Hi everyone,
I hope you're finding lots of time to relax during this rainy weekend! I'm sure all of you have heard about Governor Baker's announcement about a possible full return to school in April. I'm sure this brings up many questions, so please know that I will update you with any information I hear as I learn it. We're in it together this year!
We have a busy week this week! Here's what you can expect:
This Week's Remote Work: Please help your child to remember to put their completed remote work into their Take Home Folder to return to school. There are several highlighted assignments on this week's remote schedule. These assignments are "must-do" assignments and should be completed during your child's remote learning days. This week, the "must-do" assignments are:
iReady Math Assessment (Day 1 Remote Work & finish on Day 2 if necessary)
Math practice pages "Practice with Distance Riddles and What's the Number?" (Day 1 Remote Work)
Word Study Written Sort-- schwa sounds vs no schwa sound (Day 1 Remote Work)
Independent Reading
Write a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris -- there are directions and a sample letter on the Google Slideshow linked to the schedule! (Day 2 Remote Work-- optional but encouraged!)
Lexia Core 5
Dreambox
NEW THIS WEEK!: I added a third page to our remote schedule with some activities students can complete if they finish the activities on the remote schedule early. These are OPTIONAL and I will continue to add new ones each week. Students brought home the necessary papers for these activities in their remote learning packets.
iReady Assessments: This week, we will work on round 2 of Reading and Math iReady assessments. Students will take the math portion at home. There are several chunks of time scheduled into their asynchronous remote schedule this week to complete this assessment. If your child is not able to finish this assessment at home, they will have have more time in school. While this is a low-stakes test, please encourage your child to take their time and use the scrap paper provided in their remote work packet. As you may remember from the first round of this assessment, as students get answers correct, the assessment will give them harder and harder questions. Students will get questions that they don't know how to answer! Please just remind your child to take their best guess and move on when this happens!
Virtual Field Trip-- this Wednesday!: We will be meeting with the whole third grade this Wednesday on Zoom from 10-11 for a surprise virtual field trip! I'll tell the students about this on Wednesday morning! :)
Here's what we've been up to in class!:
Math: We've been learning how to solve distance problems by using number lines by using the "adding up" and "subtracting back" strategies. Click here to learn more about these strategies! We also began thinking about the properties of triangles and quadrilaterals.
Writing: Students have been spending a bunch of time researching facts about their chosen animal. They're studying everything from cheetahs and lions to poison dart frogs and tardigrades! You'll be able to learn all about these animals, too at our next writer's celebration when we finish this unit! To begin making their chapters really interesting, students have been exploring how to balance their facts with interesting and captivating ideas. There is a lot of humor and sound effects being worked into their writing!
Reading: Cohort B began the newest bend in our nonfiction reading unit: Narrative Nonfiction (Cohort A will start on Monday). Students began learning about how to read nonfiction books that feel more like stories. They've been exploring lots of biographies and have noticed that even nonfiction books can have fictional story elements! We tried identifying the story elements in the book Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race and noticed that even though this book is based on real events, there are still main characters, a setting, a problem, and a resolution! Next week, we will celebrate Read Across America Week by reading many interesting books that explore topics like taking action, celebrating differences, influential Americans, and different perspectives.
Social Studies: We are finishing up our unit on how historians learn about the past by learning about how historians use timelines to piece together information about historical events. Students began making their own timelines. Some students have chosen to make a timeline about the important events in their lives. It might be helpful to talk with your child about some events (and the years they happened) they could include on theirs!
Science: Students began exploring the concept of "Survival of the Fittest" while we played a game that turned them into different sea creatures. They got to explore which traits were the most beneficial to help them survive a shark attack in a lively coral reef environment vs a dying coral reef. We then talked about why certain traits are passed down through generations.
Phew! We've been busy these past few weeks! Stay tuned for more weekly updates about all the learning we do this year!
Best,
Ms. McLellan