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Change Makers

We had a great week in third grade. Students listened to books about Martin Luther King Jr. and thought about ways they might be able to bring about small changes each day to help others and speak up when needed. Even kids can have a voice and be a change maker!

On January 23rd (RESCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 24) students will get to be a part of a special presentation given by Don Tassie a former teacher, principal, and superintendent who lives the life of a change maker. He will be educating the class on how to BE MORE KIND, the mantra of his grassroots movement to bring kindness everywhere across all barriers. Keep a lookout for special pics and celebrations from next Tuesday as we challenge ourselves to be kinder to all. 

Reading:

As we begin to dig into theme within our texts students analyzed quotes from famous dreamers and thinkers from history and present day. Students then created a quote to inspire others to think about what matters most to each of them and turned themselves into a comic. Below are some examples of students' Comic Quotes!

Theme is a difficult concept for students to understand and relates to connections sometimes outside of our own experiences. As students begin to read books that have universal lessons and ideas they are challenged to think deeply about how an author weaves evidence throughout a text that supports conclusions about possible themes in a story.

Writing:

This week we organized our writing binders and straightened up our previous stories and essays. Some students brought home some older drafts that they didn't feel they needed at school. Right now we are immersed in our Realistic Fiction Unit of Study. It can be tough for students to create a character as well as a believable situation for the character to encounter. So far students have planned and drafted with bits of revision here and there. We are preparing to publish stories of our choice before February 8th in preparation for the special Brainstormers Team that will be back in March!

Spelling:

We did a spelling development check-in this week. Students did not need to study for this assessment. We discussed at conferences that I would be giving this spelling test three times per year. This will give me some insight on how students are doing with spelling patterns. I will give this assessment a final time at the end of May.

Math:

Students brought home an addition strategies assessment as well as a quiz we took from our current unit. We will be taking our first unit test covering addition and subtraction at the end of the month.
We also started playing a game called, What Time is It, with our math partners. We will be learning time to the minute as well as solving for elapsed time within word problems.

Social Studies:

Students are bringing home part one of our unit two social studies test. We have discussed the first people and will be transitioning to settlers and pioneer time in Michigan's history in the coming weeks. On January 26th we will be celebrating Michigan's Birthday! Stay tuned to the website and STAR Binder for information regarding this special day.

New Snack Calendars January-March

Here are the new snack calendars. These, of course, can be accessed anytime using the tab above labeled, Snack Information. Please remember to review the guidelines for snack in our classroom in case you need a refresher!

I will send paper copies home today as well. 

Click the images below to enlarge. 

Welcome Back!

Snack Calendars will hopefully (crossing my fingers) be up by this evening. I will update this post with the images if I get them finished. I plan on providing a snack for the remainder of this week.

We will be reviewing what a growth mindset is all about this week. Some of our activities will include the video below as well as filling in a Venn Diagram with a friend we don't know as well from our class. Having a growth mindset doesn't just apply to how we learn, but how we think. The way we think about our friends can evolve and change too! Making new friends and giving others a fresh start helps everyone grow in a positive way.

We also started reading Save Me a Seat, our new read-aloud chapter book for the next two weeks. Watch the book trailer below. 

I hope you all had a wonderful break and were able to relax and enjoy your families. We are getting back into the swing of things here at school!