It was back to work after the Thanksgiving break, but we got a bonus snow day off, so the week went quickly.
Specials
The kids only had one Spanish class this week due to the snow day, so they took another pronoun and country quiz. In Music they have started working on the song they will sing at the Holiday Sing later this month. It’s a fun song, but I won’t spoil it, come to the sing to hear the song for yourself. In Art they have continued working on their superheros and started a new project on elements of art. Finally, in PE they got to play a new relay type game and they got to play with the parachute, which is one of their favorite things.
Math/Reading/Writing/SS
In math we’ve been working on addition and subtraction strategies. The kids have to solve problems both in the traditional way and in at least one other way. It is so neat to see kids come up to the front of the class and share how they did their work. They will be taking a test next week before we move on to the next unit.
Third graders have started a new writing assignment. For this one they are doing informational writing about something that they are an expert in. Ask your child what they are writing about.
For reading we are working in small groups reading informational books. The kids read the books and answer questions about their books. By now your kids should know about the table of contents, headings, the glossary, indexes, etc.
In social studies we have continued learning about different tribes of Native Americans. This week they did a lot little projects to understand some of the things that Native Americans used such as tepees, parfleches, and baskets.
We also did a technology lesson this week. We are finding that this group of kids has mostly grown up on touch screens, so we will be working hard to increase their abilities on the computer. Look for more work to be done on the computer, some of it at home. This week they will need to do 5 of their sentences on the computer. Starting in 5th grade they use computers every day, so we need to get their skill levels up during the next 2 years.
Environmental Education
This week we stayed inside to work on some nature drawing. The kids learned how to look at different animals as simple shapes and gradually add the details. It was a lot of fun.
Besides that we have been feeding birds every day. This has been so much fun and has been so successful. One day this week we had 17 morning doves, 2 woodpeckers, and 4 cardinals out at our feeders all at the same time. It was crazy. We are participating in FeederWatch for the Cornell Lab as part of a citizen science program, so it was great to have such high numbers to submit. We were also visited by a cat that apparently lives in the neighborhood, it showed up right at our back door.
Other Things that Were Happening
Snow, we had a lot of snow. This made recess so much fun for everyone. This time of year, regardless of snow cover, send your kids with snow boots and snow pants. It would also be a great idea to send in a few extra pairs of socks to keep in their lockers.
Even More Other Things
The Holiday Bazaar is this week and the kids love it. Make sure to return the envelopes on Monday and send in bags to bring the gifts home.
That does it for the week. Let’s see, this week I’m going to challenge the kids a bit. If they can come up to me and tell me the town I grew up in they will get a Hawk’s Ticket. Here’s the challenge though, I grew up in a town in Wisconsin that was named by Native Americans, so it’s not easy to pronounce. The town is called Mukwonago. It’s not enough to just write it down, they have to say it close to correct. Phonetically it’s “muck-juan-ago”, so they may need to practice a bit. I’m looking forward to them giving it their best try!
Have a great week!
~ Mrs. Steinbeck