Hi, everyone!
I hope all of you have enjoyed a relaxing rainy weekend! We have a lot to accomplish this week! In reading, I'm working to read and conference with each student. I'm giving each student a goal to strive for as they read. I've noticed many students have books that are a bit too easy or too challenging for them. Together, we're discussing books that are a "good fit" for them. Please be sure your student is reading at home with a "good fit" book. =) This week, we'll work on reading out loud with expression and fluency. I'll model this in class and they'll work with a partner. Encourage your child to read at home to practice this skill. Also, we'll be "putting ourselves in the character's shoes". As we read, students need to think what it might feel like to be that character in the book. If you're reading, watching a movie or show, or just sharing about your day, pause and talk with your child about how a person or character might be feeling. Try to stretch their vocabulary too (Not: "The character is happy"....But: "The character is delighted because she worked hard on her project and all her classmates said she did a great job." Speaking of vocabulary, we're adding new words all the time! Last week, we learned the following words: glee, persnickety, proper, murmur. We give a shout out whenever we use these vocabulary words in class! In math, students will continue with understanding attributes in our geometry lesson. By the end of the week, they should easily compare and contrast two shapes. (Example: The trapezoid has only 1 set of parallel lines and no right angles. The rectangle is a parallelogram, has 2 sets of parallel lines, and 4 right angles. Both are quadrilaterals.) We're done with science and our human body unit. Next up is social studies. We'll be learning the 3 regions of North Carolina (coast, piedmont, mountains) and how they are different. I'll be assigning projects for this unit. Look for it next Monday! Arts Night is Thursday! Please join us. There will be a food truck so come early! Thank you for all you do!!!! It really helps when we partner together! Amy Flowers [email protected]
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Your children will soon be "published" authors! This week, students will finish re-writing and illustrating their first narratives. We'll put some finishing touches on their work and let them share. In writing, we've focused on capital letters to start sentences, ending punctuation, indenting paragraphs, using quotation marks, beginnings, and endings. We'll continue this week by starting another narrative. The more the students write, the better their writing will be =)
In reading, we'll continue with finding the meaning of unfamiliar words in their texts. At home, read along with your child and pause to ask what a word means. Students should be reading before and after the word to seek its meaning, looking for a definition, or substituting another word to see if it's reasonable (one of our vocabulary words!). In math, we're moving to geometry. We'll study and recognize the attributes of squares, rectangles, trapezoids, etc. I'll be including some art (looking at Picasso's work) and having children search for shapes they know. If time permits, we'll try our hand at creating Picasso-like work with placing our 2-D shapes in interesting arrangements and coloring them to create masterpieces =) We'll be wrapping up our science unit this week with a test. To keep science hands-on and interesting, students will create backbones out of egg carton sections, measure different bones, and check how quick their nervous system responds to different stimuli. Following this, we'll move on to our social studies unit. ***Remember Wednesday is a teacher work day =). Enjoy your day! Thank you for all you do to support your child, Amy Flowers [email protected] This week, I'll finish assessing all students in reading. During my mini-lessons, I'll focus on reading strategies and teach students how to use context clues to find the meaning of an unknown word. In writing, students will continue working on their "seed" stories (we want "seed" stories and not "watermelon" stories). They have done a tremendous job creating engaging beginnings for their stories and being sure to wrap up their writing with a great ending. We will work on editing these stories during the week. Each student should be a "published" author by Friday =)
In math, we're working on rounding to the nearest ten and to the nearest hundred. In science, we will do some fun hands-on experiments to understand more about our skin and how our nervous system works. *Friday is Wear your favorite college team shirts! Go, Heels!!!! Please continue to be sure your student completes math homework and reads for 20 minutes daily. Thank you for all your support! Amy Flowers [email protected] I hope all of you enjoyed your long weekend! I did! =)
This week, we'll be reviewing reading strategies (check for understanding by asking who and what, asking before-during-after-questions while reading). We'll add the strategy "back up and reread" to ensure students are comprehending what they're reading. We'll also work on finding the meaning of unknown words by using context clues (reading before and after the unknown word to try to figure out the meaning). Finally, we'll take a look at informational texts on Friday (reading articles about furry heroes from 9/11-all articles are age appropriate).. In math, we'll be covering problems with addition and subtraction. Students are doing much better with computation but are struggling to know when to add or subtract when reading a word problem. We'll tackle that weakness this week. In science, we'll review a bit on bones and add joints (hinge, ball-and-socket, gliding). We'll discuss the thumb and why it's considered an opposable joint (translation: moves in multiple ways). Students will act out the joints, observe animal joints, and draw the joints. By the end of the week, they should be bone and joint experts! =) Things to know this week: ***Beginning of Grade test for 3rd grade is Wednesday morning. Please be sure your child is well rested and has an awesome breakfast. Only reading is tested. The results of testing show teachers which students need in-depth reinforcement to get all students up to grade level. I don't want students to be stressed at all! Thanks for simply encouraging your students to do their best. ***Thursday night is our Back to School night. I look forward to seeing you again and explaining more about 3rd grade! ***Friday is "red, white, and blue day" as a remembrance of 9/11. Thank you for all you do to help your student!!! Amy Flowers [email protected] |
AuthorHi! I'm Amy Flowers-mom to four great kids and one energetic puppy. I've been in education fifteen plus years and am passionate about igniting a love for learning, not just filling a bucket.. Archives
June 2018
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