December 13 Dental Screenings
December 19 January Lunch Orders Due
December 24 - January 4 Winter Break
January 7 School Resumes
Homework - More details posted on the Homework Page
1. Read for at least 20 minutes per day and fill out your reading log each night. Your parents must sign your reading log.
2. Respond to ONE of the writing prompts.
3. Complete your math homework.
Optional: If you haven't already, bring in a clean plastic or glass container with a lid for an upcoming project (clean salsa or deli containers, peanut butter or spaghetti sauce jars, mason jars or yogurt tubs would work best)
Upcoming Out and Abouts
We will conduct a school-wide waste audit this week to learn about what's being throw away and consider ways we can help reduce the amount of garbage created at school.
Weekly Review
During our "In and About" last week, students began studying energy through a curriculum called Saving Energy, developed by the National Energy Education Development Project. Students will learn how energy is produced and used. They will also study about heat, light, electricity, natural gas and other natural resources. The lessons and activities are correlated to National Science Education Content Standards, but also focus on students' real lives and make connections to the classroom and home. Last week, students used a graphic organizer to discover which daily tasks used the most energy and we talked about changes they could make at home to conserve energy.
On Friday, we tried a new activity called a "Science Talk." Here is a description from an article titled Conducting Science Talks:
"Science talks are one effective tool to help children wonder about the natural world. By generating their own ideas and theories about the world, children become personally invested in seeking answers to those questions, thereby setting the stage for science investigations. A good science talk will not only stimulate thinking, but will stimulate children's enthusiasm to discover answers on their own. Science talks can form the basis of a rich inquiry science experience. Science talks are open-ended class discussions and are teacher facilitated rather than teacher directed. Science talks allow children to articulate their own ideas, and, as a group, build on each other's ideas. A successful science talk is a genuine group thinking session, rather than a sequence of individual ideas."
The students proposed topics for our first science talk and then voted on their favorite - How do computers and video games work? They quickly decided on a procedure for sharing ideas and taking turns speaking. I was amazed at the maturity and quality of their discussion! I originally set the timer for 20 minutes, but they were eager to continue talking after 20 minutes passed. I hope to hold weekly student-led science talks and help them enhance their communication and listening skills.
Math Notes
In Third Grade Math, we will continue our study of geometry this week. We will focus on properties of triangles and quadrilaterals. We will also continue to review 3-digit addition and subtraction. Students are expected to easily add and subtract within 1000 by the end of third grade. Your Puffin or Plover should be able to use the standard addition and subtraction algorithms (which involve re-grouping, also known as borrowing or carrying) to add and subtract large numbers. We will continue to practice these strategies in class and the homework this week focuses on regrouping.
For Homework, students should complete Page 1 of Independent Worksheet 2. For Question 2, students should rewrite the horizontal equations as vertical equations so they can easily use the standard addition and subtraction algorithms. Page 2 has additional challenge questions (questions 3 and 4) and they are optional.
Last week Fourth Grade Math students began to demonstrate how to solve multi-digit multiplication problems using partial products and an algorithm. This week we will continue this practice, as well as challenge ourselves with double-digit x double-digit multiplication. We will also continue our fluency and automaticity with 0-12 multiplication facts and continue our in-class goal work this week.
For homework students are required to complete Independent Practice: More Practice Multiplying by 10, 100, and 1000. Questions/Comments/Concerns, please contact Becky at [email protected]
Communication
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. Parents and students can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message on the class phone, come into the classroom before or after school, or call me before 8PM at home.