December 14 - 18

Week 17

What a busy week we've had this last week! The kids were surprisingly focused for it to be the last week of the break. We spent some time working on our multiplication fluency using some board games and also through multiplication bootcamp. The kids love playing the different games, especially "fitness facts"! 

The kids have also been working on their reading fluency. We've been doing this through reader's theater.  The kids have enjoyed reading the different parts, some of them going as far as to change their voices to imitate the characters. Reader's theater is a beneficial activity for all of the kids, because we can always use practice with our reading skills. 

As you all know, the kids are now required to do 1 expert project per month. I must say, these expert projects of theirs have been fantastic!!! They get better and better each month. With more details and effort being put into them, I can tell that the kids are taking the expert projects more seriously and taking ownership of their work. 

Our Holiday celebration went very well. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves. They were very rowdy, but I expected that with the last day of school and the abundance of sweets provided! I hope that they enjoyed their gifts from me and engage in some great reading to put those new bookmarks to use! 

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!!