? In reader’s workshop this week, third graders were focused on visualizing and making higher-level predictions. Our mentor text, Stone Fox, is helping guide student learning. The book provides ample opportunities to mentally picture major story events, and its cliffhangers are a great way to practice making predictions! Next week, students will continue with this work and also engage in verbal/written story retells. As stated previously, my maternity leave will officially begin in the coming days! Mrs. Pell will be your point of contact as we move forward. Have a great couple of months- See you in November! |
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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