Third Grade Celebrates Crazy Hair Day!
The Rolling Meadows Football Team Reads to Our Class!
(Pictured below: Matt Campbell (Mikey Campbell's brother) with our class.
Here's what else has been
happening in our classroom:
Literacy:
Our class has really
been taking off with our CAFE Literacy Program that focuses on important reading
strategies that we should be implementing everyday in our reading. Together, our
class has been reading various stories where we analyze how to find the story
structure of a book that involves discussing the genre, characters, plot,
setting, problem, and solution of a book. Additionally, through
our discussions and independent reading assignments, the students have been
working on the reading strategies of summarizing the important events in a
story and attempting to find the main idea and details of a story. Moreover,
we have been talking about the importance of pausing in our reading every once and
a while to check for understanding of what we have read and remembering to back up and reread a passage when we do not comprehend what it says.
Throughout the past two
weeks. I've also been individually assessing your child in the areas of
fluency and comprehension. Because each of the assessments are taking longer
than anticipated (about 30 minutes per child), we will not be starting
individual guided reading groups until the first week of October. In the
meantime, the students are utilizing this testing time working on various
reading strategies and Weekly 5 routines.
Through the reading
benchmarking assessments, I will be able to place your child in a guided
reading group and provide them with an appropriate novel that I feel matches
their reading strengths and capabilities. Guided reading time involves
assigning students chapters to read independently, having them answer
comprehension questions about their book, and meeting with their group for a
novel group discussion. Throughout the year, your child may be moved to a
different guided reading group depending on their needs. If your child has a
difficult time finishing their guided reading assignment during the schedule 60
minute guided reading period, they will be asked to finish it that night for
homework.
Writing:
Our class is really
starting to get used to the format and routines our new WEX Writing Program.
Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning about the writing concept
of focus. Throughout our lessons, the students have been learning that when we
focus on one moment, setting, sound, or object in our writing, it results in
more interesting words, unique perspectives, and surprising fun-to-read
details.
Additionally, the
students have also been working hard making sure that they are "showing
details" in their writing. Showing is the skill of using precise
observations, descriptive details, and expressive language to demonstrate emotion, create images, and present evidence within our writing. The students
have been learning the difference between telling the reader what is happening
in their writing versus "showing" the reader. For example, instead of
telling the reader "I was cold", the students have learned that they
can better show how the person is feeling by saying, "I was shivering
outside on my front porch as I zipped up my coat". Thus, we are learning
how to write details in our work that are more precise and authentic to the
reader.
Spelling:
A big thanks goes out
to all of the parents that are working with their student on spelling each
evening with our "Words Their Way" Program! Please continue to make
sure that they are sorting their words correctly into their various spelling
categories. The goal of our spelling program is for the students to learn
and retain the spelling rules and word patterns for future use in their
writing and not to just memorize the words for the test and forget them by the next week. The nightly spelling sorts and activities will help your student to
reach this goal.
Grammar:
Over the past several
weeks, the students have been working on determining if a sentence is
considered complete and when they should use a period or an exclamation mark in
their sentences. We also have been discussing how in order for a sentence to be
considered a complete sentence, it must always contain a subject. Throughout
literacy time, the students had fun practicing these skills with the following
web pages. Feel free to on these links to view and play the web site games at
home: Sentence Clubhouse, Penguins on Ice, and What's the Subject?
Math:
The students just finished
up with Unit 1 that reviewed some of the concepts that they learned already in
2nd grade. Our lessons involved analyzing data and plotting it into
various kinds of graphs, finding equivalent names for a given number,
discussing the concept of chance, learning how to utilize our new calculators,
and counting money.
Science:
Throughout the entire year, our class will be studying about the Solar System and observing the changes in the sky throughout the fall, winter, and spring months. Over the past two weeks, the students have been observing and recording the sun's daily pattern. Through our observations and discussions are discovering what makes daytime and nighttime, noticing that the sun's position changes throughout the day, realizing that shadows change during the day as the relative position of the sun in the sky changes, and recording how the sun appears to travel in an arc every day.
Social Studies:
The class has been having a fun time learning all about Chicago. Together, we have been discussing about the meaning of the parts of the Chicago flag and learned about the first settlers that moved into the Chicago area. In addition, the students have been divided into research groups to learn more about events that happened in Chicago's history involving Fort Dearborn, the Chicago River, the Chicago Fire, the Century of Progress, and the Chicago World's Fair. Throughout research time, the students log into an Edmodo account. Once on the page, an assignment is posted for them to complete with their group to learn more about a topic. (Usually the assignments involve reading a webpage, watching a short movie, or watching a slideshow about the subject they are researching that day). Afterwards, the student groups post a few sentences in Edmodo about what they have read. Together as a whole group, we discuss our findings. Feel free to view their postings by going to: www.Edmodo.com. Once on the site, your child can log into their account to show you their postings!
We're excited to go on our Wendella Boat ride field trip next Friday, September 28th. More information about the trip will be sent home to you early next week.
We're excited to go on our Wendella Boat ride field trip next Friday, September 28th. More information about the trip will be sent home to you early next week.
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