LITERACY
This week for read alouds, I shared a couple of books with the students that I picked up at my favourite bookstore on Vancouver Island over Christmas break. It's a little shop called Tanner's in Sidney and it always has the best finds for children's picture books.
This sequel made the students squeal with excitement! They loved the second book as much as they loved the second!
The second book that I shared with the students was The Elephant by Jenni Desmond. We practiced several comprehension strategies while we read this fiction/nonfiction book. We practiced:
- making connections with prior knowledge
- questioning
- stopping periodically and checking for understanding (listing what you've learned - key facts)
Due to the strong student interest in elephants lately, I've decided to share a chapter book with the students that I just finished reading with my son. It's a fantastic book about a 13 year old girl and her father who run an Asian Elephant sanctuary.
A few other things that we focused on in reading this week were:
- paying attention to punctuation when reading
- the three sounds of the -ed ending
In writing this week, we continued to focus on organization. We practiced organizing the details in our writing to make sure our writing is easy to read and understand.
We had a celebration today...we finished learning all of our lower and uppercase letters in handwriting! The students were super excited! Starting next week, we will have 10-15 minutes of independent practice after O Canada. This practice, in addition to daily handwriting agenda entries, will continue to improve the students' speed and neatness.
NUMERACY
What a week in math! I'm so proud of the students! This week we accomplished so much!
We learned:
- how to use Touch Math for subtraction with basic facts and simple two digit subtraction questions
Watch our Cayleigh zip through some simple subtraction questions! After I shot the video she said, "I've never been THIS fast before!"
- how to recognize when we have to borrow in a subtraction question
The steps that I taught the students when tackling a question are:
- Looking at the ones digits in the equation, ask yourself, "Where is there more?"
- Use the following poem...
More on TOP?
No need to STOP!
(subtract like normal)
Go NEXT DOOR and take TEN MORE!
(I've taught the students the following verbal prompt: "cross out the #, put a #, put a one, now I have ## ones")
Within a few minutes of practice all of the students were completing questions independently and successfully! This is typically one of the most challenging things to learn in the third grade and they are rocking it!!!
We will continue to practice this new skill next week, moving onto to triple digit equations and learning how to subtract from zeros.
SCIENCE
We had our third day of musical instrument presentations on Monday. The kids did a fantastic job! They were so proud of their creations! Thank you for the time that you spent with your child creating their instrument. They spoke so highly of the time that they spent working with their parents.
The Percussion Crew!
The Strings Crew!
The Woodwinds Crew!
Here's a video of the 30 second jam session that the kids put on!
SOCIAL STUDIES
We've started our new unit in Social Studies this week. We opened up with a lesson on basic needs and quality of life. We brainstormed, in groups, a list of needs and wants. We discussed the difference between the two. We defined quality of life as the sense of health, safety, comfort and happiness. For the rest of the year, we will be examining how citizens in different countries establish a positive quality of life. We will start our study with India.
ART
We've started an Asian Elephant project. The first step that we completed today was a guided drawing. They turned out so well! Like the Christmas reindeer, each one has a unique personality. Next week, we will use wax crayons to outline some key details before using water colour paint to paint the elephant and background. The students are excited to complete this wax relief project!
Considering the fact that we had four consecutive days with indoor recess, we had an extremely productive and successful week!
Upcoming Important Reminders
- Skating week is January 21st-24th! We skate each day from 11:15 - 11:45. We haven't been given specific details yet but in the past we have needed help from parents on the ice. If you are able to volunteer to join us at the rink to tie skates at 11:00 or join the kids on the ice, please email me asap. Please also complete the permission slip online.
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