We're off to a great start! In reading, we are just starting a chapter book called Judy Moody- she's a 3rd grader just like us! Next, we'll read about Judy's brother, Stink. We can't wait to learn all about story structure and discuss characters and character traits. In grammar we are learning about the 4 different types of sentences: command, exclamation, statement and question. We are also talking about figurative language-- similes, idioms and onomatopoeia (buzz, snap, woof, etc.) In science we have been talking about weather around the world. We tracked Orlando, Florida's weather for week and next week we are going to plot the temperatures on a line graph (this also ties into what we have been learning about in math). We will be moving on to a STEM project next-- where the students will design a house that will be "hurricane proof." In social studies, we are learning about US Landforms. We are having a ton of fun in 3rd grade! Some of our favorite activities include: xtramath, prodigy, art, reading to our buddies. We are looking forward to Halloween!

We just started our hurricane project in science. The objective is to create a structure that will reduce the impact of a hurricane. The students were teamed up and had to research hurricanes and then come up with a plan to help reduce the impact. They will be creating a google slide show explaining their plan and will be presenting to the rest of the class sometime next week! We are just about to finish Judy Moody/Stink in Reading and we are looking forward to our next story-- Scaredy Squirrel. Today we tried out Quizlet Live for the first time and it was AWESOME! The students were engaged and learning their vocabulary words all while working with others. We learned all about prefixes in Phonics class today. In math, we have been working on graphing. We combined science and math by using the data we collected in Science (the weather from Orlando, Florida for a week) and graphing it by using google sheets. Ms. Gibbons came in and helped us with this. We are having a blast and can't believe it's almost October!!!

Wow! This year is flying. It's almost Halloween and before we know it, it'll be time for Thanksgiving. One thing is for sure- we are definitely having a memorable year. In writing, we just finished up letter writing. We wrote a few informal letters and a few formal letters, too! We even wrote Ms. Toschi a letter and addressed an envelope to her. It was a lot of fun. In Reading this week we are starting Dear Primo a letter to my cousin. It is a great story to end our letter writing unit. We also love that this story incorporates Spanish words. Many of us can make connections to something in this story. We learned all about the Great Depression last week during reading and social studies. We are going to continue this lesson throughout this week during Social Studies. After that we are going to focus on Illinois Laws and then we'll also get to read about some current events in our Scholastic News Magazine. In math, we are just cruising along learning our multiplication facts. At home, you can have your child use splashmath.com (class code MRGIYK) or xtramath.org to help drill these facts. Have a great week!

3rd Grade is in full swing! We are really working hard. In Reading/Writing, we started our biography reports. Our bottle people are due on December 13th. The students are so excited to do some independent research and learn all about their assigned historical figure. In Social Studies this week (and next) we are learning about the United States history-- specifically the US Constitution, how the flag was made and all about the Statue of Liberty. In math we have moved from multiplication to division and the kids have been doing great so far. The lightbulb went off-- they are able to relate their multiplication facts to their division problems! In Music, we have started practicing our Christmas songs for the program on Dec. 20th. I'll send out more information about the time of the Christmas program once I hear back from Mrs. T. Have a great week!