We’ve continued to explore the world, kindness and peace through the poems and books we’ve been reading.  The children have begun researching a country and are beginning to discover many Wonders around the world.

Reading Records

This month we’ve been keeping track of all the books we’ve read.  We’ve recorded all the books we’ve read together as a class.  The students have each recorded all of their own books. We’ve been trying to keep track of everything.  As a class we started and completed 28 books this month.  We mostly read realistic fiction, biographies and informational books. Our chapter read-aloud was historical fiction. Because of this record we’re going to challenge ourselves next month to read fantasy and traditional folktales and fables.  The children will be looking at their records to see how they can push themselves to read other genre as well.

We also used the books from our to learn how to create summaries for fiction.  We’re using the format that the main character wanted something, but had to overcome a problem.  While attempting to find a solution he/she attempted many different things until at last it was solved.  The children each chose a book that was completed this month to create a summary for. This will be our practice each month for the remainder of the year so we can further strengthen comprehension strategies.

Writing Narratives

All of the students have completed the second drafts of their family story.  They have focused on using description, dialogue, action, and inner thought to create the most interesting stories that they can.  We’ll go through one more step of conferencing, feedback, revision and conferencing again for final revision to create a final piece of writing that we’ll be ready to illustrate and share by mid-March.

The class voted for and awarded 3E book awards for our third month.  We have some very creative writers.  They have great ideas and have noticed that the authors who take the most time to develop their plot lines using the elaboration strategies create the books that are most often selected.  We’ve also noticed that lots of books submitted to be share each month are begun – but end with “to be continued” rather than being fully written.  We’ve decided to work on this.  Knowing how to end stories is as important as developing the ideas at the beginning.

News From PE  – by Mrs. Yeaton

For the past 2 weeks, the third graders have been having the opportunity to use the climbing wall in Physical Education class. We have been going on the wall horizontally so that we don’t need to use harnesses or belaying equipment.  This has added to our unit on fitness as climbing requires strength, flexibility and coordination.  It also addresses many social/emotional issues such as problem solving, patience, perseverance (grit) and courage.

I am including a list of climbing facilities in the area that you may want to take your child to over vacation.  Many of our students love using the climbing wall. At the climbing facilities they will be able to use harnesses and climb high (that’s what they really want to do!). Have a great February vacation!

• MetroRock
• (29) · Rock Climbing Gym
• Newburyport, MA
• (978) 499-7625
• Open⋅Closes 10PM

 

• Indoor Ascent
• (43) · Rock Climbing Gym
• Dover, NH
• (603) 742-7848
• Opens 5PM

Bits and Pieces –

• We finished reading The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. The last Wonder Eben found was a 3-D map of his town.  We are going to create our own map of Sassafras Springs to show how we imagine the town and the places where Eben walked.  We’ll add all that we know maps include as we make it.
• We’ve continued exploring maps and mapping.  Everyone has completed a map of his/her yard or the neighborhood that they play in. These maps include a title, a key, symbols, labels and compass rose.
• We’ve begun to explore the concept of force in science.  We know a force is  a push or a pull.  We’ve learned a bit about gravity and friction and about magnetism.  We’re looking forward to exploring this science topic in more depth when we return from vacation.
• We completed another round of basic fact math checks this week.  We’ve also continued to explore the concepts of area and perimeter.  Many of the children feel more certain about how to calculate these for regular rectangles.  Ask them about our Cheez-it exploration today.

Have a fabulous February break.  Our family is excited about UNH hockey, skating, sledding and dinners with our children and grandchildren.  We might try to fit in some museum visits – and for me, time to read lots of books on my TBR pile so I’ll be ready for the new books that are published in April.