Welcome to third grade with Mr. Long! This page will list important dates, give information about our curricular studies, and have details about anything else going on. The page gets updated weekly.
Important Dates:
Specialists for Sept. 28 - Oct. 2: Mon -- PE, Tues -- music, Wed -- art, Thurs -- PE, Fri -- no school
Monday, September 28: exploration/colonization quiz in history (study guide was sent home but also at Study Guide tab above)
Friday, October 2: no school (professional development for staff)
Tuesday, October 6: Virtue Assembly at 3:00 (Spirit Wear Day -- spirit wear tops with uniform bottoms)
Save the date! Monday, November 2: University of MN Raptor Center comes to our classroom 12:30 - 1:30!
Poetry Memory Work: Our quarter one poems are two limericks by Edward Lear, "There Was an Old Person Whose Habits" and "A Young Lady Named Bright". Students choose ONE of these to memorize and then recite near the end of quarter one (the quarter ends on November 5). The poems and a sample of the grading rubric can be found by clicking on the Poetry Memory Work tab at the top of this page.
History: Our first unit of the year is a study of exploration and colonization by Europeans. The study begins with a look at WHY and HOW Europeans began exploring (they were looking for the Spice Islands and spreading Christianity). We will also look into two groups that were highly affected by this -- the Taino people of the Caribbean and the people of the Congo. This week we are focused on the roles of Portugal and Spain in exploration and colonization, as well as learn about the travels of a few explorers for the two countries. We will have a mid-unit quiz on Monday, September 28. A study guide was sent home but is also posted on the Study Guides tab at the top of this page.
Writing: We will begin the year with a review of paragraph structure. At its basic level the structure is: topic sentence, 3 - 5 detail sentences, concluding sentence. In September we will review this structure, write a couple of paragraphs together as a class, and then write our individual paragraphs about a favorite animal and a paragraph about why we would or would not want to be an explorer in the 1500's.
Science: Quarter 1's science unit is a study of animal habitats. This study begins with a lesson on the five basic needs of all living things -- food, water, air, shelter, and space. We will then complete a table of information about the characteristics of vertebrates -- mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Your child should be able to quickly tell you the difference between a vertebrate and an invertebrate! This week we will study the characteristics of and animals in the rainforest and grasslands.
Grammar:
Here are links to jingles we will use in class. For the month of September we will learn and practice only the first three as we review nouns/verbs in sentences and study the three types of pronouns (subject pronouns, objective pronouns, possessive pronouns).