FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL
We spent time the first week getting to know one another. In addition, we reviewed behavioral expectations and started learning classroom routines.
We read Mr. Peabody's Apples, a story about a boy who spreads rumors then has to make it right. Click here if you'd like to hear a read-aloud of the book. After reading students worked together to squeeze ALL of the toothpaste out of a tube. THEN I asked them to use toothpicks and put ALL the toothpaste back into the tube. We realized quickly that it was impossible. We made connections between the toothpaste activity and the book. What we discussed as a class was that it is not entirely possible to take back words we've said, so we need to be careful how we speak to each other.
At the very beginning of the year, we reviewed place value in math. A favorite activity during our first week of school was building towers out of hundreds, tens, and ones blocks. Students worked with partners to build their towers. Then they figured out the value of their blocks by adding the hundreds, tens, and ones.
Starting the second week of school, we've used our brand-new math curriculum: iReady. Each day the students have a lesson that requires them to TRY a problem, DISCUSS their strategies and thinking with classmates, then CONNECT & APPLY what they've learned to different types of problems.
Many story problems are embedded into our daily lessons. Students have been learning to do THREE READS of every problem.
- On our FIRST read, we get the GIST of the problem. We think about what the problem is mostly about.
- On our SECOND read, we pinpoint exactly what the problem is asking us to solve.
- On our THIRD read, we find the information needed to solve the problem.
We just took our unit one test. We start to learn about multiplication next.
We started the year by learning about the strategies readers use to THINK about the text they are reading. Readers make connections, visualize using text details, wonder and ask questions, and make inferences about the text.
WRITING
We started the year thinking and writing about topics that are important to our 3rd grade community. We read the book What If Everybody Did That then wrote paragraphs related to the text. Some students wrote paragraphs exploring what would happen if everybody wasted school supplies. One student wrote about what would happen if everybody helped the custodians keep the school clean! (I loved the positive focus of that one!)
Next, students wrote descriptive paragraphs about fall. As a class, we brainstormed sensory details for fall. Students then wrote paragraphs that included a topic sentence, at least 4 details, and a closing sentence.
After completing drafts, students worked to edit their own work for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. They have a handy-dandy personal dictionary called a Quickword that they use when editing.
SCIENCE
Has your child been talking about clouds lately? That is likely because we've been learning about weather in class. We learned about different types of clouds and the weather related to them. We created cloud posters and even made clouds in jars!
Next up in the content areas: Our next content unit will be a social studies unit about Native Americans of Connecticut. We will be doing a stem project as part of that unit. If you'd like to send in any of the following materials, it would be very helpful! Of course, donations are completely optional.
Needed supplies:
- Pipe cleaners, preferably brown or black but any color is fine
- Small paper lunch bags
- Bendable plastic straws
- Rolls of masking tape
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL & CLASSROOM COMMUNITY BUILDING
We've read many, many books about kindness and respect since school started. We've also read books about being determined and having a growth mindset, even when something is challenging. Here are a few of the titles we've enjoyed together.
Please be sure to check your email for important announcements from the school district.
SOME IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES:
- October 10, 2022 - No school
- October 11, 2022 - Fire Prevention Assembly
- October 17-21, 2022 - PTA Book Fair
- October 17, 2022 - HOMEWORK FOR GRADE 3 BEGINS
- October 19, 2022 - Unity Day...Wear orange!
- October 27, 2022 - STEAM Night at LES! 6-7 p.m. Preregistration required
- October 31, 2022 - Fall Party... I'll be in touch if you offered to send something in. More information about the day will be shared via an email from the school. Please be on the lookout for that.
- November 7, 2022 - Picture Retake Day
- November 7, 2022 - Early Dismissal, parent/teacher conferences
- November 8, 2022 - No school for students, parent/teacher conferences