Ms. Looney's October Newsletter
Classroom News
We continue to keep busy learning and enjoying school! Please read below to learn about all of the wonderful things happening in our third grade classroom. I look forward to touching base with all of you at parent teacher conferences this week. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments. Thank you!
Reading Workshop
In Reading Workshop we started building our Reader's Notebooks. Third graders are VERY excited to use their Reader's Notebooks that will document their reading lives throughout the school year! We have learned how to log the books we are reading in school and discussed the difference between fiction and non-fiction. We also learned about various genres and how to determine which genre we are reading. Students are doing a wonderful job choosing "Just Right" books and monitoring their thinking as they are reading using sticky notes. We will learn what "schema" is, how to ask "thick questions", and evaluate books. We are excited to start our read aloud, A Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.
Writing Workshop
In Writing Workshop we have learned to follow the writing process to publish descriptive color poems and paragraphs about our favorite place. We have started to draft beautiful personal narratives about small moments in our lives. We are excited to investigate how to write effective persuasive letters to an audience.
Meeting Grace Lin
We really enjoyed meeting our visiting author Grace Lin! She shared many wonderful and entertaining stories from her life with us. These stories inspired her to write and publish many picture books and novels. She also conducted a draw along with the children and they created dragons in their writer's notebooks (the number of whiskers on their dragon represents good luck, fortune, and peace). You may want to encourage your child to start his or her own "Idea Book" at home ~ Grace Lin kept an "Idea Book" as a child!
Math
We have learned about number patterns, how numbers are related, what tools to use in math and how to use them, money, and elapsed time. Unit 2 will cover number stories, problem solving, addition and subtraction algorithms, and temperature. Unit 3 will cover measurement of length to the nearest inch and centimeter, perimeter, area, diameter, and circumference.
Social Studies
In Social Studies, we have learned about our place in the world and started studying the continents. Third graders will learn their continent groups this week. They are so excited! Children will collaborate with their continent groups to create a landform rap about five landforms found on their continent. Landform rap videos will be posted on Vimeo when they are finished! I am excited to see how the children demonstrate their knowledge of landforms found on their continents and showcase their musical talents in their rap videos! I am also looking forward to their "Continent Presentations". I will keep you posted on the date for this exciting day! I know our Third Grade Globetrotters will amaze us with all they have learned about the world.
Schoology Login Directions
Please see the link below for directions to login to Schoology. All class newsletters will be posted in Schoology each month! Thank you!
Important Dates
Wednesday Sept. 30 & Thurs. October 1 - Lower School Pumpkin Patch & Book Fair
Thursday October 1 - Marathon Kids Family Run 7:00
Friday October 2 - Lower School Conference Day
Monday October 5 - Our Class Global Read Aloud Begins (Fish in a Tree)
Wednesday October 7 - Lower School Eucharist
Friday October 9-12 - Fall Break - Enjoy!
Friday October 23 - Spooktacular Carnival
Amber Looney
Email: looneya@esdallas.org
Website: esdallas.org
Phone: 312.404.2041
Twitter: @mslooneyesd