We have been very busy in 3B. Lots going on and tons of learning! Here is a glimpse of everything we have been doing:
1. Twitter friends - Through our class Twitter account, we have been learning from our friends in China about the Chinese New Year. We will be celebrating the Chinese New Year on February 11th with them as well. I am working with their teacher to set up a book discussion that we will also be doing with them. With our Twitter friends in Australia, we have also learned that their school year runs the end of January to the beginning of the following December. December thru January is their "summer". Crazy isn't it? The students are really getting into Twitter and learning across the world from one another. We have also been commented on their student blogs in China and Canada with them commenting on ours. Fascinating to think that we can communicate with one another across the world so simple! We love it.
2. We are also commenting on the blogs of 3rd graders from Michigan, although they are having some technical difficulties. Hopefully this week we will start this "blogging challenge" that 3B is involved in. They have commenting on our student blog pages already and will continue throughout the year. Please remember that we would love to have parents/relatives comment (as some of you do already).
3. Students are jumping into multiplication and division in math. We have gone over the shortcuts for multiplying by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. Please work with your child in grasping these multiplication facts quickly as it is expected that they work on them at home. There are also many multiplication online games to the right of my blog page (scroll down) that the students can practice on as well. Any that they do not know, encourage them to draw an array or picture to solve.
4. Simple Machines is the topic of our science unit. Students got to "play" with toys and talk about how "push" and "pull" are involved. We are starting to get into the simple machine of a "lever" today and tomorrow.
5. Within our literacy, we are currently working on the strategies of questioning and paraphrasing. Other skills we are focusing on are adding inflected endings (such as ing and ed) as well as adding -er to words to change the meaning.
6. Remember the importance of having your child read at home every night. I can really tell which of my students are avid readers and which are not based on the improvement they are making. We do not have a lot of homework in 3rd grade, but we do expect all students to be reading at home.
7. Students have starting applying the writing process to a selecting piece. Thus far we have focused on drafting and editing/revising. This will be our focus for the next few weeks until all students are comfortable with the process working towards publications.
Just a reminder that there is a 3 hour early out this Wednesday. I will also be sending book orders home tomorrow that will be due this Friday. Remember to make checks out to Kim Kerian and NOT the book company as I order them online so they arrive quicker.
Heads up that conferences are coming up. They are scheduled for Monday, February 11th, and Tuesday, February 12th. These will be student led conferences so I am asking that your child come with you to the conference. Starting in the next couple weeks, we will be preparing for conferences in school so that your child can explain how he/she is performing in school.
If your child has not returned his/her report card envelope yet, please remind them to do so as soon as possible.
Stay warm!
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