Weekly Update 10/15

Even though it was a short week, we kept very busy!  In math, students learned more mental math strategies and continued to practice their basic facts.  We will be having the chapter 2 math test on Thursday, October 21rst. 

In shared reading we read the book, Lighthouses: Beacons of the Past.  Students learned about the important part that lighthouses played in the past and about the keepers of the lighthouses.  They also read about which lighthouses are still used today.  Students practiced skills such as identifying the author's purpose and looking up words in the glossary of a nonfiction book.  We also talked about how good readers make connections when they read.  Students made connections between their own lives and the book as well as between other subjects and the book.  Many students made the connection that the inside staircase of one of the lighthouses we saw looked like the screw thread on a screw, which we learned about in science.

In writing, students continued to work on their personal narratives.  They created lead sentences that would hook the reader in.  We also talked about using time order words (first, next, then, last, finally, etc.) to put the events of their personal narrative in order.  The trait that we are focusing on when writing the personal narrative is the trait of voice.  I am looking for students to put part of themselves in their writing and allowing their personality to come through in their words.  We practiced using similes as a way to use the trait of voice. 

In science, we finished up our unit on Simple Machines.  The students really seemed to enjoy the experiments and activites that we did in class.  I've enjoyed hearing about the projects that they are building at home.  The students will get the chance to present their projects on Monday and Tuesday.  We will also take time to walk around to some of the other third grade classes that did the project at the same time as us.  The students are excited to present their projects and see what their classmates have been working on!  The next unit will be in social studies.  We will be learning about continents, oceans, and working on more map skills.