Word Study: This week's spelling words will be: plus, trust, mule, punch, cube, skunk, June, blue, plum, tune, trunk, glue. We are continuing our vowel-consonant-silent e long vowel pattern that we saw with a, e, i and o. We will explore common short u vowel patterns of -unch and -unk as well. Additional words you may want to practice sorting at home include: mug, much, just, us, cute, use, due, rude, fume, true, tube, music, ugly, unlock, lunch, stuck, truthful, confuse, cupid, youth, usher, rummage, rubbing, and buffet. For hearing students, they should first recognize the difference in the long and short u word sounds. Then they should identify the patterns as specifically as possible. I have posted handwriting/letter formation practice pages below for this week's spelling words. Print these off at home and support your student's letter formation as well as spelling as an optional study strategy.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
We studied prefixes and suffixes this week. I gave students mnemonic cues to remember prefix with "previews come at the beginning of movies" (alternately, "preschool comes before elementary school") and "suffering comes at the end." (I then limped around for them as a demonstration.) We are using sign language to kinesthetically connect to synonym and antonym as well as the natural rhymes of synonym/same and antonym/opposite. See if your student can show you these signs. We reviewed contractions by constructing and deconstructing them. I introduced adjectives in conjunction with common nouns.
Reading: I exposed students to the format, vocabulary and length of the upcoming Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment. We also practiced test taking strategies: read the question, read with your finger, and underline evidence. OAA practice tests are available online through the Ohio Department of Education. Students who do not pass the test will retake it in the spring. This test is simply one of many assessments utilized to identify students who need additional support and students who need extended instruction. Its purpose is NOT to determine retention, as many third graders have worried over the years.
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspxpage=3&TopicRelationID=240&ContentID=4348&Content=108226
We are continuing our reading comprehension skills: main idea, compare and contrast, supporting details, and fact versus opinion. We are still reading The Secret of Zoom. We will begin mapping this story as a way to understand our read aloud more deeply.
Writing: We are publishing our first friendly letters and still focusing on convention (indenting, capitals, punctuation). We will begin our pen pal letters soon. "I'm finished" is a significant obstacle in 3rd grade writing. We avoid this by giving students both freedom and responsibility of choosing a new writing, (e.g., poem, fiction story, letter, research project, prompt response, persuasive writing, etc.) when they finish their assigned writing. This allows students to develop more interest and value in their writing. The author's chair provides an invaluable opportunity to share writing and it also helps students begin to realize the benefit of rereading their work as many of their words do not make it to the paper.
Example of earbuds.
Math: The initial math assessment's greatest "Ah-ha" is that most missed questions are the result of not reading questions carefully, rather than not comprehending the math skills and strategies or simply rushing. As I shared at Parent Information Night, I mark incorrect questions and give students the opportunity to fix their work. This ranges from completely redoing a question to simply writing their numbers more neatly or adding a label for the unit of measure (e.g., feet, hot dogs, gallons, etc.). I do not indicate what they missed, only that there is an error. I've found it very beneficial to provide this opportunity to students to both accurately assess what they know and to develop test taking strategies. It really provides them with a tangible lesson in checking their work too. We added our final fact fluency strategy, "Make tens." Anytime a student sees a 7, 8, or 9 as an addend, they borrow from the other addend to create a 10. Most students are very fluent in adding on to ten.
Example: 8 + 6 = (8 +2) + (6-2) = 10 + 4 = 14
Unfortunately, I do NOT have a green thumb and having over watered our classroom garden, we lost many of our plants. We do have some strong carrots, spinach and pumpkins still growing for observation and future life science. We continued our earth science by comparing minerals by color, hardness, shape, and texture. Classification is a continuous theme throughout science and it is a skill we will also see throughout our reading studies this year.
Unfortunately, I do NOT have a green thumb and having over watered our classroom garden, we lost many of our plants. We do have some strong carrots, spinach and pumpkins still growing for observation and future life science. We continued our earth science by comparing minerals by color, hardness, shape, and texture. Classification is a continuous theme throughout science and it is a skill we will also see throughout our reading studies this year.
Important Dates and Reminders
We will begin Ukulele Orchestra on Thursday, October 13th. We will have Ukulele Orchestra every B and D day from 11:05 until 11:25. Please help your student to remember their ukuleles on these days. If you still do not have your ukulele and need assistance, please email or call and I'll try to provide some local resources.
October 3rd - 7th: Box top collection
October 4th: Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment (Please do not schedule any appointments for this date)
October 5th: Walk to School Day
October 7th: Fall Family Night 6:00-8:00pm. This is a great family event. I hope you can make it.
October 20th: School Picture Retakes. I do not have any information on student photos. Please see the envelope that came home regarding retakes or photo packages.
October 26th: Field Trip to Highbanks Metro Park. Please let me know if you are able to chaperon. See separate post.
October 28th: End of first grading period
October 28th: Halloween Party. See separate post.
October 4th: Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment (Please do not schedule any appointments for this date)
October 5th: Walk to School Day
Click to enlarge
October 7th: Fall Family Night 6:00-8:00pm. This is a great family event. I hope you can make it.
October 20th: School Picture Retakes. I do not have any information on student photos. Please see the envelope that came home regarding retakes or photo packages.
October 26th: Field Trip to Highbanks Metro Park. Please let me know if you are able to chaperon. See separate post.
October 28th: End of first grading period
October 28th: Halloween Party. See separate post.
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