3rd Grade News! October Highlights!
from Mrs. Maharajh, Mrs. Molinari, and Mrs. Walczyk
Haunting Happenings of Third Grade!
October is a busy month! We have settled into routines and actually have full weeks of school! This is the month of Respect and our students are continuously making us proud. We have many assemblies focused around this theme and how following the golden rule helps us to be respectful and caring citizens. We know you just received the September newsletter, but would like to begin sending our newsletters home earlier in the month as a way for you to be aware of the skills being presented this month as well as upcoming events. It was so nice to meet many of you at Back to School Night. We thank you for your continued support and communication with us as we travel through 3rd grade together.
Reading
We are jumping into studying characters in series books! This is an opportunity to explore internal and external character traits and how these affect a story as well as a series of books with the same character. We are slowing down our reading to focus on mining text evidence to support predictions, inferences and so much more. We are working in book groups to take with classmates about our thoughts and findings as we study characters across series. Reading Responses have been introduced and students will be required to complete one each cycle following the example in their reading response journal.
Math
The unit on rounding wraps up and students are moving in to addition and subtraction with regrouping! It is time to flex those math muscles! These skills are being introduced using base 10 manipulatives before transitioning to algorithm. Problem solving strategies are being introduced using an approach of understanding the problem, making a plan, solving with work, and using words to explain the approach and solution. Throughout the year, this is the approach that students will use and they will become very comfortable with it. Please continue to have students underline the question, circle important information, solve the problem, and label work on homework assignments.
Writing
Realistic fiction is the focus of this month's unit os study. Students will be creating a story based around a character they develop with realistic internal and external character traits. Their character will face a problem that a 3rd grader would encounter, such as bullying or losing something. The problem will have a realistic solution - no superhero swooping in to save the day! Strong leads and endings will be encouraged. We will be using a story arc to plan our stories to make them more interesting and build up to a solution. Throughout the year, organization, word choice, and show don't tell will be introduced and emphasized.
Science
We have been learning about plant life cycles and the very important process of photosynthesis. Students demonstrated their knowledge through a choice of a play, poem or song. The performances were fantastic! We are moving into animal life cycles and how animals meet their needs.
Social Studies
Students have demonstrated knowledge of the different types of communities we are part of. Our food drive has been a wonderful example to the students about how our actions can make a difference in the lives of others in our community. We are moving into geography and will begin with reviewing oceans, continent, cardinal directions, and hemispheres.
Cheers to Sashna, Nikhita, Adolphus, Rihanna!
Words that Rock!
Week of 10/5: courteous
Week of 10/12: set
Week of 10/19: conflict
Week of 10/26: consequence
Upcoming Reminders
October is the month of respect!
1. Food Drive until October 30th
2. Halloween Parade on Friday, October 30th. (No costumes with weapons are permitted).
3. No School on November 5-6th.