Mrs. Steinbeck’s Weekly Review

Things are getting a little squirrelly in Ms. Hahn’s class as we get ever closer to spring break. The weather hasn’t really been helping either. However, in spite of this we’ve successfully completed another week of school. Read below to see some of the highlights of what we have been doing.

Specials

In PE the kids have been doing a series of team building exercises. These were very fun to watch to see how third graders could work together. It took a few tries, but they were able to complete the task once they listened to one another. They also had PE in the classroom one day where Mr. Flinn talked to them about setting goals and the steps they need to accomplish them, it was really great information. The recorder unit in Music is just about complete. They have been doing an awesome job learning this new instrument. From once was screeching has now become music, all in a few lessons. In Art they are finishing up their last op art pieces. You will be able to see some of their art pieces at conferences next week. Finally, in Spanish they are continuing to learn about foods and food vocabulary.

Math/Reading/Writing/Social Studies

In math we’ve been working on shapes and their attributes. This can be a challenging unit due to the large vocabulary words and subtle differences in what they mean. Think parallelogram, quadrilateral, polygon, and rhombus. The best way to learn this stuff is just to keep practicing. This week we shared our persuasive writing with students from Ms. McNally’s class, everyone did a great job sharing. Then we switched gears to prepare for the upcoming student-led conferences. The kids love sharing their work with you and they’ve done a great job getting ready. Reading has also included some prep for conferences, a few groups met to discuss their novels, and they’ve used the time to complete their grammar and word work. We continue to have a problem with students not completing their reading assignments before they meet with the group. We have continued on the Oregon Trail in social studies. This is a really fun simulation game, however, the kids get a little frustrated with it. They are often delayed on their journey due to lack of water, illness, or mechanical problems. The kids also have to accomplish tasks to earn points for their wagon train. They are learning quickly that quality work means they get to travel further along the trail. Ask your kids to show you the map on the wall at conferences.

Other Things that Were Happening

We had to have indoor recess twice this week due to cold weather. Looking at the forecast, it would appear that those might have been the last indoor recesses this school year, but who knows. Evelina brought us a bunch of beautiful beads from New Orleans – thank you Evelina! We also got to get outside to do phenology, which was really nice. There are actual legitimate, scientific, visual reasons to be confident that spring is actually on its way.

Sadly we have to say goodbye to one of our classmates. Dhriti and her family are moving to California this weekend so that her dad can start an important new opportunity. We will miss Dhriti a great deal. She is a very nice friend to many and a wonderful helper to Ms. Hahn and I. Fortunately, she put a few friends through a training program so that they know how they can help us too! Best of luck to you Dhriti, I know you will do great things in California. I’ll miss you.