Dates to Remember...​​​

• Friday, December 21st - Last Day of School Before Winter Break! :)
• Tuesday, January 8th - First Day Back to School!
• Monday, January 21st - No School!

BREAKOUT BOX FUN!
Have you ever participated in an "escape room" activity? Well, on Thursday, all of third grade got to participate in a Breakout Box activity, which is very similar! With a breakout box, students work together and think critically to "break into" locked boxes. They must solve challenging puzzles and follow directions carefully to succeed. Breakout box games require critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. Students get to practice their problem-solving skills and cultivate "grit". Students faced failures, but they had to continue to persevere in order to be successful. The best news - ALL STUDENTS BROKE OUT! Take a look at the pic above to see how excited the kids where after the activity!

Math
This week students spent time reviewing the concepts we've learned so far in this unit, including telling time, calculating elapsed time, and units of measurement (metric system). To conclude our review week, students worked collaboratively on a project-based learning opportunity where they created a schedule for their perfect birthday day. For this project, students had to tell time, draw hands on a clock, calculate elapsed time, and then work together to create their final project (poster) to present their schedule of their ideal birthday to the class.

When we return from Winter Break, we will dive into the lovely world of fractions! As third graders, students will learn about fair shares, unit fractions (a fraction with a "1" as the numerator), and comparing and ordering unit fractions on a number line.

Reading
This week we finished up reading and discussing our books in our Book Club groups. Some of the main teaching points from this week were:

• understanding the role that secondary characters play in a story
• understanding how the challenges that a character faces impact their journey
• noticing how a character is being tested during the climax of a story

Next week we will finish up our unit on character studies, and when we return from break we will begin a nonfiction unit that focuses on main idea and supporting details.

Writing
Even though it's sunny and 55 degrees outside, we are still in the middle of December! In an effort to remember all of the wonderful things that come with the month of December, I read the book Snow Day by Lester Laminack to the class. We discussed how wonderful it would be to have an unexpected snow day during this time of the year. We discussed all of the fun activities we could do during a snow day, and how great it would be to get extra time to spend with our families. As the ideas from our discussion started dancing around in our heads, I thought, "Let's write a letter to the principal to persuade her to give us a snow day!" The students were so excited about this opportunity. Students worked to incorporate persuasive techniques into their writing, and we reviewed the different parts of a letter. After we finish typing up our final drafts, we will present our book of letters to the principal. :)

Science/Social Studies
We are in the middle of out southeast region unit. This past week students learned about the geography, products and natural resources, and climate and culture of this region. Next week we will take a "tour" of these region, and make different stops at important/famous landmarks around the region.

Math
We are well into Unit 4 - Time, Measurement, and Fractions! In this unit students will tell time and calculate elapsed time (how much time has passed), measure mass and volume to solve problems, and model and compare fractions in different ways.

We have been working hard on telling time to the nearest minute and solving elapsed time problems. Telling time is a difficult concept and any extra practice or support with this concept at home would be wonderful! Here are some ways you can help your child master reading a clock:

• ask your child what time it is during different parts of the day
• time flash cards (I have a few sets of these if you'd like to borrow one)
• time apps (there are a few free ones and many for purchase)

Reading
In our character study unit we have learned how to pay attention to the characters thoughts, feelings, and actions to help create a theory or big idea about the main character. We've also learned how to make higher-level predictions based on the character's past actions. This week we are focusing on noticing how the character reacts to challenges they come across, and then using those observations to form a theory about what type of person that character is. We will also discuss the roles that secondary characters play in the main character's journey.

Students are practicing the strategies mentioned above as a whole class with a mentor text, as well as with their book club books. The conversations that kids are having around the characters in their book club books have been so insightful and deep. I am really proud of them!

Writing
One of my most favorite books to read this time of year is In November by Cynthia Rylant. The illustrations are beautiful and the use of descriptive and sensory details makes it a perfect mentor text for writing using the 5 senses. After reading the story, each child chose a month that is special to them. We brainstormed ideas for each one of the 5 senses, and students used these ideas to write a short, descriptive "book" about the things you would taste, smell, see, hear, and feel during their chosen month. These illustrated books will be coming home this week.

Science/Social Studies
To complete our unit of matter and energy, we invited a scientist from the EPA to come do an engaging and informational demonstration for the students. Students saw experiments involving dry ice and liquid nitrogen that showed them how matter changes from one state to another. Ask your child what their favorite experiment was!

We are now shifting gears back to social studies. We will begin learning about another region of the United States - the southeast! This week students will learn which states are part of this region, and we will complete a geography challenge to familiarize ourselves with this part of the country. We will also begin to dive into the land and water use, climate, products and natural resources, as well as the famous landmarks and culture of this region.


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