Happy
New Year!
I hope you all had a wonderful winter
break and enjoyed some good, relaxing times with your families and
friends. I would like to extend a big THANK YOU for all the lovely
holiday cards and gifts from you and your kids – so kind and generous! The new
year has exciting things in store for your children - including multiplication,
expository writing and poetry, a fantastic unit on rocks, minerals, and NW
geology, and so much more...
After a break, it’s always good to do
some classroom community building activities, and revisit our third grade
routines, procedures, and expectations through discussion and practice.
In addition to getting back into the swing of school, here’s what we’ve been
delving into this week:
Math
We’re spending just a few more sessions
on geometry – reviewing some of the key concepts and vocabulary we learned
before break, as well as practicing measuring and calculating perimeter and
area. Then we’ll be wrapping this unit up and on moving on to…
…MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION!
Reading
This week we began a new read-aloud from
the biography genre, I Have a Dream:
The Story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Told in a strong narrative style, the book recounts
Martin's life starting at age six, when he was told he could not play with a
white friend. This biography then outlines the seeds of Martin's dreams, how
his dream of equality for all developed, how he fought for it, and eventually -
gave his life for it. I hope to get some conversations started with the
kids about prejudice, racism, and the importance of working together for social
justice. What we can learn from
Martin’s life, and learn about serving others? See previous blog post below to check out our class iPad
discussion wall!
The kids are also getting back into the
routine of read-to-self, and writing entries in their reader’s notebooks.
We will also be practicing our fluency through partner readings, and showing
our nonfiction comprehension through reading articles and responding to specific
questions in an online format.
Writing
This week we kicked off a 3-4 week unit
on writing informational articles. The students are picking an “expert
topic” of their choice and writing an informational article – taking it through
the whole writing process of graphic organizing, drafting, revising, editing,
and publishing.
Social
Studies
During Social Studies we’ve focused on
our own community right here in the classroom – revisiting our democratic
classroom agreement, the routines and procedures that make our community
function well, and the kinds of postive language we can use in our community
that makes it feel like a safe, fun place where everyone is included.
Rocks, Minerals, and NW Geology
We started the unit this week by simply
observing three mystery rocks while beginning the language of scientific
inquiry. Students will explore the differences and similarities between rocks
and minerals by investigating samples of these Earth materials and by
performing a series of mineral tests similar to geologist’s field tests.
Over the course of this unit, the kids
will: · Maintain a science notebook of investigations • Learn about the
different types of rock - igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic · Illustrate
and explain the rock cycle, and be able to summarize how the three different
types of rocks are formed. · Draw some conclusions and defend the best uses for
some rock properties. • As a performance task, your child will become a
geologist who has been given 3 mystery minerals. They will be asked to identify
them, and some of their uses in everyday materials • Learn about local geologic features, and the earth
forces that helped form them.
Wapato
Field Study / Salmon Release
Next week, we have our Wapato Field Study – where we will finally be
releasing our salmon fry from the docks and shoreline at Hadley’s Landing at
Wapato Park. Kids will need to be dressed for the cold, wet weather.
It can be especially chilly down by the water. We will back at SIA
for lunch just like our other Wapato Field Study days. If anyone out
there has child-sized PFDs (life-jackets) we could borrow, then we can
accommodate a few more kids releasing fish from the dock.
Questions
to ask your third-grader:
What is perimeter, and how to you
calculate it? When might someone
need to find the perimeter of something?
What is area? When might someone need to find the area of something? How
do you calculate it? If you don’t
have a ton of square tiles to lay out and count, is there a more efficient way
to calculate it?
What is expository writing?
What are you planning on writing your
article about?
What is happening right now in the
biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
What is prejudice? What is segregation? What is civil disobedience?
What do you wonder about rocks and
minerals?
When we’re talking about rocks and
minerals – what is a “property”?
Upcoming
dates, volunteer opportunities, needs, etc etc:
• Child-size PFDs for salmon release
• Soon I will be starting up an after-school
Math Club on Wednesdays from 3:10-4:10 for those young mathematicians who need
a little extra support and learning-time; first session will be Wednesday
Jan. 22th. Love math and want to be an adult helper with
Math Club? Get in touch!
• Next Thursday night (Jan. 16) is the SIA Winter Music Concert at the Scappoose Auditorium - don't miss it!
• Wednesday, Jan. 22nd (6pm) at SIA there will be a parent/staff/community information night about School Safety in the Event of an Active Shooter. Not a cheery topic, but important to attend; current events and law enforcement research are prompting many schools to revise their strategies, including here at SIA. Multnomah County Deputy Joe Graziano will be presenting.
That's all the news for now! Have a great weekend!
~ Mr. Asa
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