What's Happening in Room 11?
Greetings from 3rd Grade! December 14, 2018
This week third graders presented at All School Meeting! We taught the rest of Underwood what empathy means, by sharing some personal experiences and reading a poem – in front of the whole school! We did an amazing job!
This week in writing, third graders identified the “heart” of their story. This is the most important part of their story, a part where we need to slow down and add details. We also looked at different ways to end our stories using dialogue, feelings and vivid imagery.
In math, third graders started to implement checklists to help self-assess whether or not they showed their work. This will help us make sure our work is complete before we turn it in. They also solved travel problems which asked them to find the difference in miles between two stops on a trip.
In literacy, third graders learned how to identify the main idea in biographies when the author doesn’t come right out and tell you. They also learned to look at biographies through different lenses, as they will often teach you not just about the person, but about the time period or subject matter that made them famous.
Third graders began grammar lessons about parts of speech. We learned what nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are. We will spend the next week reviewing these definitions and putting them into practice.
Ms. Melanson and Mr. Hernandez
Greetings from 3rd Grade! December 7, 2018
This week third graders enjoyed a concert performance by the Voci Angelica Trio brought to us by the CAS concert series. The “Passages” program taught students about geography, the early history of human emigration, and the diverse cultures, languages and music of six continents. What an engaging opportunity!
This week in writing, third graders learned how to hook their reader into their story by writing leads. They practiced writing three different leads for their small moment story that included dialogue, action, and feeling.
In math, third graders continue to strengthen their addition strategies. They practiced solving problems using starter problems that allow them an entry point into the problem and also help them show the steps they took to solve the problem clearly. The strong work they are practicing and showing in their classwork should also be reflected in their homework. Ask your third grader what “strong” math work should include.
In literacy, third graders learned about a different kind of non-fiction, narrative non-fiction. They learned that readers use what they know about stories and the elements of a story when they are reading biographies.
In science, your third graders put on their engineering hats for the week and became engineers! They worked through the steps of the engineering process with a partner to imagine, plan, and create a tower using only three pieces of newspaper and a roll of tape. Their tower had to be as tall and sturdy as they could make it. They learned that most designs fail on the first attempt and engineers have to have a growth mindset to persevere and keep on going!
Ms. Melanson and Mr. Hernandez
Greetings from 3rd Grade! November 29, 2018
Third grade had our first Understanding Our Differences presentation of the year. Students learned about blindness and low-vision by meeting a woman who uses a guide dog and experimenting with different activities. This is a valuable program that helps students learn about how to be a good friend to everyone, including those with differences. Thank you so much to our parent volunteers for facilitating!
This week, our technology specialist, Mrs. Busa, returned to introduce us to the computer program Keyboarding Without Tears. Students will now start learning typing by practicing with this fun, online program.
This week in writing, third graders continued to work on their small moment stories. We are learning to write in a “storyteller’s voice” instead of a “reporter voice.” We do this by adding detail, telling the story bit-by-bit and including dialogue.
In math, third graders are working hard in our addition and subtraction unit. They played a new game called “Go Collecting.” It’s just like Go Fish! We are putting extra emphasis on showing our work. When doing homework, students should be able to show you what steps they took to reach a solution and a clearly identified answer.
We began a new science unit on engineering. Students thought about the properties of different materials like plastic, wood, cloth, metal and glass, and how they could be used in a building. Thank you to parents for sending in extra newspaper. They will need it to construct their own building soon!
Ms. Melanson and Mr. Hernandez
This week third graders presented at All School Meeting! We taught the rest of Underwood what empathy means, by sharing some personal experiences and reading a poem – in front of the whole school! We did an amazing job!
This week in writing, third graders identified the “heart” of their story. This is the most important part of their story, a part where we need to slow down and add details. We also looked at different ways to end our stories using dialogue, feelings and vivid imagery.
In math, third graders started to implement checklists to help self-assess whether or not they showed their work. This will help us make sure our work is complete before we turn it in. They also solved travel problems which asked them to find the difference in miles between two stops on a trip.
In literacy, third graders learned how to identify the main idea in biographies when the author doesn’t come right out and tell you. They also learned to look at biographies through different lenses, as they will often teach you not just about the person, but about the time period or subject matter that made them famous.
Third graders began grammar lessons about parts of speech. We learned what nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are. We will spend the next week reviewing these definitions and putting them into practice.
Ms. Melanson and Mr. Hernandez
Greetings from 3rd Grade! December 7, 2018
This week third graders enjoyed a concert performance by the Voci Angelica Trio brought to us by the CAS concert series. The “Passages” program taught students about geography, the early history of human emigration, and the diverse cultures, languages and music of six continents. What an engaging opportunity!
This week in writing, third graders learned how to hook their reader into their story by writing leads. They practiced writing three different leads for their small moment story that included dialogue, action, and feeling.
In math, third graders continue to strengthen their addition strategies. They practiced solving problems using starter problems that allow them an entry point into the problem and also help them show the steps they took to solve the problem clearly. The strong work they are practicing and showing in their classwork should also be reflected in their homework. Ask your third grader what “strong” math work should include.
In literacy, third graders learned about a different kind of non-fiction, narrative non-fiction. They learned that readers use what they know about stories and the elements of a story when they are reading biographies.
In science, your third graders put on their engineering hats for the week and became engineers! They worked through the steps of the engineering process with a partner to imagine, plan, and create a tower using only three pieces of newspaper and a roll of tape. Their tower had to be as tall and sturdy as they could make it. They learned that most designs fail on the first attempt and engineers have to have a growth mindset to persevere and keep on going!
Ms. Melanson and Mr. Hernandez
Greetings from 3rd Grade! November 29, 2018
Third grade had our first Understanding Our Differences presentation of the year. Students learned about blindness and low-vision by meeting a woman who uses a guide dog and experimenting with different activities. This is a valuable program that helps students learn about how to be a good friend to everyone, including those with differences. Thank you so much to our parent volunteers for facilitating!
This week, our technology specialist, Mrs. Busa, returned to introduce us to the computer program Keyboarding Without Tears. Students will now start learning typing by practicing with this fun, online program.
This week in writing, third graders continued to work on their small moment stories. We are learning to write in a “storyteller’s voice” instead of a “reporter voice.” We do this by adding detail, telling the story bit-by-bit and including dialogue.
In math, third graders are working hard in our addition and subtraction unit. They played a new game called “Go Collecting.” It’s just like Go Fish! We are putting extra emphasis on showing our work. When doing homework, students should be able to show you what steps they took to reach a solution and a clearly identified answer.
We began a new science unit on engineering. Students thought about the properties of different materials like plastic, wood, cloth, metal and glass, and how they could be used in a building. Thank you to parents for sending in extra newspaper. They will need it to construct their own building soon!
Ms. Melanson and Mr. Hernandez