Week of November 9

 This week we accomplished many things. We continued to learn within our reading groups. Students are learning about character motivation, plot, making predictions, and learning from the text. One reading group has been working on their book research. They will be presenting their findings to the class soon. During math, we closed out Unit 1, focusing on addition and subtraction strategies, and have moved into Unit 2: Introduction to Multiplication. We are using the array model to discuss multiplication. Many students have done well with the introduction, as they get to build their models to show their thinking. We ended the week with a fun picture day at school. Everyone looks so wonderful in their outfits! I cannot wait to see the final results. We hope to get those pictures out to families by Thanksgiving break. On Friday, we spent much of the day inside and focused our attention on science. Students are learning about weather patterns, the different kinds of clouds, and what climates are located around the world. One last thing, please be sure your child is practicing their spelling words each night and reading for at least 20 minutes. These are both very important habits for third-graders to get into and with practice, both will become much easier. You can always check-in with me if you need support in either of these areas. 

Here are some questions to spark conversation:

-What is the difference between a stratus cloud and a cumulus cloud?

-How are clouds formed?

-Can you draw me a 3 by 4 array? What is the area and how do you know?

-What is a paragraph? What is an introduction?

-What changes have you noticed in the woods this week?

-What poem are you working on this month?

Making music on the blacktop with Miss Dale in Music class this week

We were able to raise our tarp last weekend! We certainly have enjoyed the increased about of headspace. 

We have been focusing on a new poem this month. Be sure to ask your kiddo about it

Adding illustrations to match the words of the poem, allowing the words to come to life

A few students have been hard at work, building a new fort this week. 

Building arrays to represent our multiplication problems

Recording climate around the world