3JI Weekly News

Good Morning!

This was another busy week in Grade 3. We were fortunate to have skyped with the author Melissa Stewart. She sparked our excitement for information writing and taught us that nonfiction writers revise, revise, revise! The students were able to ask questions and comments with the author. This was a special opportunity for them to meet an author we have been studying in class.

This past week we also celebrated Deepavali. It was a wonderful day of performances and hallway activities. Students looked great in their Deepavali costumes. It was an incredible day!

Thank you to all the parents who came in to make Christmas decorations with the students!

This week will begin on a Day 4

Reading Students will continue their work on talking about texts in conversation with their reading partners using prompts such as This makes me think that... I wonder.. It is important to notice that… Students will also determine perspective. One of the questions they will ask themselves as they read a text is: “Is the perspective or point of view of this topic different from the reader's’ point of view?” This foster the concept that authors can write about the same topic, but have varying perspectives.

Writing Students will work on connecting the information in their chapters by using different transitional strategies, phrases, and words. They will continue to study mentor texts to help develop ideas on how to best transition in their own informational books.

Math Students will begin our new unit in math. This unit focuses on multiplication and division and the relationship that they have with each other. It begins with students solving problems that ask them to think of ways they can share into equal groups a given number of items. For example: “How many apples are in 4 baskets of 8 apples?” The students will work on grouping the apples into 4 groups of 8. Lastly, they will count all the apples to find the answer.

Science This week we will have composting and worm experts come to our room. Students will examine the concept of decomposition by looking at how worms play a vital role in the process of composting our food waste. Each class will have their own container of worms to study throughout the weeks. This investigation will help students better their conceptual understanding of the interdependent relationship in an ecosystem.

Nov. 26th-Nov. 30th, 2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math: Create a poster that explains multiplication. You should include pictures, numbers, and words. It might have example strategies like: equal groups, arrays, skip counting, repeated addition, turn-around, decomposing, (commutative property) etc.	Language arts: Read a biography. In your home learning journal, take notes on the person’s life: Who, Wanted, But, So, Then.	Language arts: Write a creative story of your choice in your home learning journal.
Math: Practice your basic multiplication facts (1-5).	Science Observe all the different things you and your family use WATER for in your house. In your home learning journal, rank them from most important use to least important use of water.	Other: Build something out of recycled material that floats in water. (If possible, take a picture of it)

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.