Another fun week is in the books. Everyone was so happy that we finally got to get outside for recess again. It looks like next week will be really nice, so we will make a point to getting out as much as we can.
We have been doing a lot with non-fiction reading and writing lately. The kids have been looking at non-fiction books and examining how the author transitions from one topic to the other, how they introduce the book, and general layouts of different books. The students should take those learnings and apply them to their writing assignment. They continue to refine their books about different places around the school.
Ms. Hahn also read them books about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. It was so encouraging to hear them so bewildered by the treatment that King and Parks had to endure. It certainly fills us with great hope for the future. I did suggest to the kids that they may want to spend a little time over the weekend reading a bit more about the civil rights movement.
In math we have been working on story problems with multiplication and division problems. This has proven to be fairly difficult for many. It was especially hard when they had to write their own problems. You could help at home by using everyday things and making them into story problems for them to solve. For instance, “you need to read for 60 minutes this weekend, you can read once each day, how many minutes do you need to read each day?” or “you should read for 20 minutes each day, if you read Sat., Sun, and Mon., how many minutes will you have read?”.
On Tuesday, Jackson P. played a part in the Green Assembly. He did a great job talking about saving energy. He participated in a skit and he played the role of the electronics power phantom. So he showed everyone how much electricity is wasted with electronics plugged in when they are not in use. Jackson did a great job and we were all really proud of him!
As you can imagine, if you combine a bunch of 3rd graders and rocks and soil, you get a really excited group of kids. Science has rocked lately! We have been continuing to learn about how rocks are weathered into smaller bits and eventually become sand. We also looked at erosion and deposition with big bins full of soil. Then we added a water source and watched how the water changed the landscape. One experiment had us add vinegar to rocks and once the vinegar evaporated (our room smells strongly of vinegar at the moment) the rocks were left behind. Some of the rocks had a chemical reaction with the vinegar and crystals grew on top of them. We have another week of this science unit, but I know the kids will be disappointed when it is done.
I think that is about it for this week. If your child wants to get in my Photography Club or my new Mug Cooking Club, make sure they send in the forms by the end of this next week. Forms should be in the Virtual Backpack from Friday’s school announcements. Have a great weekend!
~ Mrs. Steinbeck