A Sneak Peek At Our Week ...

Reading:  Today students took a comprehension and vocabulary quiz on Chapters 9-17 of Sign of the Beaver.  Lessons later this week will strongly focus on asking questions.  Students will define "thin and thick" question and learn to differentiate between the two.  The focus on learning "thick questions" (question that are open-ended, and result in deep inferential thinking and analyzing) will help students have richer discussions as they transition into literature circles after The Sign of the Beaver is complete. 

Writing:  Students are wrapping up their perspective pieces!  Self and peer revising and editing will be the big focus this week.  Students are learning acronyms to help them learn the difference between revising - ARMS (add, remove, move, substitute) and editing - CUPS (capitalize, usage, punctuation, spelling).  They will be posting these perspective pieces to their student blogs this Friday!

Math:  In Unit 9, Mrs. Fetzer and I have decided to skip lessons 9.5-9.7.  Today students worked on lesson 9.8: Multiplying Decimals and Thursday they will complete lesson 9.9: Dividing Decimals.  We have two extra days this week devoted to additional practice and challenge activities.  We are planning to have students take the Unit 9 Test next Wednesday.  

Science:  Students will continue to independently research their Sound topic and then meet in small inquiry groups and organize their group's learning.  They'll search for "big ideas" within their learning.  Groups will meet this week and start planning what to teach the class about their selected topic.  Next week they will begin creating a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their new learning.  

Homework: 

• Vocabulary Packets: This week's vocabulary words will be introduced tomorrow, and the vocabulary packet will be due next Monday.  The comprehension and vocabulary quiz will be Monday as well.  
• Independent At-Home Reading: Instead of having the students complete reading responses this week, they will be using sticky-notes to "track" their thinking while they read.  They are asked to complete 3 "tracks" each night Monday-Thursday.  
• Quarter 4 Project, Part 1:  The first part of this quarter project is due this Friday!  Please remember, project descriptions and rubrics can be found on the Third Grade Website: Quarter 4 Project

Important Dates/Information:

• Wednesday, 4/24 - Open Books Field Trip: Students will be taking a creative writing course during this field trip.  The program will focus on "Food Imagery."  Students will write a poem about a food they really like or dislike using lots of vivid imagery!  Open Books will then publish each child's poem in a booklet that they'll send to us.  This will be a experience for the students that will kick of "Food Review writing" that we'll be starting in the classroom next week. 
• Thursday, 4/25 - Picture Day
• Saturday, 4/27 - Starry Night Fundraiser