So Much to be Thankful For!

With the snow falling and Thanksgiving on the horizon, I've been feeling extraordinarily blessed and grateful.  This school year has been so incredible so far and I am totally in love with our class.  We have learned so much over these past 11 weeks and have had a ton of fun doing so.  I really feel so honored to spend my days teaching this fantastic group of people!  Thank you so much for all that you do!  I so appreciate you and your support.

This week is action-packed so hold on tight!  Here's what is going down in Melissa's third grade this week:

Spelling: There will be no spelling sorts this week as I am reassessing students to start new groups over break.

Reading Workshop:

We are continuing our focus on non-fiction this week.  We will be learning about nonfiction features and their purposes.  When we encounter a compelling photograph or a map filled with fascinating detail, the power of visuals to enhance learning and understanding comes through loud and clear.  Nonfiction is full of these features which other genres don't have.  These features along with titles, subheadings. framed texts, and fonts help us navigate through informational texts.  This week, students will learn about these features and discuss how the features support their understanding.

We will be using our weekly Scholastic News as well as some nonfiction books on France to support these lessons.

Writing Workshop:

We will be finishing up our "State Study" with Ms. Emily's class this week.  Students will be focusing finishing their visual aid as well as writing a paragraph or two about their particular state.  This will be our introduction into research writing and presenting that will set us up for our country study after break.

Social Studies:

This week students will be introduced to potential research topics for our study of France.  I have about 25 topics to choose from.  I will present the topics to the students with a powerpoint and a brief description.  Students will have a list of the topics and rate them 1-4; 1 = I don't want it 4 = I want it really bad. I will collect the lists and assign the topics accordingly.  Students will know their topic by Wednesday.  I will provide information on each topic, but researching at home and over break is highly recommended.

Math:

Measurement is still the name of the game in math this week.  We will continue exploring and measuring items to the nearest 1/2 inch.  This week we will continue discussing perimeter and area.  We define perimeter as "measure all the lengths and add them together" and area as "the short side measurement times the long side measurement equals the area."

Here's some pictures of our measurement lessons from last week:

 Last, but definitely not least, this week is our last week of Celebrate the Beat. We will be participating in a performance for the parents and community on Thursday November 21st.  Students need to be back at school and to report to our room to get ready for the performance.  The performance starts at 6:00 in the elementary gym.  When we are performing as a whole group, we will be on stage left or lookers right, which ever makes more sense to you.  During our dance with Bobby's class, we'll be in the middle.  It is so important that all students participate.  If you have any issues with timing, rides, or anything that may interfere with your child performing, please let me know as soon as possible.

Thanks again for everything.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!