We have had a very productive week even though it was a four day week. Make sure you look in their homework folders for the Biography Project Guideline sheet. You will need to sign the bottom portion and return to me on Monday. That way I know that you have seen the children's responsibility. Right now they should be reading the book that they checked out of the school library and taking notes. We have reviewed this skill in class. This is going to be the hardest part for them as this is truly the first time they have done project like this in third grade. We have discussed the importance of writing sentences in their own words and not to copy from the book. As they are reading, they are to focus on the questions that I gave them on the guideline. However, I did tell them to also take notes on interesting facts that they think will add detail and interest to the report. These facts can be an additional paragraph at the end of the report. I did tell them once they read the book and would still like to add more information, they are allowed, with your permission, to use the internet for information and pictures. We have discussed the usefulness of index cards in taking notes. They are allowed to read their biography and take notes in class. Then they will have me to field questions. The report is due on February 8. I didn't want them to feel too overwhelmed and I really want them to do a good job and put a lot of creativity into the cover.
Please check E-bytes. There is a lovely letter from our school nurse, Marie Confident. She specifically thanks our class along with others for the idea and execution of collecting items for the people of Haiti. On Wednesday, we sorted 6 large trash bags along with at least 10 smaller bags filled to the brim of clothes, shoes and blankets. Thank you to all of you for helping make this a reality for the children. They certainly had their hearts in the right place!
Next week, we will continue our focus on the 8's and 9's and move on to the 10's, 11's, and 12's. The children seem motivated to earn their stickers and be "done" with multiplication. Then onto division!
Please make sure you check the email I sent out about parent conferences on February 24. Several of you are already signed up. It would be great if we could get all the times set by Wednesday of next week.
I am thrilled that so many children signed up for the Reading Festival workshops on February 4. It should be a fun week with the activities that we have planned during the day and the afterschool workshop on that Thursday. Read Read Read!
We are writing our last Personal Narrative on Monday. I did ask the children to think about one more small and special moment that they would like to write about. Today I introduced them to rubrics and how they are used to assess writing. I will be using rubrics with their writing and so I thought it would be valuable to look at paragraphs that students had written and how they had been assessed using a rubric. You will want to ask them about the paragraphs we discussed today and which one they thought was the best example.
In reading, we spent some time discussing what an obstacle is and how it effects characters and events in a story. Please ask your child about the story we read in our reading book entitled, Building Bridges and what obstacles the characters faced in that short story.
The baggy books that are coming home are focusing on Author's perspective or what we also call point of view. Make sure that they read the story carefully. It is great for them to read it independently and orally to you if time allows.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
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