Great First Full Week!

I hope your 3B student shared all the great activities we worked through last week - mixing liquids, taking digital pictures, math stations. It was a busy week but great one! I am pleased with the routine the students are getting into and their attitudes about school. Wonderful! Keep it up 3B! I thought I would just comment on a few activities we completing last week.

As I just mentioned, students kicked off science with an activity looking at the inquiry process and what scientist do. We first started off with a question to solve, then made an hypothesis, which the students learned was an educated guess. After that, we decided the procedure of our experiment and then conducted it to make a conclusion. The first question I guided them through was if cranberry juice, Diet 7-up, and blue Gatorade would mix or layer if poured on ice. Many students were surprised to find that it layered. So the next part of the activity was for students to work in groups, set up their experiment and work through the process to determine if all liquids would do the same thing when poured on ice. It was super fun! We found that some do and some don't based on sugar content and density. While it was not important for students to totally understand the rationale, the meaning behind that activity was to help students understand what scientist do everyday. This will set the stage for the many hands on activities we will be doing throughout the year. As one student said, "This is cool!" I agree.

I will be sending a parent note home soon explaining the structure of our literacy. Look for that sometime in the next week or so. Thus far, we have had many mini lessons on what is reading, how to pick books, and what good readers do. If you ask your child what reading is, hopefully they stand on a chair and scream "Thinking". I hope that does not get them in trouble as we try to add excitement in as many areas as possible in 3B. The class has built their "Read to Self" stamina up to 11 minutes, which is fabulous, and I hope to see that continue to build. "Read to Self" is one of the components of the Daily 5, a part of our literacy structure. Ask your child to explain what "Read to Self" looks like. We have been reviewing what it looks like and doesn't look like. Funny how they love to volunteer to model the incorrect way to read to self. Quite a site! This week we will continue to build our stamina, do some assessments, and work into the component of "Work on Writing".

Our specials are in full swing. Remember to send tennis shoes with your child on Monday and Friday as well as return library books on Friday.

Students have also been shown some online math activities on my web page that they enjoyed last week. If your child is bored or looking for something to do at home, get on my web page and go to the math link. There are a ton of online games your child can play to reinforce his/her skills.

Thanks for a great start to the school year. Enjoy your week!