Third Grade 3/12

Social Studies and Reading

Transport yourself back, way back, to the 1600s when New York was inhabited by Dutch colonists. Manhattan was named New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland. This is what we have been learning about in social studies. Who were the Dutch colonists? What was their way of life? We have been reading and researching the different director-generals who impacted how New Netherland was run, promoted slave trade, and their relationships with the Native Americans who originally inhabited the land. We have studied the colonial fashions, and how clothing can give us other information about how a society lived, their ideals, and how clothing was even used to differentiate wealth. Third graders are asking important questions and seeking the answers, reading challenging nonfiction texts, and engaging in discussions on historical cause and effect. We also practiced directed drawings of people during the 1600s!

Over the weekend, research other European explorers. Students can share what they learned in class on Monday!

Writing

We are coming near the end of our unit on persuasive writing. Third graders have been hard at work writing 5 paragraph speeches about a problem they think needs to be changed. They wrote a big and bold claim, provided 3 supporting reasons, examples, and even conducted interviews. We have also been practicing writing introductions and conclusions. These third graders have always been persuasive when they want something, but wait until you hear them read these speeches!

Encourage your child to write a persuasive letter about something they want changed at home. Maybe if they write a bold statement and supportive reasons, you’ll be persuaded to make some changes!

Judaics

We celebrated the 100th day of school on March 2nd! Some students dressed up, like Isaiah who came in dressed up as an 100 year old. All the students celebrated their hard work of 100 days with some game time.

In Chumash we finished another chapter, culminating our study of the Garden of Eden Story. Students contemplated the choices that the characters made through role playing. We also learned how to identify plural verbs in the torah text which came in handy in understanding when Adam and Even were acting in partnership or on their own. Students also closely observed an artistic representation of the Tree of Knowledge and wrote down observations and questions that it brought up.

Hebrew

In Hebrew we have been working on describing other people using the third person pronouns and possessive pronouns. We practiced this by describing the body parts of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. Then each student selected a real person or character to write about. We typed our descriptions in google classroom. I will be sharing the projects at conferences.

Music

In Third Grade Music this week, we reviewed expectations for Music Class and how we work with our ukuleles. Over the next few weeks, students will be picking and working on pieces they each want to learn. They learned how to read Tabulature (Tab) to help gain some independence with their playing. There is a video review of how to read Tab posted in their Seesaw Music Classroom. I am attaching detailed music class expectations (including homework expectations) here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zo95NUxN-7S6vmj_qotFG6U_x2Nz17AB/view?usp=sharing.

Science

In third grade science, students have been working on “The Gummy Bear Experiment”. This was a multi-week experiment and really allowed the students to stretch their scientific wings. Over the last three weeks specifically, students got to see what happened to the gummy bears when they were soaked in baking soda water and vinegar water. Students worked independently to record the size (in cm) of the gummy bear, describe the feel, and describe other observations. Then we reviewed our observations as a group so we could add to our writing. Finally, students wrote their conclusions. This was the first multi part scientific conclusion writing the 3rd graders have done and I was INCREDIBLY impressed. They are really turning into wonderful scientists!