What's Happening in Room 8?

September is going by incredibly fast, and we're already learning so much in Room 8.  Below you will find a summary of what we're working on in each of the curriculum areas.

This month we have focused on the following skills in reading:

• Selecting a book from the library.
• Determining whether a book is "just right" for our individual reading levels.
• Distinguishing between the various genres - this is ongoing.

As the month goes on, we will continue our genre study while learning about story elements such as character, setting, story problem and solution.

In class we also just finished our first interactive read aloud, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo.  These read alouds are used to expose students to text that is engaging and "meaty."  They are meant to generate discussion among students and to further their comprehension of and interest in the story.  Our new book is The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes.  Please ask your child to share their thoughts about these books with you at home!

We have just finished our first chapter in math, Numbers to 10,000.  This chapter focused on place value concepts, ordering numbers, comparing numbers, and identifying number patterns.

Chapter 2, which we've started this week, is Mental Math and Estimation.  Students will be encouraged to use mental math strategies for both addition and subtraction.  In order to work efficiently with these strategies, it is important for students to have a strong grasp of their basic facts.  XtraMath will be helpful in building these skills.  Students will also be rounding three- and four-digit numbers to the nearest ten and hundred.

In writing we are learning about Personal Narratives.  Students have worked with this form of writing in second grade as well, but third graders will be encouraged to further develop their ideas with greater detail, voice, use of dialogue, and strong vocabulary.
Beginning lessons have focused on the importance of choosing a "seed idea," one that is focused and specific.  For example, instead of writing about a week spent in Vermont, a student might choose to write about the day they tried skiing for the first time.
This week we learned how to fill out our graphic organizers, and today we practiced writing attention-grabbing beginnings.

We've started our Map Skills unit in Social Studies this week.  In this unit, students will learn about the parts of a map including the title, compass rose, map key, scale, and grid lines.

I would encourage you to check out any maps you might find when you're out and about as a family.  Students discussed that maps are sometimes found in malls, stores, restaurants, or museums.  Have your child collect and compare them for fun.

As always, if you have any questions about the curriculum or what we're doing in class, please contact me at school.  Friday Folders are coming home for the first time on Friday, September 20th.  I hope you enjoy having the chance to see what we're doing in class.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Sara Hartley