Hello 3rd Grade Families!
I hope you're all enjoying your first few days of December. I can definitely feel the holiday spirit in the air, and I always enjoy the sounds of the holiday train drift through the neighborhood. December in the classroom brings further exploration of geometry in math, hands-on experimentation in science, and extra winter art projects. Just two more weeks of learning in 2016, and then we welcome new growth in 2017! Read on for a recap of our last week in the classroom!
LITERACY
Last week we finished our final story from our Unit 2 Smart Solutions theme, titled William's House.
Arriving in New England in 1637, William is determined to recreate his home in England but realizes that the climate requires modifications to it. As the seasons changed, William and his family encounter new problems in their home that require creative solutions.
Students practiced two of our reading comprehension skills with this story as they completed their extended essay response. They examined cause and effect relationships, as well as problems and solutions.
They worked with a partner to fill out the graphic organizer before writing their well-written paragraph in response to the following writing prompt:
Describe the modifications William made to his home and why he had to make them.
The students then had an opportunity to type up their responses on the Chromebooks.
READER'S WORKSHOP
This week in reader's workshop students worked on a variety of skills.
1. Close Reading--use post-it notes to record your thinking while reading (questions, comments, reactions, connections, main ideas, etc.)
These post-its then show some evidence of comprehension and the level of interaction students are having with their book. This provides a good basis for discussion during individual reading conferences.
2. Summarize-- Recount the main events from your reading, in the order they occurred, without retelling the whole story and giving too many details. Include character, setting, and transition words.
Some students were finishing up their book, and had to practice summarizing the whole book.
3. Character Study-- Students who began new novels this week had the opportunity to do another character study of their main character.
We will continue to develop more sophistication with these skills throughout the year.
WRITING
The class has been working hard on their first informational article. Many students have finished drafting their body paragraphs and will be writing introduction and conclusion paragraphs this week. Our goal is to have these articles published by winter break.
MATH
This week our exploration of geometry continued as we learned about types of angles!
Then we used our knowledge of angles to help us
name and classify triangles.
We can name a triangle based on
it’s angles and sides.
Even our November Calendar was all about shapes,
so on Wednesday and Thursday we spent time completing
a Polygon Scoot activity.
I laid a calendar marker on each desk. The students then rotated from desk to desk in order to observe and chart the above information.
It was a great way to build up their fluency, check for understanding, and provide movement.
On Friday we examined the difference between theoretical and experimental probability as we analyzed the results of our mystery bag experiment.
After conducting the experiment for over a week, we identified the probability of getting red, blue, green and yellow.
Then we emptied the contents of the bag and identified the likelihood of getting those same outcomes based on what's really in the bag.
SCIENCE
We began our week with a discussion prompted by the following question.
This question led to an excellent classroom discussion. Ask your child what the outcome was.
Our conversation was the perfect segue into learning that particles of matter are gaining or losing heat during any change of state. We illustrated the diagram below in our science journals to help communicate the concept.
The students had no problem understanding this concept.
Next, it was time to conduct our first experiment using the scientific method.
I stressed the importance of "process" to the students, and told them that just as important as discovering what was going to happen to our "solid" when it was added to a "liquid", is the process we use to conduct the experiment.
We took time to highlight the steps to the scientific method in our lab journal.
After getting our materials,
we read the question that our experiment is designed to answer.
Today's Question: Will the solid change when added to the liquid?
Then, we took time to observe and describe the solid and the liquid before making our hypothesis.
Once both partners were ready, they dropped the solid into the liquid, and observed and recorded what they saw.
The last step was to state whether their hypothesis was correct or not, as they wrote down their conclusion.
Our second experiment with matter was called The Melting Race. In this experiment, students were introduced to the concept of a variable and a control.
The question we were investigating was “Can we make an ice cube melt faster?” Students worked in groups to devise a method for helping an ice cube melt. The ice cube was placed in a sealed ziplock bag.
Students were allowed to touch and handle the bag in order to help the ice melt. Most students figured out pretty quickly that the best methods involved using their own body heat and heat generated by friction to speed up the melting process.
From this experiment, students learned that in order to make a reliable judgment about whether or not they did indeed speed up the melting process, they had to have something to compare their result to. They learned that in a science experiment, this is called the control group, whereas the part of the experiment that we are changing involves a variable (something that is changed).
Most groups successfully increased the melting rate by approximately 1 hour, by using friction or body heat to help the ice cube melt faster.
PARENT LED ART
On Friday afternoon students completed their second parent led art session of the year. This was the first of two clay-based lessons. The next one will involve glazing their fire-bisqued art work.
This lesson, like the one before, was inspired by Faith Ringgold, our artist focus for this year.
Students completed a clay-weaving which related to Faith's use of cloth and textiles in her art.
They each received a slab of clay which needed to be rolled out.
Then cut into 6 equal strips.
Next, students added various textures to each strip.
Finally, they wove their strips together to make a solid clay piece.
The pieces will be ready for glaze in January or February.
Thank you parents, for helping make this lesson such a success!
IMPORTANT DATES
December 19 - Jan 2 Winter Break- NO SCHOOL
