Week of Sept 4

What’s New in 3B

General Announcements: In response to some questions raised during curriculum night, here are some answers to parent questions. First, we will celebrate student birthdays on the last Friday of every month. Please email me to let me know if your child will be bringing in a snack and I will keep track of your responses. Please note that the number of snacks your child will bring in will be determined by how many children wish to participate. This is in an effort to cut down on the loss of instructional time and cut down on the amount of food consumed by children in class. Additionally, please see the new birthday snack policy which was in the folder from Curriculum Night. Secondly, Riggs Spelling Lists are now available on the website through a link on the top left side of the blog page. Follow this like to the spelling lists. All third grade students use the same list which contains words pulled from curriculum. On a separate note, students will receive direct writing instruction through our grammar program, Shurley. Finally, look out for a detailed curriculum map posting later this week. If you sign up to follow by email, you will receive an email once this is posted.

Science: This week we are studying amphibians. Amphibians are the third class of cold-blooded (or ecothermic) vertebrates we have studied so far. By Friday, students will have a deepened understanding of the similarities and differences between frogs and toads. Next week, we will move onto warm-blooded classes of vertebrates. We will specifically study birds and mammals.

Language Arts: Students completed their first graded spelling test today. Students will take a spelling test each day and be graded on the top five words (the words that they have had the longest). Then, students write the other fifteen. These are checked for accuracy—but not corrected—and students will bring home their quizzes to complete the corrections on the opposite page. In literature, we had our first literature circles of the week. Thank you parent volunteers! If you would like to join us, please sign up through Sign Up Genius. On Thursday, we will read Chapter 6 of Shiloh. We have been discussing as a group the choices that the main character makes and the effects that his choices have in his life. This week in grammar, we are reviewing synonyms, antonyms, and analogies. Finally, the Touchpebbles story on Friday will focus on judgment and the role of a mediator.

History/ Geography: Our studies of map skills are continuing this week by studying landforms. Students will learn new material including how to identify the following landforms: bay, channel, desert, island, isthmus, peninsula, valley, plateau, prairie, and strait. By the end of the week, we will begin our study of Canada.

Other: Chess officially begins this week! Students are paired up based on ability and whether they volunteered as a teacher or opted to be taught. Students will play chess for 15 minutes between recess and lunch.