In Math, we will continue studying multiplication throughout the third nine weeks. We are studying measurement and will move into geometry and fractions.

Reading:

In Reading, the students will continue the Daily 5 system. While students are doing this I am working with small groups conducting guided reading groups where we are focusing on skills differentiated according to student need. Some of the skills include comprehension, back up and reread, using graphic aids, author’s purpose, cause/effect, compare and contrast, prefixes and suffixes, theme, following directions, fluency, and accuracy. This quarter we will target these skills within our weekly reading passages in our Storytown books.

English:

In English, the students will work on adjectives, adverbs, and conventions. We will also be fine tuning open ended response writings.

We are also learning how to write narrative, descriptive, and opinion writings. While most students are comfortable writing a basic 5-sentence paragraph at this point, we will continue to expand our writing into more detailed and comprehensive multi-paragraph writings.

Science:

In Science class we have been learning all about measurement. Students learned how to use a ruler and measure lengths to the nearest ½ and ¼ inch.

Students measured different objects around the classroom as well as themselves.

Third graders will soon begin to explore physics and the chemical aspects of measurement. Students will learn about the different states of matter such as solids, liquids, and gases. We have many hands on activities planned that involve freezing and heating, using pendulums, creating balloon rockets, producing stop motion videos with iPads, and experiments.

Social Studies:

In Social Studies, we learned about Natural Disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, blizzards, and tsunamis. We are using Scholastic News, which are weekly "newspapers" that focus on PA History, local heroes, current events, and National Holidays. They have corresponding activities, including crossword puzzles, comprehension questions, True and False, and other fun activities. The students are really enjoying reading current events from their Scholastic News