Dates to Remember...
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:
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.
- 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.
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