Catie's Third Grade Class Blog: Catie's Weekly Update

Friday, September 28, 2012

Catie's Weekly Update

If you haven’t checked it out yet, please take a look at the blog this week. For the first few weeks, I’ll send these newsletters out via e-mail, but eventually I’ll just post them to the blog. If you subscribe to the blog, you will get an e-mail update any time I post anything new.

Math

This week we continued working on subtraction strategies for numbers under 20 (ie 16-7=, 14-8=, etc). The goal is for the kids to become “fluent” with these sorts of problems so that they don’t need to write them out, use manipulatives, or count on their fingers. If you have flash cards, it would be a good idea to practice these at home with the goal being speedy, mental calculations. If you don’t have flash cards you can find printable ones all over the internet. Next week we’ll work on story problems and data.

Writer’s Workshop

This week we learned about the writing process (ideas, drafting, revising, editing, publishing).Next week we’ll focus on drafting our ideas after students choose one idea to bring through the entire process. We will also focus on the characteristics of a good story, such as a problem that needs to be resolved.

Reader’s Workshop

This week we focused on the comprehension strategy of visualization. Visualization is when we create an image or “movie” in our heads as we read. Good readers are able to visualize the action of a story as well as descriptive passages. Third graders tend to skip over descriptive passages, so we practiced drawing images of descriptive passages from our read aloud. Eventually we will begin applying these strategies to their independent reading books.

Chinook

This week the students received a mysterious e-mail from a woman named Helen Tracker who is creating a museum exhibit about Portland’s first people. She knows that we study the history of Portland quite well here at Sunnyside, so she’s recruiting the students’ help. The kids looked at maps and read books about who lived here long before the settlers. Their research yielded a ton of information! I was quite impressed. We will e-mail Helen about what we found in order to see how this “story” progresses :)

Columbia Children’s Arboretum

We had a fantastic first visit to the Columbia Children’s Arboretum on Wednesday. The students learned about the importance of shelter in the wild. They learned about what materials repel and absorb water. They also learned about insulation. They worked amazingly well to build shelters from rope, tarps, and natural materials - seriously impressive! We also established “sit spots” where the kids could quietly observe nature and journal about it. Thank you so much to all the volunteers. If you would like to visit the site with your child on a weekend, please use Google maps to look up "10040 NE 6th Dr" - please don't use the directions from Portland Parks & Rec - it's incorrect.

Ask Your Student…

Here are some great conversation starters that you can try with your child to get them talking about what we’re doing in room 200:

- Which problems are easier for you: addition or subtraction? Why? How are they connected?

- What makes a good story?

- What is visualization?

- What did you learn about the Chinook?

Important Things Coming Up...

Oct. 2 - Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge Field Study

Oct. 12 - State In-Service Day (no school)

Thanks for sending such wild place-loving students to school each day,

Catie

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If your child is absent due to an illness I am happy to provide an overview of the work they missed in class that day or for those days they are out sick. Inevitably there are times when trips need to happen during the school year and your student should be assured that although they are missing class time, I encourage them to embrace the learning opportunities outside the walls of our school. Parents often ask me for a packet to bring along to keep their child engaged in some learning and kept busy in a car or on a plane, but I don't assign "trip work" packets. Trips on their own have the potential to be rich learning experiences from airport or car, to destination and back. Instead I ask that students keep a journal, photo journal or scrapbook of their trip which could be shared with me upon their return to class. They are also welcome to share these with the class, but I don't require them to do so. Finding a secret spot and having a special little journal in hand in which to write and sketch what they see is infinitely more valuable to your child than me giving them a story prompt. If you do want your child to have some 3rd grade-level busy work during travel you could visit Learning Palace or a similar store to purchase 3rd grade skills workbooks. The following are some ideas for meaningful learning during trips:

Math:
Have your child use math, reading and writing skills as often as possible. Have them pay for things and count change or add up the coins received back, use maps, figure out elapsed time or the time an activity took to complete, compare prices of menu items, look for patterns in nature or architecture, estimate the time it will take to complete an activity, collect data of some kind and create a bar graph (cars vs. trucks on a five mile stretch of road or the kinds of people around you on the plane who order soda vs. juice for example), etc.

Writing:
Have them bring their writer's notebook or more fun, have them choose and buy a special little notebook just for the trip where they can sketch possible characters, special spots or images to use in future writing. Everyone and everything they see can be given new life as a character or setting in future writing. A little set of colored pencils or tiny watercolors to go along with it can make it more fun as well. Have your child write and mail a postcard or letter to our class (even if it arrives after they return). Our school's address is 3421 SE Salmon St., PDX 97214. Thank you notes for guest accommodations or for hotel operators is always fun, too.

Reading:
Trips can be made more fun if your child is taken to the library or to Powell's for a special trip book or two. Perhaps they could visit a local book store at your destination where they can choose a book to read or purchase for the time they are there or for the trip back. As time permits, be sure they read at least 30 minutes or more each day.

Science or Social Studies:
We study rocks and minerals in 3rd grade and it's always a joy for kids when we begin this unit in winter to bring in a special rock from a place they have visited during the year. We also learn about the first peoples who lived on this land long before white settlers came to what is now known as Portland. It can be interesting for kids to learn about other first peoples who lived in places you visit. Just learning a bit about the history of a new place with a city walking tour, nature hike, scenic route or collecting little souvenirs or scraps can be fun for your child as well.