Terrific Tuesday!

Sorry for the delay of our weekly blog! Our days are full and we are learning lots!

This week I am having the children complete a Verb project. The project is a combination of teacher-directed activities and student choice. I asked the children to cut out at least 5 pictures and glue on the front of their paper briefcase showing action. This is not considered one of the three activities they are supposed to complete. The children were a little confused by this, so I wanted to clarify this with you so that you would be able to direct them successfully at home. Inside their paper briefcase, they have a green sheet that lists the possible activities. I did explain to the children that they can use their skills and knowledge of computer generated programs to facilitate their work. Many children asked if they could substitute a Wordle for the word search and I happily agreed. This project is due on Friday and does not need to be turned in before then.

In Social Studies, we have crossed the Bering Strait, and are settling in with the Inuit in what we now know as Alaska. We will learn about their survival and resourcefulness in battling the freezing temperatures. We will begin recording information on a chart that compares and contrasts the various Native American groups that will eventually help the children make choices in developing a culminating activity.


We are moving along in Math. Our new unit of study will include elements of Geometry such as line segments, rays, lines, angle, solid shapes, and symmetric shapes. Please continue reviewing multiplication and division facts as well.

We successfully completed our first realistic fiction book read with our reading buddies. The children made their own decisions on how much to read prior to the reading meetings. They discussed the major events in the story and learned how to write thin and thick questions. We completed several lessons on character traits so that they could become a more critical reader in understanding character relationships and how that influence a story plot. This also gave the children an opportunity to learn how to work with a reading buddy and that both partners need to work together in order to not only understand the literature but to also get the assignments completed. We will continue this style of reading with our next realistic fiction book, Stone Fox. I am hoping that none of the children have already read this book. This is an excellent book to teach climax. If you think or know that your child has read this book, please encourage them to not discuss this book with others except for what we read together day by day. This is definitely one of those stories that knowing the ending takes away from the rest of the book. We are continuing to focus on choosing "just right' books. This week, the children have a special book where they are asked to critique the books that they read. At the end of the week, it is my hope that we will have time for each child to present a book that they rated as a 4 or 5 (being the best) and "sell" that book to the rest of the class. You may want to ask your child about this special book log and if they have any books listed on this log yet that are rated as a 4 or 5.

Tonight's responsibilities are as follows:
Study spelling words
Study wordly wise words.. Lesson 7
Handwriting...pages 46-47
Math...workbook page 126
The children are to ask/research where their name comes from... and if there is a story, they are encouraged to be prepared to share the story with the class tomorrow
Work on Very Project

Mrs. Hahn asked that you take the time to visit the Parent's Room blog off my homepage. There are some third grade updates and volunteer information. Many thanks! Also, please contact Mrs. Hahn if you are interested in helping out with the third grade program in any way. The room moms and teachers will be meeting soon to discuss the details and we love having lots of volunteers.

Again, please let me know if you need a reminder as to the time of our conference next Thursday. Thank you again for sending me such sweet children. It makes it fun to be a teacher when the children are so eager to learn!!!!!