Housekeeping:
Monday, February 25, 2013: Penny Wars start
Monday, February 25, 2013: Early Release/PLC
Wednesday, February 27, 2013: Homework due
Wednesday, February 27, 2013: AR Goal deadline
Wednesday, February 27, 2013: End of Trimester
Thursday/Friday, February 28 and March 1, 2013: Professional Days/No school
Monday, March 4, 2013 Dr. Seuss Day
Language Arts:
We have been working hard these last two weeks collecting data and information for our Animal Reports. This week we will complete our last paragraph and write our final copy. The students have been typing the report on the computer. We expect everyone to type at least their first paragraph. The report will include a written paper, a picture of the animal in its habitat, a 5 slide PowerPoint show, and a graphic organizer showing how the student organized their information.
The story of the week is a short story called Alejandro's Desert. It is another fictional story about a man living in the desert and how he makes new friends. The spelling test will be this Wednesday and the homework for the week is also due.
The students were given an information sheet on the Lion's Club Essay. The topic of the essay is "How I serve my Community". The essay will be written and typed at home. It is a homework assignment. We thought about completing it in class, but need to finish up the animal reports. The Lion's club essay homework assignment is due the middle of March or the week of the 18th through the 22nd.
Math
We took a short break from multiplication last week and completed a quick unit on measuring time. We are back in the saddle with multiplication and are practicing multiplication by 6, 7 and 8. We will continue to work on these new multiplication facts for the next two weeks.
Social Studies:
For the past two weeks we have been studying about the Arctic and the people and animals that live there. We will complete the Arctic unit this week and the students will bring their packets home.
Question of the Week!!
Good job on the question from last week!
1) 8 x 3 = 6 x ? What does the question mark stand for?
2) Solve the following multiplication problems using the Associative Property of Multiplication and the Distributive Property of Multiplication:
(4 x1) x 4 = ?
3 x (4 x 2) = ?
5 x (5 + 1)
Hello Third Graders!!
Hope you had a great 100's day. Your Water Cycle Projects were great!! This year every student had a completed project on time. Nice job!! We are going to do some other activities with our water cycles on the IPAD's.
Housekeeping:
Monday, February 11, 2013: PLC/Early Release
Thursday, February 14, 2013: Valentine's Day (We will make our bags in class this week and pass out Valentine's at our Thursday party. Each student will receive a class list so they can write out their cards at the party).
Friday, February 15, 2013: Students need to be at 62% of their Reading Goal!!
Reading/Language Arts:
This week we start our Research Reports on an animal of our choice. We will get our information from Websites, My Big Campus, lectures, and home. Much of the writing will be completed in class. There will be a rubric explained to the students so they know what our expectations are for the paper. The students may choose to do research at home and bring the information to school. The writing project will take at least 2 weeks. Their Solar System papers were so great, we thought we would try some more writing.
Math:
Room #1 just completed their Unit Seven Math Test on 0's, 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 9's and 10's. We have been going over several strategies in class to help them connect that multiplication is simply repeated addition and that division is no more than repeated subtraction. This is a difficult concept to understand. Once they get that idea, then they can learn and memorize their multiplication facts. We teach them strategies along the way to help them if they can't remember a fact. We are testing for fluency on the following multiplication facts:
0, 1, 2, 5, 9, 10
The students are times for one minute and given 30 problems. As soon as they pass off zeros and ones, they move to multiplication by 2's and so forth. If they can pass off all of these families, they earn a pizza party!! We are giving them several weeks to earn their pizza party. Extra practice at home is a GREAT IDEA!!
Science:
The Water Cycles were such a hit and all students turned in and presented a project. We continue to learn about the surface of the earth and its characteristics. We will finish up Earth and its resources this week and then start our Arctic Unit.
Question of the Week:
What is the area of a rectangle that is 9 inches wide and 7 inches long? Write the multiplication equation to answer this question.
What is a good trick when multiplying by ten?
What is your favorite thing about third grade?
Housekeeping:
- Monday, February 4, 2013: PLC/Early Release
- Monday, February 4, 2013: Water Cycle 3-D models due.
- Monday, February 4, 2013: Begin our Animal Research Reports/Brainstorming
- Monday, February 4, 2013: Begin our "What Freedom means to Me" essay
- Tuesday, February 5, 2013: District Administrators visit Room #2
- Friday, February 8, 2013: 100's day....wear a sport's number jersey.
Language Arts:
We have several writing assignments coming up in class. The first writing assignment is the American Legion Essay "What Freedom Do I Enjoy Most"? We will brainstorm ideas beginning tomorrow. We will also start our study of Theme Four in our Literature Unit. All students will think about an animal they would like to learn more about. We will gather information in class and begin the writing process to produce an informative research paper on an animal of their choice.
Math:
Each day in class, we have been modeling multiplication strategies to help the students understand the multiplication and division process better. These are some of the strategies we have been using:
- multiplication arrays
- word problems
- Math the Fun Way (fun stories to help us learn the multiplication facts)
- Illustrations
- Rectangular area problems
- Math manipulatives and counters
- Multiplication mountains
- The finger trick for 9's
- The BEST trick is first to understand that multiplication is just repeated addition and then to memorize your facts.
The students have reviewed multiplication with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10
This week we will review multiplication and division, work with some more word problems and strategies, and have a Unit Test on Friday.
Science:
Water Cycle models are due on Monday, February 4, 2013. Several students have already brought their models in. Each student will have a chance to explain their models and then display them in the Library. This is a huge part of their Science Grade...so please make sure you complete your project!! In Science this week, we will study erosion and the breaking up and building up of the surface of our Earth.
Question of the week:
Trem has 28 marbles. He has 4 small boxes. He wants to put an equal amount of marbles in each box. Write an equation to show this word problem.
How would I show the correct way to make this sentence possessive?
The chickens of Summer were white and fluffy.
Identify the parts of this sentence. What are the Nouns, Verb, Adjective, and Adverb?
The pink flamingo gently lifted its skinny, rough leg.
Seven scrawny snakes slithered silently through the dark, thick grass.
