December 7 - 11

Week 16

Book Reviews

We recently read a book review on Times for Kids. The kids absolutely loved that a kid was able to write a book review and publish it for others to see. So needless to say we are now working on our own book reviews to publish. Each kid chose a different book that they either liked or didn’t like and began writing their own. This past week we were able to get their ideas down on paper, draft our first copy, edit, rewrite, and some were able to get as far as publishing it on their Google Doc. My hopes are to create a blog where we can publish these book reviews and then attach that link to our class blog. So please be on the look out for our up and coming book review blog.

This book review writing has been such a learning process for both the kids and myself. It forces the kids to move in and out of their own perspective, because although they are writing an opinionated piece, they still have to give evidence from the text and they have to step outside of their perspective when giving a summary of the book. These reviews have also allowed us to formally go through the writing process again as a whole class. I’m excited to publish these book reviews, and I know that the kids are as well.

Math

3^rd grade math is very intense and requires lots of hard work and practice on the kids’ part. We’ve been working really hard to get everyone comfortable with maneuvering through different types of math problems. I want the kids to feel confident and sure of themselves as they come to a problem.

**Review of Addition and Subtraction**

The kids had a really concrete understanding of the concept development part of adding and subtracting and also the algorithms to go along with it. However, somewhere between the then and the now some have become a little lost. So we’ve taken some time to step back and review. Although it seems to be challenging for them, they are picking up and remember rather quickly. We’ve even upped our number to 3 and 4 digit numbers. Please continue to practice with the kids at home!

**Multiplication Boot Camp**

Alongside the review, we have continued with our multiplication boot camp! I believe that this is the kids’ favorite part of the day and week! They get so excited about the drills and earning new dog tags. I introduced them to some more of the games and they enjoy every minute of it! I love that so many of the games require the kids to think critically and to strategize; plus their just really really fun!!

November 30 - December 4

Week 15

Diamond Dell

The Field Study with Diamond Dell was FANTASTIC!!!! The kids had a blast and were able to use their knowledge from class to classify and name most of their rocks. Each kid was given their own pan to sift through and look for rocks as the water ran and washed away the excess! It was very interesting to watch them strategize and use trial and error to figure our which techniques worked best for them! 

I’m sure that you all have had a chance to see the beautiful rocks that the kids brought home. I hope they are continuing to investigate the rocks from home.

Voice

We’ve been using our voice this week. We finally found some time to sing along to some of our favorite songs this week. We also worked with out book buddies on using our voice or even different voices when reading! We’ve been using a few of Moe Willems books to help us practice and improve our “reader’s voice”!

November 22 -23

Week 14

Multiplication Boot Camp

Multiplication Boot Camp is in full swing and the kids absolutely love every minute of it! The purpose of the boot camp is to help the kids with the their multiplication facts fluency in a fun way. Now that they all have a concrete understanding of the concept of multiplication, it’s time to work on the fluency of it. Each child has their own necklace, which will house their dog tags. These tags will represent the multiplication facts that they have mastered (1 – 10). Each drill is set at each child’s individual pace; this allows them to advance to the next drill on their own time. We’ll be using multiplication Boot Camp from now until the end of the year. Hopefully each child will have 10 dog tags to represent the drills they’ve passed =)!!

Expert Projects

WOW, wow, wow! These projects were fantastic!! As I mentioned earlier in the year, each month the kids will be responsible for conducting research, housing notes, and creating a presentation for something that their interested in. This can range from food to celebrities to gadgets to holidays or anything else of interest. Although the end of the month isn’t until tomorrow, most of the kids were done with their expert projects on Tuesday. We spent a portion of our day presenting these expert projects and they were AMAZING! The kids used many different mediums to present their projects; from posters, to Google Slides, to videos to Google Docs! I was amazed and very proud to watch their hard work be displayed and also to watch them confidently go up and show the class what they had learned! I hope that next time we will be able to present some of our expert projects to our families!

Family Feast

The family feast was a real treat! It was heartwarming to see so many families attend and to help serve food. The kids were excited to be able to eat some delicious food with the people they love most! Thank you to all of you who donated and volunteered for dinner. We couldn’t have done it with without you!