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Third Grade 5/7

Music

In Music, Third Graders have been hard at work practicing songs they have chosen for their upcoming ukulele concert. They have also been practicing the Eerie Canal Song, which they are looking forward to sharing with you at their end-of-year celebration.

Writing and Reading

We have begun writing our very own adaptations of Cinderella. We have been reading and studying many adaptations of different fairytales to learn what changes authors make and why. We have read many adaptations that represent different cultures such as The Golden Sandal, a Middle Eastern adaptation, and Cendrillon, a Caribbean adaptation. As the third graders make their own changes to the original Cinderella, they are challenged to think of why. We have been writing paragraphs, using story mountains to plan our writing, and developing a villain. We have started looking through our work to find areas where we can revise the writing to show, not just tell, what is happening. We have all been building our writing stamina and enjoying this creative project!

Over the weekend, dive into some other fairy tales. See if your child can identify the changes made in an adaptation and why!

Social Studies

As we continue to learn about immigration, we have been reading the chapter book Journey to Ellis Island by Carol Bierman. This story tells of a Jewish family who fled their home country of Russia during the war, and their experience of getting to Ellis Island. As we learn and discuss the push and pull factors for immigrants during the early 1900s, students have been making connections of the push and pull factors they think affected their family or ancestors.

Speak with relatives or as a family about whether anyone you know has left their home country to live in the United States. Discuss the push and pull factors.

Math

3rd graders have finished this unit on area and perimeter. They studied how to calculate area by counting by square units and by multiplying the length and width of rectangles. They also worked on find the area and perimeter of composite figures, and had some fun solving area mazes. This week they began a new unit on telling time (with analog clocks!) and calculating elapsed time. Ask your student to calculate how long they are awake each day!