Word Study
The class is split between the Within Word and Syllable Juncture stages. Within Word students are studying long and short e patterns, specifically vowel teams of ee and ea. Syllable Juncture students are studying compound words.
We are continuing our cursive practice and have introduced lowercase l, h, k, b, f, and e.
Students are practicing keyboarding and have learned correct finger assignments for a through u. The class generates a great amount of writing by hand, but writes much less when typing because it's so labor intensive. We only spend a few minutes on this daily, but I am really hoping it will pay off for them.
We are learning action and being/linking verbs. Being/linking verbs (e.g., is, am, are, etc.) are somewhat tricky for most students so we will probably spend some more time on them.
Reading Workshop & Writing Workshop
We are continuing our African American research unit. I began by giving the entire class one minute to brainstorm famous African Americans, people who have made significant contributions or firsts. After eliminating contemporary entertainers and athletes, the class came up with five: President Barack Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, George Washington Carver, and Jackie Robinson. When I repeated the exercise for famous white Americans, the class generated a huge list including political leaders, artists, and scientists. The discrepancy between the two lists was very impactful for many students.
To learn research skills and build awareness of the contributions of African Americans, I will model the research process with Rosa Parks; students will study and report on Dr. Martin Luther King in groups; and students will work independently on an individual African American. I model with Rosa Parks and Dr. King because the students typically already have some solid background knowledge on them.
I am still modeling research strategies on Rosa Parks. As we read, we look for "noteworthy" facts, which we write on note cards in our own words and then write an abbreviated citation. Later, we will organize these cards to compose our report. I have shared that these strategies can be used for any topic. However, as we approach Black History Month, we will be studying famous African Americans. We are using three texts with different text levels.
We celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by watching two videos (see below) and discussing his sacrifice and contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.
Click on Kid President to be inspired to persevere and serve others for equality.
Click on Dr. King to learn a bit about his life's work.
We finished Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper, and have started a new genre, fantasy. We are reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.
Math Workshop
We continue to study fractions. Students should be able to identify and explain numerator and denominator, determine fractions of whole numbers in story problems (e.g., If 3/4 of 24 students have freckles, how many students have freckles), identify fractions in arrays, identify fractions as equal groups, put fractions on a number line, identify fractions on a number line, and convert irregular fractions (numerator > denominator) to mixed number fractions.
Fractions are the single most complex content strand in mathematics in third grade and great motivation for sharpening those math facts. We will likely work on fractions through February.
Important Dates and Reminders
I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit
The Ohio Wildlife Center (OWC) will visit us to celebrate Valentine's Day. We are going to collect donations to "pay" for their visit. The OWC will bring several indigenous animals (e.g., opossums, turtles, snakes, bats, hawks, owls, etc.) to share with our 3rd graders. Please consider donating to help us continue to bring this great opportunity to Windermere. Students should bring their donations to school on Friday, February 12th. We don't have much room for storing donations prior to that day. Please click on the list below to see what items the OWC needs. Priority items are in yellow. Thank you in advance for your support.
March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day
April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment
May 27 - Last Day of School for Students
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