October/November Classroom Snapshot

Wow!   It's hard to believe that we are well into Trimester 2, Halloween has passed, and we are now ready for Thanksgiving Break!   The kids have been working so hard and are starting to get deep into the routines of being 3rd grade learners. I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences and I hope that you have a wonderful, safe, and restful holiday with your families!   See you back at school next Monday, November 28th.

Here's what has been happening in our class:

Dr. Bein enjoyed reading a Thanksgiving story to our class.

Literacy Time:
We're currently in the middle of our unit of study of nonfiction.  Our mini-lessons and interactive read alouds involved the following concepts, skills, and strategies:

• Reading a variety types on nonfiction books (reference, literacy nonfiction, and biography)
• Identifying common nonfiction text features and use them to sort information and find answers to questions
• Using comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading to monitor and deepen comprehension
• Using textual evidence to support thinking about nonfiction reading in both conversation and writing
• Inferring an author's purpose or viewpoint
• Summarizing and synthesizing information to determine important ideas
• Analyzing the impact of the author's language choice on the meaning and tone of text
• Synthesizing and comparing information across texts and in various formats
• Determining meaningful goals for enhancing the reading of nonfiction

Spelling:

I appreciate all of the hard work that each student gives to spelling each evening. 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. The nightly spelling sorts and activities will help your student to reach this goal.

Writing/Grammar:

Throughout Writer's Express (WEX) time, our class continues to work hard learning about the important elements to include in a personal narrative. Together, our mini-lessons have been focusing on writing our paragraphs in a more logical and organized manner. In addition, we are continuing to make sure that our work focuses on a single moment in time. Our lessons have been stressing the importance of utilizing strong verbs, good sensory detail, and proper sentence mechanics in our writing.

Math:

We just wrapped up Unit 3  involved learning about both the U.S. Customary and metric forms of measurement.   Currently in Unit 4,  we will focus on introducing multiplication and division fact strategies, using arrays to demonstrate the meaning of multiplication, work with multiplication and division word problems, determine the area of rectangular shapes, and collect data to discuss the topic of probability and chance. 

Social Studies:

Wow!   What a blast we all had at our World's Fair!   The students had such a spectacular time showing you their personalized learning about the Westside of Chicago and did such a fantastic job on stage!   We appreciate all of those that came out to support our event.   Please click here to view a slide show of the evening.  

To conclude our Chicago Unit, the students had a blast getting into groups, role playing as travel agents, and creating a weekend itinerary for someone interested in visiting our beautiful city.   Please click here to view our "Weekend in Chicago" podcasts.

Science:

This week we just started to dive into our unit on the Solar System.   Through experimentation and class lessons, the students will learn about what causes day and night, the Earth's rotation and revolution, the moon's phases, and constellations.  We will also do some research projects on each of the nine planets.   

On Monday your student came home with a classroom assignment to plot the moon each evening for the next month.   Thank you for their help to monitor that this sheet is filled out each evening.   It is due on Friday, December 16th.   

Garrison's dad, Lieutenant Colonel Corwin came in to visit with the 3rd Graders on Veteran's Day.

Weekend in Chicago Podcasts

Over the past couple of weeks, the students were put into research groups to work on our "Weekend in Chicago" podcasts.   Within their group, their job was to become a travel agent by researching and planning a weekend for a family to spend in the Windy City.    

Through the research, the groups learned how to take notes on attractions and activities they wanted their family to visit,  suggested restaurants for them to eat at, and provided overnight accommodations for them to stay in. (Please click here to view the websites that the students used to research from.)  

After the students researched and planned their weekend, their group created a podcast in our LMC Production studio with Mrs. Seisser to try and promote their touring itinerary.

Please click on this link to view our final podcast shows:
http://hynekclass.weebly.com/a-weekend-in-chicago-podcasts.html