PE with Anne

A few weeks ago, Anne video’d the students during a special activity. Watch them here!

General Studies with Hilary

Dear 3rd Grade Families,

What a whirlwind of trips we are having! Last week to the Brooklyn Bridge, this week to the Skyscraper Museum, and next week to the Wyckoff House — so much of New York City’s history is being explored!

Social Studies:

Over the past few weeks, students have been learning all about bridges! In Science, they learned the best shapes to use in bridge building, how caissons work, and how cables are put together. In Social Studies, they learned how the Brooklyn Bridge was designed and created, all about the Roebling family who managed the building, and about the workers who did the physical labor. On March 26, we walked the ENTIRE Brooklyn Bridge! Boy, we were tired after! The students were able to touch and shake the cables, to feel just how strong they still are. Sammi, Hilary and Julie asked the third graders to see the shapes and structures they’ve been learning about up close, examining the structure of the Brooklyn Bridge. The class saw a plaque dedicated to Emily Roebling, and did a car experiment. Students needs to count the cars that went by on the bridge’s lower level, finding how many went by in a minute, and then think about how many cars that would be in an hour, a day, a week, and a year!

After walking the bridge, the students got to view a caisson experiment to help demonstrate how pressurized air allowed the workers to breathe underwater. The students learned that the air needed to pumped in at a steady rate. If there wasn’t enough air, the water would start coming back into the caisson and the workers couldn’t breathe. If too much air was pumped in at once then the caisson would lift off the sand and water would also come rushing in during an event called a “blow out”. On this Brooklyn Bridge trip, MANY pictures were taken! Please click on this link to see them. If you need to ask permission to join, I will quickly add you to it.

Math:

We have gone in depth talking about different types of fractions this week. Students looked more closely at equivalent fractions, how to make a whole hexagon by using pattern blocks. Specifically using the red trapezoid, the blue rhombus/parallelogram, and the green triangle. The goal was to find as many combinations of shapes to create the shape of a yellow hexagon. We found seven different methods:
* 6 triangles
* 3 rhombuses
* 2 trapezoids
* 4 triangles and 1 rhombus
* 3 triangles and 1 trapezoid
* 2 triangles and 2 rhombuses
* 1 triangle, 1 rhombus and 1 trapezoid
Through this, we discussed equivalent fractions (3 triangles is equal to 1 trapezoid, or 3/6 is equal to 1/2). We also looked into adding fractions to create a whole number.

Reading:

Students are halfway through with their books this week! Some groups have really risen in their abilities to independently discuss what was read. They ask one another questions, and are requiring text evidence as proof for ideas or opinions. So much growth in just a few weeks!

Writing:

Over the past few weeks, students have been reintroduced to Information Writing. Last week, students were asked to pick a topic they are an expert at, and list five subtopics that could be expanded upon. We used our hands to physically think about what those five areas would be. Students then partnered with another student and asked to share the five aspects of the topic, as well as expand on one subtopic, in 60 seconds. They rotated partners a few times, which provided the class with an opportunity to refine ideas and practice how to articulate them in an effective way.

Then, we were able to create a fast and furious draft about our topic. We termed this a “throwaway draft,” because students were just supposed to figuratively throw their ideas onto the page. As a class, we also talked about the concept that writers change their ideas or the focus of their stories/research ALL. THE. TIME. It’s okay to refocus our writing as we write, because it might help open our minds to more aspects to write about. Students talked to a partner about different ways they could organize their subtopics.

Yesterday, we focused on different ways to organize your ideas, and how to brainstorm topics. We discussed using a “boxes and bullets” strategy, a “cause and effect” strategy, a “pro-con” strategy, and a “compare and contrast” strategy. The purpose was to provide the students with different ways to think about their topic. This will support them when it comes to our biography writing, when we focus on different chapters of the person’s story.

Conversation starters with your student:

• Social Studies
  • What is the importance of Lady Liberty’s crown?
  • What makes the Statue of Liberty important? Why was it an innovation, or new idea, of the time?
  • What are are her feet? Why was it important for Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (the sculptor) to include them?
• Math
  • Where do you see fractions around you, in your everyday life?
  • Do you notice it when eating meals with your family?
• Reading
  • What are some open questions you can ask one another, in terms of your nightly reading?
  • What connections can you make to your nightly reading? Does it remind you of anything, be it another book you’ve read OR to your own life?

Dates to remember:

• Tuesday, April 9 –> field trip to the Wyckoff House, from 10:00-1:30
• Tuesday, April 16 –> HSCDS’s production of Aladdin, at 10:00am
• Friday, April 19 –-> Friday, April 26 –> NO SCHOOL for Passover
• Thursday, May 9 –> Yom Ha’Atzmaut
• Friday, May 17 –> Kesher Day (Special Person Day) from 9:30-12:30
• Thursday, May 23 –> Lag B’Omer
• Wednesday, May 29 –> last field trip to Ellis Island, from 8:30am to 3:00pm

Shabbat shalom, all!
Hilary

Hebrew with Ilana Swisa

Judaic Studies with Aliza

Third Graders have been hard at work in Judaics, writing and illustrating their guides to diverse and unique Pesach traditions from communities around the world. We have visited communities in Ethiopia, Gibraltar, Morocco, and Poland, just to name a few. Soon we will be delving into our own family traditions to see what interesting practices we can share with each other from our Seder tables. Shabbat Shalom!