This post was written by Jack N. and Elle :)

This week we had an amazing time learning about a lot of cool things. In Science we observed bees (we will be using them to pollinate our flowers soon!) and measured our plants. They are getting really tall and are growing buds! In Reading we began to learn how to recognize the main idea and supporting details in a story. We read some short articles and stories and worked on finding the main idea and supporting details using a graphic organizer. In Writing we learned how to tell a story using a storyteller's voice. We wrote a class story to practice using our storyteller voices. We worked harder on picking a small moment and completed story maps to organize our ideas to write our first narrative piece. In Math we finished Unit 1 and had our first test. We began Unit 2 and learned the Properties of Addition. The properties are the Commutative Property, the Associate Property and the Identity Property. We also began practicing our song "Really Be Responsible" for our Character Education Assembly that is going to be on October 21st. Our class, along with Mrs. Sirianni's and Mrs. Szczech's class are going to share a song and teach the other kids in the school what it means to be responsible!

We had a very busy week in third grade! In Reader's Workshop we continued to read more stories and tried to decide what genre they were, based on the characteristics we have been learning the past couple of weeks. The kids were very excited to put together their Reader's Notebooks! They learned how to log their books and tally the genres. They have also been practicing "Read to Self" and "Read to Someone" at their Literacy Stations, along with listening and responding to stories using a retelling graphic organizer. In Writing, we have been "mapping" our memories using sketches and labeling. The kids have been picking small moment memories from their "maps" to write stories. This week we focused on memories we have had at a special place. Many of the kids chose a vacation spot, a favorite beach, their backyards, or a relatives home. Next week we will be working on including details and voice in our stories, so they don't sound like lists or reports. We are still in our Place Value Unit in Math. We learned how to compare and order larger numbers, and continued to practice expanded and standard form. The kids have also been playing games to review their facts. Please remind your children to practice facts at home on extra math and the other websites listed. In Science we have been enjoying watching our Wisconsin Fast Plants grow! The kids love measuring their plants and making predictions about how many centimeters they will grow. We can't wait until the flowers begin to bloom! Be sure to read our blog next week when the kids take over to write about our week in school. I will be choosing two different kids each week to help out! They are very excited! Have a wonderful weekend!

This week we really enjoyed planting our Wisconsin Fast Plants! The kids are excited that they are already starting to grow! We made our first observation and measured the sprouts yesterday. We have many fun lessons in store once they get a little bigger and begin to bloom! The kids have been working very hard in Reading Workshop. They began their station rotations this week and did an awesome job! Each of them got to practice our Reading, Writing, Listening and Working With Words stations. They worked hard and I saw some really great work at the end of each station. We continued to learn about the rest of the genres and are ready to make our Reader's Notebooks. It will be a great resource for the kids, and a place to log their books and keep their responses to literature organized. We began our Narrative Unit in Writing. We thought about a special person in our lives and then made a list of all the memories we had with that person. We then picked one memory from the list and wrote down all of our thoughts, trying to write at least one whole page. We shared our writing and picked a spot that we thought was really great. We call this the "wow spot". Every time we write we are going to try to have a "wow spot" to make our writing sound more interesting. In Math we have been working on place value up to the hundred thousands place. The kids were very excited to work with bigger numbers. They learned the different ways to write numbers...standard form, expanded form, word form and using place value blocks. They had to take numbers in the hundred thousands and practice using all of these ways to write and identify them. It was a challenge to work with such big numbers and we will be continuing to practice this next week. I hope everyone enjoys the weekend. The weather is suppose to be beautiful! I love fall and look forward to doing some fun fall activities!

We had another fabulous week in third grade! I am having so much fun getting to know each child and seeing their personalities shine through more and more! We have had a lot of laughs together! This week we began our Place Value unit in Math. We reviewed odd and even, ordinal numbers, practiced adding greater numbers and learned a few new games to practice place value and addition facts. If you have a deck of cards at home, ask your child to teach you how to play "Mind Reader" or "Addition War". We went to the Star Lab for the first time on Tuesday. The kids were so excited and absolutely loved it! We found the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, North Star and a few other fall constellations. We also began our Plant Growth and Development unit in Science. We observed a dry and wet lima bean seed, and learned to identify its parts. We are getting ready to plant our seeds next week! In Reading Workshop the kids were introduced to the different reading genres. We will be focusing on a different genre each day to get the kids familiar with each one. They will learn how to tally and complete reader's responses for each genre using their Reader's Notebooks. They also learned about each Literacy Station and are ready to start rotations on Monday. In Writing, we decorated our journals and began having discussions about the Do's and Don't's of Writing Workshop, and what third grade writer's should do. The kids wrote three writing goals that they would like to work on in the beginning of the year. Once they have achieved their goals, they will write new ones. Everyone did a great job working hard this week! We had many purple cards and stars! I hope you all have a great weekend and I hope to see everyone at the Fall Family Picnic on Sunday!

Our First Week!

Our first week of school was wonderful! We spent most of the week learning all of the rules and routines of our classroom. The kids were great and each day ran smoothly. We all had a lot of fun playing games to get to know each other. The kids really enjoyed making their "name clouds", learning math games, making a cartoon demonstrating our vocabulary word of the week and getting "paid" at the end of each day. I look forward to next week and a whole year of fun and learning! I am so lucky to have such a great group of kids to work with! I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend!

Welcome to our class blog! We are going to have a fantastic year in third grade! Please check back weekly for class updates and information.