3rd Grade: 3/11

Reading

We are still getting used to book clubs and working independently. Each time book clubs meet, students are reading chapters and answering questions or looking at new vocabulary words. This week, we’re focusing on the characteristics of the main character. We have been having great conversations about what we know about the character based on what they say and do.

Writing

We continued to finalize our biographies. This week we talked about paragraphs and how to organize a paragraph. They usually start with an introduction or what the paragraph is about. Then there are supporting details and examples. When a new topic comes up, it’s time for a new paragraph. Finally we added a little bit of ourselves to our biographies and thought about how we are inspired by the person we’re writing about. We are putting the finishing touches on our biographies and will publish them next week.

Social Studies

This week we weren’t students, we were engineers! In order to build the canal, we would be going over mountain ranges and the water levels would change. We had to figure out how to get a boat up and down the different levels. Some students thought we should build a whole new kind of boat, some thought extra horses could be on the side to pull the boat up, some thought there should be some kind of elevator or use the water to propel the boat up. It was impressive to see all the different ideas. We eventually learned that the real solution was a lock system. The students were amazed to watch how a lock worked!

We also had a conversation about the conflict in Ukraine. We first made a chart of what we know and what questions we have. The students know A LOT about it! We talked a little bit about the history between Russia and Ukraine, the leaders of the countries, and how this conflict is effecting the US and the world.

Math

Third grader have finished their unit on fractions, and are now learning about area and perimeter. We have looked at different ways of calculating area including counting squares in a grid, and using the length and width of rectangles (Area = Length X Width) to more quickly calculate areas.

Here you can see a student used grid paper and rectangles to estimate the area of a tracing of their foot in square centimeters. Next to the foot tracing are two area mazes. Use what you know about rectangles and and area to see if you can find the area of the shaded rectangles.

Music

In Music class, Third Graders have learned the C, C7, Am, F and G chords! They are continuing to perfect these chords as they play Arirang and My Dog Has Fleas. Third Graders are also continuing to learn to read ukulele music.

STEAM

In science this week, we built bridges out of 30 index cards. Each bridge needed to have rectangles, arches, and triangles. After building the bridges, we discussed what worked well and what didn’t work well in terms of support. We will use this knowledge as we build more bridges!

In technology, we went over the media tracking homework and reflected and healthy and unhealthy media choices that we made. As a whole, this group actually has a really great grip on what healthy media choices are – so kudos to you for helping them create those healthy habits at home!