Language ArtsThis month our Reading Workshop unit is Following Characters into Meaning. Throughout this unit students will be envisioning, predicting, synthesizing, and inferring. Each day students will apply these skills to both their independent books and our classroom literature selection, Because of Winn Dixie, through partner and whole class book talks. They will be challenged to think deeply about and to learn from their characters. Nouns will be the focus of our word work. Students will work with partners to explore and investigate common, proper, abstract, concrete, and collective nouns. We will then create a class Noun-as-Image art project. Our writers are off to an impressive start. In our Writing Workshop students have published their first personal narratives of the year. Throughout October students will be applying new techniques and strategies to take their second narrative piece to the next level. Students should be at least halfway to their first trimester AR goal at this point. MathematicsThird graders have studied place value and rounding. Students used a variety of strategies to have a complete understanding of these concepts. Students are currently focusing on fluently adding and subtracting within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. Students should practice math facts frequently to achieve automaticity. This will allow them to focus on higher level problem solving skills. In a few weeks we will begin multiplication. We will learn about arrays, patterns, skip counting, new vocabulary, and strategies for learning multiplication. ScienceThis month students will begin a Matter and Energy unit. Students will work in small groups to conduct scientific investigations. They will learn about energy sources and how energy is transferred. Students will learn about matter and how heat can melt solids and evaporate liquids. They will conduct a simple chemical reaction using vinegar and baking soda. TechnologyStudents are gaining familiarity with the iPads and will continue to utilize them in the classroom for many different things. As October unfolds, students will become more familiar with the program, “Pages”. Students are using the “mirroring” feature of the iPad to display ideas, examples, and other items of note to the whole class. The mirroring feature projects the screen of any particular iPad onto the projector for everyone to see. Students will become more familiar with Notability and will also have the opportunity to learn a program called “Explain Everything.” “Explain Everything” allows students to record their voices and pen strokes to help explain and show mastery of various concepts. The third grade team is also having students take spelling tests on their iPads. The iPads give results immediately to provide instant feedback. Depth & ComplexityA common, universal language that helps promote critical thinking and gives students a chance to make connections between past knowledge and new knowledge and ultimately integrate that to the real world! This Month’s Icons: Multiple Perspectives - Students understand that we have different roles and knowledge within what we learn. We may have opposing viewpoints, and we do our best to understand each other’s point of view. We use empathy and ask ourselves how others might see a situation differently. Language of the Discipline - Students understand how vocabulary terms are used in a specific content area or discipline. Scholarly AttributesThese attributes distinguish strong and promising scholars from ordinary scholars. We discuss these ideas in depth and promote the behaviors frequently in class.
This Month’s Icons: Principled - Scholars do the right thing because they know it is expected. They demonstrate integrity, honesty, and fairness, even when no one is watching. Risk Takers - Scholars are courageous and know that mistakes are a part of the learning process. Scholars willingly take on academic risks that will benefit their personal learning. |
AuthorMrs. San Galli Archives
April 2015
Categories |