Audrey was our awesome All Star last week! Students wrote many nice compliments to Audrey on Friday. She enjoyed a
special lunch with her grandma who drove all the way from Grand Rapids to see her. Audrey read aloud The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. The class loved hearing this familiar story.
Students also enjoyed the items Audrey shared on Monday along with her pictures. Their favorite was a light-up Las Vegas sign that she brought in to symbolize where she was born. Thank you for sharing Audrey!
We wrapped up our launching unit in reading workshop. The students are building their stamina for reading independently each day. They also learned about the last two types of fiction from our genre study---historical fiction and science fiction. They were introduced to the different types of nonfiction text--informational, autobiographies and biographies. At the end of the week, our 3rd grade readers were exposed to the many text features that are in nonfiction texts. When you are reading nonfiction at home with your child, feel free to point out these features--captions, bold-faced words, table of contents, index, glossary, headings/subheadings, charts, diagrams, photographs and tables. Even if the nonfiction book isn't at their just-right level, you'll be amazed at what information they can learn from these various features in informational texts!
Writing Workshop:
In writing this week, the students were immersed in examining writing from other exemplar third grade writers. By noticing things in others' writing, students are able to then set goals for themselves and be able to put those things in their own writing. In the photos below, you'll see that the students are rereading an exemplar piece of writing. They learned how to "Box It and Mark It." Students reread an Exemplar piece and boxed it to show that the story had the correct structure. They boxed the lead/introduction of the stories with a green pencil, the body/important events with a blue pencil and the ending/conclusion with the red pencil. Next, they used the Mark It strategy to flag specific writer's craft within each piece. You'll notice in the photo below, one student marked that the story had a good beginning. When we conferred with that student, they explained that it was a good beginning because it started with dialogue that caught the reader's attention. Other students noticed that the exemplar writing had onomatopoeia. close-in endings, internal stories and other unique features in them. As a class, we discussed the importance of having the correct story structure first. Just as a house cannot be decorated until the foundation is poured and the walls are framed....our stories cannot include these features that make writing fun until it has a solid lead, body and conclusion.
Last week in math, the students worked on building their fluency with 2s, 5s and 10s. They also learned how to multiply and divide with 9s. There is a great hand trick that the students connected with when it was introduced on Tuesday. They all loved trying it and caught on very quickly. It's a great trick to use on homework. Lastly, they were introduced to multiplication and division with 3s. Just a friendly reminder that the fact fluency quizzes have begun. They will be every Tuesday and Thursday. If your child finishes all of the facts on the quiz, they will come home checked. If they don't finish, they will automatically practice that same fact again for the next quiz as they can only miss 1 fact to move on.
Social Studies:
This week in social studies, the students read about how Teamwork Built America in our Scholastic News magazine. It was a great article that was highlighted because of Constitution Day but it also mirrored what we are establishing as we build our class community/culture . Topics such as compromise, cooperation and hard work were not only discussed in the article but also among our All Stars. Later in the week, the students were introduced to the mini-unit in social studies Where is Troy, Michigan. More to come as they dive into this unit over the next few weeks!
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