First Month of School...Done!

    Can you believe we are closing out our first month of school? It always amazes me how fast time flies and how much our students change in just a few weeks. I look forward to meeting with you during October to discuss your child and address your questions about third grade. As always please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have in the meantime.

This week in third grade...

     We will choose a seed idea in Writer's Workshop. Our focus this week will be on using a storyteller's voice. The students will try using different leads and begin to draft their first piece of writing.

     We will begin a new unit in Math. We will work on the properties of addition and subtraction, rounding, estimation and adding and subtracting with greater numbers. We will also try to fit in some practice telling time using an analog clock.
     The students took their first math test on Friday. I graded them this weekend and they will come home on Monday. Overall the scores were good. The mistakes the students made were primarily due to rushing and not reading questions carefully. I am asking students to correct their mistakes, get a parent signature on the test, and return it to school by Friday.

     We will begin our first Science unit on Plant Growth and Development. This week we will investigate the parts of a seed and plant our own seeds. These will grow into plants that we will observe through a complete life cycle. This is a wonderful hands-on unit were students make daily observations and learn about the parts of a plant, photosynthesis, pollination, and the parts of a bee.

    We will practice our comprehension skills in Reader's Workshop. We will read short pieces of fiction and non-fiction and use our comprehension strategies to deepen our understanding of each story. We will also begin to meet in our book groups; beginning with reading short pieces of non-fiction and eventually moving on to series books.

    As you can see we are very busy! We will also learn about our first All Star Student, welcome our second Mystery Reader and meet with our first grade buddies.

Thank you to our first Mystery Reader of the year, Ms. McLaughlin!