3rd grade update
January 15-26 2024
Reading and Writing
Hooray! We finished Because of Winn Dixie! We did so much work with this book because there are multiple characters to analyze. Here are some of the lessons we did:
- Notice the role secondary characters play
- How we learn lessons alongside the characters
- Pay close attention to the climax and how the main character is tested
- Notice how a character comes to a resolution
- Linger with a story after it is done (it's like leaving a friend)
- Analyze author's craft - why did the author choose specific settings, word choice, etc
Up next we will continue our character studies by comparing and contrasting Opal with Dymonde from the book, Make Way for Dymonde Daniel.
Reading and writing have been very intertwined with writng lots of readers response in the form of a literary essay. To close out this unit we will not only continue that, but each student will be assigned a book and tasked with writing their very own literary essay and taking it through the publishing process.
Math
Over the past two weeks third graders have been working on different scenario real world problems. We are working on drawing unit bar model representations to deepen our understanding of why and when we use the different operations. Students are working hard on always remembering to follow the four steps for problem solving: understand the problem and underline the important information, think of a plan (“I can draw a bar model,”) carry out the plan (solve the problem) and finally check your answer. We are also taking note of and underlining clue words that tell us what operation to use:
Addition - sum, altogether, all, in all, together, total, total number, add, increase, and increased by.. Subtraction - minus, greater than, take away, fewer than, less than, subtract and decreased by. Multiplication - product, multiply, multiplied by and, of course, times.
Division - divide, divided by, each, per, and shared/split/or divided equally.
Social Studies
The Africa Museum was such a great way to celebrate the culmination of a long period of hard work. We are so thankful that all families were able to make it to support all of the students' hard work! We truly enjoyed having everyone in our space for this special occasion. Project based learning is a wonderful way to meet all students at their level and garner interest for all. We are looking forward to our upcoming unit on South America. While it won't culminate in another museum night, we have a special project in store that we are sure the students will be thrilled with.