We had a great first full week of third grade and we were very busy! Check out what we were up to!
In writing, we officially began our work with our Writers' Express (WEX) curriculum! So far, our lessons have focused on encouraging students to adopt the WEX Writers' Mindset, which includes taking risks, experimenting with their writing, and writing about something that really grabs their attention! We've also been working hard to establish our writing time expectations, like staying focused on our own work, writing for our entire writing time (10-12 minutes), and asking for help once (if needed) and then getting right back to work! I've been very impressed with the students' hard work so far and I've loved reading their writing too! I look forward to seeing all the progress my writers will make this year!
We also got started with our first math unit, which reviews and reinforces skills that were taught in second grade. To begin our week, the students took a quick beginning-of-the-year assessment, which included a brief survey of their attitudes towards math. The purpose of this assessment was to give me a quick look at my new group of math students. In class, we will be doing a lot of different activities to meet the needs of everyone so all students can make nice progress and feel challenged to try new things! Our opening lessons focused on place value and sequencing and we will work with other review concepts over the course of the next week or two.
To complement our in-class math work, students will have a page of math homework each night, which is called a "Home Link." To make things more manageable for myself and the students, I distributed the home links for the entire first unit in one pack and we call it our "Home Link Pack." Though students have ALL of the home links for the entire unit, I was very clear when giving directions in class that they are ONLY to complete the home link that is assigned and written on our assignment board. The purpose of the home link is to reinforce what was done in class, so moving ahead and working on future home links will not serve this purpose. Another quick note about Home Link Packs: I only make enough for everyone to get ONE. This means that the students are responsible for keeping track of the home links throughout the unit by keeping the entire pack STAPLED and inside their HOME FOLDER on the RIGHT! I know this routine may be different from previous years, so I greatly appreciate your help in reminding your child of these expectations! Thanks!
In science, we had a blast! We kicked off our study of science by "doing science" and exploring! The students were provided a variety of materials and they were encouraged to use our "Wonder Circle" (see image above this post) to discover and learn new things! They had a lot of fun and learned some things too! I have a great group of scientists this year, so I know our investigations of the solar system, habitats, and light will be a hit! We'll begin our study of the solar system this week!
In reading this week, we have continued to work on our Readers' Workshop expectations. The students are doing a great job with our "Read to Self" routine. During this time, students focus on their own books, stay in one spot, remain quiet, and do their best reading. We started doing Read to Self for about five minutes and now we're up to 11 minutes! Just as a marathon runner can't hop off the couch and run 26+ miles, I can't expect third graders to come back after a summer of swimming and fun and have the stamina to read for extended periods of time! I've been very excited about our progress so far and look forward to a great year ahead with my new group of readers! Please check out the post called, "Reading Strategy Corner" for more information about our reading work this week!
