Weekly Update: November 15, 2019

Happy Friday 3B Parents!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful long weekend! We are gearing up for the holiday season! Christmas is always an exciting time, to make it even more exciting, third graders found out about their important role of acting out the Nativity at the school Christmas Concert!  Students will be given their parts on Monday for the upcoming Christmas Pageant! From there, they should begin practicing their lines and working on memorizing the song lyrics! 

Upcoming Events:

Friday, November 22^nd—Chapter 5 Religion Test

Monday, November 25^th ---Field Trip to Plimoth Plantation
Tuesday, November 26^th---Chapter 4, Lesson 5 Science Quiz

Wednesday-Friday, November 27^th-29^th--Thanksgiving Break 

Math: Students took their Topic 3 math test today. Topic 3 introduced multiple ways to add and subtract 3 digit numbers. We want students to add/subtract the way they feel makes the most sense to them. Sometimes it is by using regular regrouping, or by drawing place value blocks, other times it is by using expanded form to compute mentally.

You Can Help: Following are some key points we touched on in class for this topic, it is helpful for parents to review missed problems with children.

1.  Expanded Algorithm to add:

452 + 237=

458= 400 + 50 + 2

237= 200 + 30 + 7

400+ 200= 600

50+ 30= 80

2+7= 9

600 + 80 + 9= 689

452+237=689

2. Using place value blocks to add 3-digit numbers (as seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK9d_bIqu24 )

4. Subtracting with Expanded Algorithm:

534-124=

534-100=434

434-20=414

414-4=410

5. Using place value blocks to subtract 3-digit numbers (as seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcafTDw-LQs

6. Subtracting 3-digit numbers by stacking and using regular regrouping strategies.

Phonics: We are continuing our work through Unit 2. Students are learning that when vowel suffixes (ing, ed, etc.) are added to a specific type of word, they need to double to consonant. Students learned that they have to be on the lookout for 1-1-1 words. These words have 1 syllable, 1 vowel, and 1 consonant after the vowel. An example of a 1-1-1 word is run. If they are adding a vowel suffix to run, students are learning that they need to double the consonant and then add the suffix (running).

Reading: Lessons this week continued to focus on making connections. Students learned the difference between making shallow and deep connections with texts.

They learned that sometimes we can make connections with texts and characters but unless they are deep and meaningful, they don’t help us understand the book better. These are shallow connections. 

An example of a shallow connection would be: Lucy from the book Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun has curly hair and I have curly hair too!

Students learned that deep connections help us identify with how a character feels, helps us understand a particular situation or event, or helps us make predictions. 

An example of a deep connection would be: I remember when my friend got picked on in the cafeteria at lunch like Lucy from the book Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun. It made me upset that she was upset so I stood up to the bully. I predict that Harriet will stand up for Lucy.

Students also learned about different types of deep connections. They practiced making Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World connections as we read Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun.

This book also taught us few great lessons that were discussed as we read. Lucy was picked on by a boy named Ralph because she was different. The book taught us:

• The world would be a boring place if we were all the same, it’s good to be different!
• We might be different on the outside but all of us have hearts and feelings.
• We should always try to treat others the way we want to be treated.
• If we feel someone is being unkind to us we should stand up for ourselves and others but always remember those people have feelings too.

Writing: This week, students learned about hooking in their readers with an exciting lead. They learned that they could start their story with a sound, action, dialogue, or question. After modelling some of these leads, students then wrote 4 different possible leads for their Ouch Stories. Later, they shared their drafts and chose their favorite lead to begin their story. Next week, we will continue drafting and revising these stories.