December Math Workshop

December Math

Third grade will continue working on addition and subtraction. We are focusing on self correcting and finding our mistakes. In addition, we have been using problems with mistakes to look closer and be better mathematicians.  In subtraction, we have been checking ourselves with addition.  We also have been focusing on being able to explain our work and the steps we took to solve, both in writing and verbally. At the end of the unit, the students will be tested on their addition and subtraction skills in word problems and numerically. 

How to help at home:

• go over the homework each night
• encourage self correcting
• make sure students are showing work and can explain their thinking
• practice two and three digit subtraction (especially with middle and double zero)
• make sure children are reading the directions in their homework

December Read-Aloud

                                      

Third grade is wrapping up our reading of Because of Winn Dixie.  The kids are loving this story!  

Here are some of the things we are focusing on toward the end of the book:

• continued work of theme (loneliness, abandonment, friendship, family, forgiveness)
• noticing the struggles of secondary characters
• finding similarities in secondary characters and the main character
• seeing how relationships can change and grow
• learning lessons through the advice Opal is getting from the other characters
• saying how Opal's life is changed because of Winn Dixie

On Wednesday, December 23rd, the third grade will be watching the Because of Winn Dixie movie and comparing it to the book!

December / January Writing Workshop

Compare and Contrast Essay

The third graders are working on developing a compare and contrast essay.  The students will be working on finding the similarities and differences between two animals. Students will be researching and taking notes, using graphic organizers and mentor texts so they they can produce a four to five paragraph essay on their findings.

December Reader's Workshop

December Reader's Workshop

We recently completed our character  unit and all students took a grade-level reading assessment.

We are now moving into our small guided reading groups, focusing on the different skills that students at each level need in order to continue to make reading progress.


These are some of the skills we are working on at each level:
Levels L & M
-Figure out the most important parts of each chapter
-Connect the most important parts of the story to retell what happened
-Notice when you are confused and use strategies to help understand (reread, envision, stop & jot)
-Infer character traits based on things the character's behavior


Levels N, O, & P
-Infer character traits based on things the character's behavior
-Connect important events from the beginning, middle and end in order to figure out how the main character changed
-Determine the lesson the main character learned
-Understand the roles of important secondary characters
-Analyze why characters do things they do
-Figure out characters' flaws (negative traits) and how they contribute to their struggles


You can support your child's reading at home by:
-Making sure they read each day for at least 35 minutes and work on their independent reading job
-Asking questions such as:
     -What is happening in this part of the story? How does this connect to what already happened?
     -Who are some important secondary characters? What are their roles?
     -How does the chapter you just read connect to the chapter title?
     -How does the main character feel right now? What us causing him/her to feel that way?
     -What kind of person is the main character (character trait)? What have they done to make you think they are this kind of person?
     -What lesson did the main character learn at the end of the book?
     -How did the main character change throughout the story?

3-308 Trip to The Whitney Museum

3-308 Research Slideshow

November Writer's Workshop

Character Essay

Unit Goals:

•      Students will write multiple drafts of essays (and will publish at least 1) that clearly states an idea about a character in one book.
•     Students will support the character idea with 3 examples from 1 book.
•     Students will organize the essay into paragraphs.
•      Students will write in complete sentences.
•      Students will use precise, descriptive words.
•      Students will capitalize proper nouns such as names of characters and titles of books.
• Students will use voice to make their writing more engaging.
• 

The purpose of this unit is to learn how to track, build on, and articulate an idea that writers are having about their character across a book.  

November Reading Workshop

November Reader’s Workshop

In November, we are continuing our reading work on inferring character traits based on what the characters say, do and think.  We are working on noticing the characteristics of people with particular traits.  For example, a careful person is someone who does things with care or doesn’t rush or make mistakes. 

Another focus of this unit is building our character trait vocabularies.  Students will be given a bank of character trait words connected to their behaviors.  We are working in small reading groups and one-to-one conferences. 

Our new writing unit is closely tied to this reading unit, as students will be writing about the characters in the books they read. 

At the end of November, we will assess our students' reading by giving a grade-level assessment.  Then we will begin our fiction guided reading groups.  

November Math Workshop

Unit 2 (Rounding, Addition, Subtraction)

In this unit, the students will use place value understandings and the number line as tools to round two-, three-, and four-digit measurements to the nearest ten or hundred (3.NBT.1, 3.MD.1, 3.MD.2).
Students will use estimations to test the reasonableness of sums and differences precisely calculated using standard algorithms.

Students will demonstrate understanding in every step of the addition and subtraction algorithms with two- and three-digit numbers, as 10 units are changed for 1 larger unit or 1 larger unit is changed for 10 smaller units (3.NBT.2).  Students will use these skills to solve addition and subtraction word problems.

The following are links to websites to help your child at home:

http://www.mathplayground.com/grade_3_games.html

http://www.abcya.com/third_grade_computers.htm

http://www.softschools.com/grades/3rd_grade/math/

Upcoming tests:

The students will continue to work on their multiplication and division fluency with weekly, timed quizzes. Please continue to practice and memorize multiples and multiplication facts.

There will be a rounding mid module quiz and an addition/subtraction end of unit assessment. 

November Read Aloud

GRADE  3 READ ALOUD  IN:

For the month of November, Grade 3 students will be immersed in NON FICTION books. We are currently reading books about the:

S O L A R    S Y S T E M

We have been learning about this topic through different nonfiction sources such as:

• articles
• books
• biographies
• videos
• photos
• internet research

Students have been learning about various nonfiction strategies as well as learning how to navigate through a nonfiction book by understanding different non fiction text features such as:

 Starting next week, Grade 3 will be shifting gears and moving back into the world of REALISTIC FICTION. 
We will read a wonderful story  called, Because of Winn-Dixie.  

Here is a sneak preview of what the book will be about...

Opal Buloni and her preacher dad move to little ol' Naomi, Florida from little ol' Watley, Florida. Even though it's a new place, ten-year-old Opal isn't digging it. She misses her friends, her home, and her mother who left her when she was a little girl. Life is pretty sad and she is lonely.  

Enter Winn-Dixie, a cute stray dog that Opal befriends as he ransacks aWinn-Dixie grocery store. The lovable mutt falls in love with Opal and the preacher, they fall in love with him, and voila! Opal's summer suddenly takes a turn for the better.

Thanks to Winn-Dixie's easygoing nature, he manages to introduce Opal to new friends in Naomi—the little old librarian, Miss Franny; the alleged witch, Gloria Dump; and the shy pet store worker, Otis. Opal spends each day swapping stories with these new friends, despite taunts from the neighborhood bully patrol.

Things go on like this for a while, and then Opal and Gloria Dump plan a shindig. Opal invites everyone, including the bully patrol. Everything is going swimmingly until a storm comes and poof! freaks out Winn-Dixie, who is ridiculously afraid of thunderstorms. Poof again! Winn-Dixie disappears.

Opal and her dad search and search, coming up with nada. Then, as her dad tries to convince her to give up, Opal has a break down.  Opal realizes that her mom isn't coming back, but she has a father who loves her, friends who love her, potential friends to love her, and she'll be okay.

Once again, students will continue to work on their read aloud goals. They will take part in daily book discussions where they will be encouraged to think deeply about the text and explore different literary devices.  

Your child will come home with reading response questions. Please ensure all questions are restated, and answered with specific text details.

Punctuation, capitalization and grammar count!!!

As always, thank you for your continued support!

Happy November!

October Math

Math 

In math this month, the students will continue to work on multiplication and division strategies to solve two digit by one digit examples and word problems on the topic.

Our unit will be moving into Engage NY Module 3. This 25-day module builds directly on students’ work with multiplication and division in Module 1. Module 3 extends the study of factors from 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 to include all units from 0 to 10, as well as multiples of 10 within 100. This allows students to build fluency with facts involving a particular unit before moving on. 

Ways to Help at Home

Please work with children to assist them in becoming more fluent and faster at answering 2 by 1 multiplication and division problems.  Do drills, flash cards or the following websites at home, several times a week.

Websites

www.multiplication.com

www.fun4thebrain.com

www.kidsnumbers.com/multiplication

www.mathplayground.com

Upcoming Tests

The mid module assessments were given the week of 10/5

A multiplication/division quiz (to check the students' fluency and understanding of word problems will be given the week of 10/12)

The end of unit assessment will be given at the end of the month once the entire unit is complete

October Read Aloud

In Read Aloud, we have been reading and enjoying the book, FRINDLE.

 

Students think Nick is creative since he created the word, FRINDLE

 Students are practicing how to actively  engage in meaningful conversations.  Many of our students are actively participating in group discussions BUT we still have a few that are quite timid. Please ask your child, “How was Read Aloud today?” Did you participate?  

 Eventually, we want all students to take part in book discussions as it plays an integral part in our learning.

At this time, you may have noticed that students come home daily with a Read Aloud response question.  This question is always based on that day’s reading and used to assess students’ understanding of the text. Please ensure that all answers are clearly RESTATED and answered with SPECIFIC TEXT DETAILS.  Everyone has been working very hard on this and improvement is already noted! 

REMINDER!!

Vocabulary Tests will be given based on the following “character”  words.  Students will be assessed on their ability to use the words in proper context.  These words are used daily in class during conversations.

Here are the words for this unit…

STRICT

CREATIVE

CLEVER

GREEDY

TROUBLE MAKER

COURAGEOUS

REPUTATION

LEGENDARY

LAZY

As always, thank you for your continued support!

Upcoming Read Aloud work will focus around reading nonfiction informational text…. We will share further information as the unit gets closer!