January 28 - Feb. 1

    This week was filled with lots of activities, and for once I actually remembered to take pictures. The new iPad really helps with that! Following the pictures is our weekly schedule. Don't forget to take a look at that too!
     Did you know that we had a guest speaker this week? Miss Rinke visited all third grade classrooms to give us information about her online business. She knits gorgeous hats and ear warmers. Her lesson was very inspirational!



Ms. Rinke's lesson about her online business.

     Did you kknow that we have math centers almost every day?  Here students are playing a multiplication memory game.

     Some students are participating in math practice on their computers.

     Other students are writing their own multiplication and division word problems.
    

     In social studies we organized an assembly line to see if the assembly line could build more marshmallow men than Matthew, who had to build 5 marshmallow men all on his own.  We proved that the assembly line was the more efficient way!

We're done!

 

 

Math:  Students will continue to work on their multiplication facts and then relate them to division.  We will also begin the chapter on geometry.  This is actually my favorite chapter to teach!

Writing:  Almost everyone has completed their "hands off" personal narrative.  Hands off means the students were completely responsible for their own work.  I gave lessons for the beginning, middle, and end parts of a narrative, but I did not interfere in any way with their wording, spelling, or language mechanics.  I am actually very happy with the results.  Spelling is probably ou biggest downfall, but story wise the narratives were great!  Now we will begin our social studies business plans as a part of our writing curriculum.

Spelling:  Please do not look for new spelling words until this Wednesday/Thursday depending on what group your child is in. 

Reading:  We are continuing with Riding Freedom and Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher.  Some groups are focusing on skill lessons to help them improve their Evaluate test scores.  Everyone with be reading books and articles about entrepreneurs and the businesses they have started.

Science:  We will write a review for "Matter" lesson 1 and then head into lesson 2 on the states of matter.  Wish I would have remembered to take pictures of our sink/float experiment this past week.  Students also experimented by designing foil boats to see which boats could hold the most weight and still float!

Social Studies:  More study of entrepreneurs in social studies class.  We will also make an economics vocabulary notebook.    

 

 

Special events for this week:

Monday - Friday:  Collection for the Souper Bowl of Caring;  Review multiplication test over the 6x facts.  Also, 7x fact test for those who feel ready.  Math log is due!

Tues:  Ability Awareness Day - be sure to ask your child about this very special event!

Wed:  7x fact test;

Thurs:

Fri:  7x fact test;  8x and 9x fact cards will be given to everyone!

This Week 1/14/13

As you can see, I'm spending less time on the blog, but trying to visit the blog more often than just on the weekend.  Here is what is planned for the week:

      Math:  Multiplication and division word problems and facts up to 6x;  Look for a 6x quiz near the end of the week.
     Spelling:  No tests this week.  New words won't come out until tomorrow.
     Writing:  Continuation of personal narratives, however, this time with a prompt.
     Science:  Study of property and matter;  We are making a Properties of Matter poster.
     Social studies:  Studying economics;  Our Ch. 10 will most likely be next week.
     Reading:  We will be taking the Evaluate test this week.  Our lesson focus continues to be main idea!

Spelling bee contestants for the 2013 School Year

Congratulations to Ally and Natalie for being winners in our third grade classroom bee. They did a fantastic job of representing us at theThird Grade Level Bee. Natalie went on to be one of two third graders to move on to the all school bee which will be held this coming Friday. Congratulations!

Winter Fun

Take a look at our January bulletin display. The class worked very hard on their cinquain poetry and multiplication properties snowmen!