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

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Weekly Update-Catie's Class

Our Secret Valentine exchange was wonderful. It was so clear that the kids put a lot of thought, time, and love into their valentines. Check out the photo below of the students holding on to their Valentines.

Math

This week, we practiced looking at multiplication in the form of arrays. Arrays are rectangles made up of a certain number of squares. The area of the array is the product of the length and width. For example, a 4x5 array has an area of 20. Therefore, 4x5=20. They should have brought home an example of work we did in class this week. This is just another way for kids to conceptualize multiplication, and related homework will be coming soon.

Writer’s Workshop

This week we worked on “Paint Chip Poetry”, and worked on a class poem of Metaphors (see previous post). Have you ever noticed the poetry of the names of various paints at your local hardware store? Names like “Perfect Harmony,” “Sense of Time,” or “High Drama” offer some great opportunities for creating poems. The kids used paint chips to create artistic and colorful poems. These will be on display in the hallway soon. Our poetry unit will be wrapping up soon with the creation of poetry anthologies and a Poetry Slam. Our 3rd Grade Poetry Slam is scheduled for 9:15 am on Friday, March 1st. Friends and family are welcome to come. If you would like to bring treats for this, please contact me.

Reader’s Workshop

This week, we read "I Am Here" by Eileen Spinelli. It is a short and heartwarming poetry book written from a young girls perspective, whose family is facing some changes that she has no control over. Many students could relate to this story, and I read it to the class to show them examples of processing feelings through poetry. Also, thanks so much to Molly R and family for the donations of the wonderful new and gently used books, especially adding to our Graphic Novel, How To, and Non Fiction genres!

Portland - A Musical

This is the week! The kids have been preparing for this week since the beginning of October, and now the big day is here. We will be having a full run-through of the show on Tuesday morning (9:30-11:30) and a dress rehearsal on Thursday morning (9:30-11:30) to which our middle school buddies will come. The kids will perform for the school on Friday morning at 9:30 and for you at 6:30 pm. Your student will need to be at school on Friday evening no later than 6:00 pm so that they can get dressed for the performance.

Please make sure that your child gets plenty of rest and nutritious food (especially breakfast - far too many of the students have been telling me they don’t eat breakfast :( This will be one of the busier (and possibly anxious) weeks of their young lives. Please support them in any way you can.

Ask Your Third Grader...

What is an array? How does it help you to solve multiplication problems?

Tell me about your Paint Chip Poetry.

Tell me about I Am Here.

How are you feeling about the musical? How can I support you?

Important Things Coming Up...

Feb. 18 - President’s Day (no school)

Feb. 20 - Late Opening

Feb. 22 - Portland - A Musical (6:30 pm)

March 1 - 3rd Grade Poetry Slam and Read Across America Celebration with pajamas, tea, cocoa, social justice books, and buddies.

March 6 - Columbia Children’s Arboretum Field Study

March 12 - Student Led Conferences 3:30-7:30

Thanks for sending such groovy (as shown in recent dance parties) 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.