Classroom updates 10/5/18
The school year is finally in full swing and kids have really mastered the routines in third grade! We’re looking forward to a full, 5-day week of school next week! Here’s a look at what we’re doing in the classroom:
Math
Unit 1 in math was primarily a review unit on concepts and skills taught in 2nd grade. It was a sort of ‘refresher’ math unit. Unit 2 is focused on addition and subtraction of whole numbers. The four main areas of focus will be reviewing fact families, solving “What’s my Rule?” problems, using diagrams to help solve number stories and reviewing algorithms for adding and subtracting. I would encourage you to play math games with your child at home to help strengthen the automaticity of basic facts. Adding more than two numbers has proved to be tricky so far. For example, 98+112+17=? We’ll be shoring up this area of math and moving into multiplication soon! Some of the kids are eager to master the basic multiplication facts and are ‘earning their belts’ quickly!
Reading
Third grade is doing well and seem highly engaged in the Junior Great Book stories. We’re focusing on visualizing, making connections, and character traits. I read aloud a book called ‘The Hundred Dresses’ and the students jotted down character traits they recognized in the story- take a look at Instagram to see a picture of the chart paper covered with post-its! We are taking a trip to the Matthews Playhouse on Tuesday, October 16th at 9:30 to see a performance of The Hundred Dresses. This is a play based on the book, and emphasizes acceptance, kindness, and empathy! Please be sure your child is readying for 30 minutes nightly. The best way to grow as a reader is to….READ!
Writing
Our initial writing unit is focused mainly on gathering Ideas for writing stories. We are wrapping up unit one next week. Unit 2 is focused on Organization, which is the framework that holds ideas together and draws attention to what matters most. When information is organized in a way that is easy to follow and understand, the writer has gone a long way towards communicating effectively. Simple story telling with your child is a good way to demonstrate idea organization from the beginning of your story to the conclusion. Another general writing skill I am stressing with the kids is to ALWAYS write in complete sentences and s-t-r-e-t-c-h your answers by adding details that describe who, what, when, where and why. You can help your child develop this skill by asking them to elaborate when they give you short, one-word answers! I always ask my sons, “How was school today?” The daily reply is, “Good!” I then make them tell me details, something specific, and I won’t accept the ‘one word’ answer.
As always, please reach out if there’s any questions or concerns. Shabbat Shalom!
