Week three already!!
We have kept super busy. We are still working on tight transitions and other classroom rules that keep our class moving quickly and not wasting precious learning time. We have so much to cover this year so I like to ensure our class is efficient - we have fun, but we run a tight ship.
I'm enjoying getting to know your children - I've gotten to really see their cute personalities :o)
Reading:
We learned about inference this week. This is something we do all of the time, and now we have a vocabulary word associated with it. We watched a funny commercial and a Pixar short film to practice our inference. We will continue to practice this in our book clubs as well.
We had our first spelling test on Thursday. Overall, it went pretty well. These are in your child's mailboxes at school - it was our intention to grab them during cleanup, but we forgot. They will bring them home on Tuesday. If your child receives a 1, please sign and return the test so I know you've seen it. Mrs. Moon and I are putting together our spelling groups this weekend, so starting Tuesday, your child will be in a differentiated spelling group based on their needs.
The students started their book clubs this week and got logged into Edmodo. Please check the Edmodo tab on our blog for information. Edmodo is where we complete all of our weekly book club assignments. This is also where you can check your child's reading assignment grades. Very rarely do papers get sent home. Please note: Edmodo is not homework - this is done in class. If your child is absent they can do it from home; otherwise, I prefer it to be done in class. There is a parent code on their Edmodo page that you can use to follow their assignments/grades.
This week we started very basic with our responses - I just wanted the students to practice using the program.
Writing:
In cursive we are now working on capital letters! We are so close to finishing the alphabet. Once we learn all the letters, the students will work at their own pace through a cursive book.
We started a new opinion paper. We read Hey, Little Ant! and created an opinion about whether or not the ant in the story should be squished. Next, we read some non-fiction ant books and took notes. These notes form the supporting evidence for our opinions.
Grammar:
We started a DOL (daily grammar practice) that we will do every day, time permitting.
We also reviewed regular/irregular plural nouns and took a test.
On Wednesday and Thursday we learned about abstract nouns. Have your child sing you the song :o)
Projects:
This week we learned about simple machines. The students moved through centers learning about and using different simple machines. This provides the foundation for our punkin' chunkin' catapults.
PE:
The students are having fun with our awesome PE moms. THANK YOU SO MUCH, Ms. Darity and Ms. Sheldon-Davis for taking both 3rd grade classes to PE each week. We appreciate you very much!!
Misc:
We are learning all 50 states in alphabetical order through song! We've learned the first 5 so far. It's not a standard, but I think it's important to know that California and Utah are not other countries :o) I learned it when I was in 3rd grade and never forgot it.
*there are 4 new pictures in the picture tab
