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We enjoyed seeing you at Back-to-School Night! For those who could not make it, below are some of the pictures showing the first few days of 3rd grade from our Back-to-School Night PowerPoint presentation.
Curriculum Notes
Language Arts
In Readers’ Workshop, students are choosing “just right books,” practicing good reading habits and working on their “reading stamina.” Third graders are reading a variety of texts with a focus on personal narratives and memoirs. They are using literature to practice comprehension strategies such as: retelling, finding the main idea, summarizing and figuring out the author’s message.
In Writers' Worshop, we are exploring memoir writing by thinking about stories from our lives. We are also thinking about special objects that hold memories. Authors such as Patricia Polacco, Vera Williams, Karen Hesse and Mem Fox are becoming “mentors” to our third grade writers. We will be tapping into techniques that various authors use to create vivid, captivating and thoughtful personal narratives and memoirs.
Math
We are in the process of completing our first unit in math. In Unit 1, we reviewed and explored equivalent names or values, finding differences, calculator routines, time and money. Our next unit focuses on adding and subtracting whole numbers. Students will review fact families, use fact triangles, and play games (such as “What’s My Rule?”) They will also use graphic organizers (such as a “parts and total diagram,” “change diagram” and “comparison diagram”) to help them solve word problems. One of the Habits of Mind that we are working on is persistence. As students experience challenges, they are learning to “stick with it” and enjoy the good feeling inside when they work out something that seemed hard in the beginning.
Social Studies
Third Grade Historians are studying the first people who lived in our region. Students are creating scrapbooks which depict what life was like for the Lenni Lenape people. We explored theories of how the Lenape came and settled in Pennsylvania. Other sub-topics include: food & storage, shelter, transportation, communication & language, family life/jobs, trading and wampum. Our trip to the reconstructed Lenape Village at the Churchville Nature Center gave us a wonderful first hand glimpse into Lenape life! Ask your 3rd grader about:
Look at these great photos below from our trip:
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Quaker Focus for October - Service During the month of October, our Pre-K-12 community will focus on the Quaker Testimony of Service.
We will reflect on queries or questions such as:
We may also think about quotes such as:
"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."
- William Penn
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better. It's not."
- Dr. Seuss
"Be the change that you want to see in the world."
- Mahatma Gandhi
Social Skills & Friendship Groups Each day in school, as the children go about learning their academic subjects, they are also learning how to relate to other children and their teachers.
In an effort to support the students’ ongoing social and emotional development, Lower School Counselor, Lisa Reedich, will be visiting the third grade weekly to conduct “Friendship Groups” with each class and their teachers. These sessions have four main goals: 1) to enhance students’ awareness of the role of feelings in their daily lives, 2) to improve students’ ability to listen and to express themselves with confidence and compassion, 3) to develop students’ sense of responsibility to themselves and others in the community, and (4) to define and establish safe boundaries that promote respect for each person’s physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual integrity. In order to achieve these goals, each Friendship Group session uses structured, developmentally appropriate games and activities that are designed to foster trust, safety, respect, awareness of self and others, an understanding of one’s impact on others, recognition and appropriate expression of feelings, active listening, problem solving, teamwork, and mutual support.
Halloween
Lower School students are invited to wear a costume to school on Friday, October 30th. The Halloween Parade will begin at 8:30am. Parents are invited to view the procession along the parade route. There is an alternate activty planned for the morning of October 30th for those who do not want to participate in the Halloween activities. Contact your homeroom teacher for more information.
Third graders typically enjoy being creative with their costumes. Students should not wear costumes that depict violence. We also ask that any accessories that either depict violence or resemble weapons be left at home.
Upcoming Events and Reminders |
October 2009 |