Social Studies
Our study of communities continues this week with a look at different kinds of communities, namely urban (big cities) and rural (small community with lots of land and space). We will also introduce the concept of suburbs, as places that are close enough to big cities for people to work and play in, while allowing for people to live in less crowded conditions. We will have our first quiz on Friday of this week. Students will be responsible for material from last week, as well as this week. Your child may bring home their blue folder each night to study and prepare; encourage them to do so.
Science
Look for our graded quiz on lab safety and procedures to come home Tuesday in the Take Home Folder. Please sign and return it to school! This week we will continue working with plants as we explore the following essential question: What are seeds? We will continue working on our ability to make detailed observations utilizing our senses, as we examine soaked and unsoaked lima beans. We will review the parts of a seed and how they make a new plant, before finishing up the week by beginning an investigation into how bean seeds grow.
Math Workshop
Look for the yellow family letter in this week’s Take Home Folder. It has many great ideas for games and activities that can be done at home to reinforce the concepts from our current unit: Collections and Travel Stories. This week we will begin to build a class collection of 1,000 of the same thing to give students a concrete model of 1,000. Look in your child’s planner if you are interested in helping our collection grow. Over the next few days we will be working through word problems like this one: “Miss P was collecting coins. She had 230 so far. If she wanted to store them in bags of 10, how many bags would she need? What about bags of 100?” Try working through this problem, or make up similar ones. Observe their strategies. Are they utilizing their knowledge of the number of 10’s in 100 to help them solve the problem(s)? Do they use tools, like their 1,000 chart?
Monday, August 30, 2010
Plant Poem
Today we made predictions about how bean seeds make a new plant. We discussed many different ideas. Then we read/sang with poem/song about plants. Here it is so you can enjoy it and think about it at home!
A Plant Will Grow
by Lauren Mayer
My plants are growing, from the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
Just plant a seed, and when you're done
Give it air and water and lots of sun
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
A seed sprouts a root, isn't that cute?
My plants are growing, from the roots and the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
It grows some roots, which uncoil
To soak up nutrients from the soil
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
Plants grow a stem, every one of them!
My plants are growing, from the stems to the roots from the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
At first just a tiny stem is seen
You know it's growing 'cause it's green
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
Look what the stem achieves - it's growing some leaves!
My plants are growing,
from the leaves to the stems to the roots from the seeds down in the ground
Soon they'll be showing how the plant world gets around
The leaves get bigger by the hour
Then it might grow fruit, it might grow a flower
And in a couple of weeks or so,
You know a plant will grow!
From the fruit or the flower
to the leaves
to the stem
to the roots
from the seeds down in the ground
And now you know - just how a plant will grow!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Newsletter Info
Social Studies
Our focus this year will center around communities of long ago, as well as modern communities of today. This week we will begin with a look at the places that we live and call home. We will learn that the places we live are called communities and consist of a population of citizens. We will discuss how important it is to obey the laws of the community, in order to keep the citizens safe and avoid chaos.
Science
We will start off the year with a brief introduction into how scientists work safely in the lab. We will focus on how scientists make observations and inferences, as well as the types of tools that will be available for use in our lab this year. We will then dig right into our first unit of study on plants, with a nature walk and observation session. Students will have the opportunity to examine a plant of their choice with a hand lens, before formally recording their observations. We will learn to share and compare our data/observations in the name of scientific integrity (i.e. our data should match and if it doesn't we need to examine it closely to figure out why that's the case). We will finish the week with a look at our next essential question: What are seeds (and, how do bean seeds make a new bean plant)? Any and all donations of potting soil, dry lima beans, celery, and a sweet potato would be greatly appreciated!
Math
It is imperative that third graders have an understanding of how The Base Ten Number System works and how to accurately represent, identify, compare, and/or order numbers through the hundred thousands. Our work in this unit will focus on the following essential questions: How are numbers comprised in our Base Ten Number System? How can greater numbers be read and written? How can whole numbers be compared and ordered? To begin addressing these questions, students will be introduced to the 1,000 chart. This will help us as we begin to discuss how place value is represented. The catch is that not all the numbers will be filled in on these charts. As we play a game called Finding Numbers, students will need to use landmarks they are familiar with (multiples of ten and twenty-five work well) to help them locate the numbers called. If you are curious about your child's ability to locate numbers, have them bring their chart home over the weekend to play a few rounds as a family. You can even let them call the numbers and quiz you to see who is faster!
Our focus this year will center around communities of long ago, as well as modern communities of today. This week we will begin with a look at the places that we live and call home. We will learn that the places we live are called communities and consist of a population of citizens. We will discuss how important it is to obey the laws of the community, in order to keep the citizens safe and avoid chaos.
Science
We will start off the year with a brief introduction into how scientists work safely in the lab. We will focus on how scientists make observations and inferences, as well as the types of tools that will be available for use in our lab this year. We will then dig right into our first unit of study on plants, with a nature walk and observation session. Students will have the opportunity to examine a plant of their choice with a hand lens, before formally recording their observations. We will learn to share and compare our data/observations in the name of scientific integrity (i.e. our data should match and if it doesn't we need to examine it closely to figure out why that's the case). We will finish the week with a look at our next essential question: What are seeds (and, how do bean seeds make a new bean plant)? Any and all donations of potting soil, dry lima beans, celery, and a sweet potato would be greatly appreciated!
Math
It is imperative that third graders have an understanding of how The Base Ten Number System works and how to accurately represent, identify, compare, and/or order numbers through the hundred thousands. Our work in this unit will focus on the following essential questions: How are numbers comprised in our Base Ten Number System? How can greater numbers be read and written? How can whole numbers be compared and ordered? To begin addressing these questions, students will be introduced to the 1,000 chart. This will help us as we begin to discuss how place value is represented. The catch is that not all the numbers will be filled in on these charts. As we play a game called Finding Numbers, students will need to use landmarks they are familiar with (multiples of ten and twenty-five work well) to help them locate the numbers called. If you are curious about your child's ability to locate numbers, have them bring their chart home over the weekend to play a few rounds as a family. You can even let them call the numbers and quiz you to see who is faster!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
3rd Grade Rocks!!!
Wow! It was so exciting to meet you all at Orientation on Friday. I am really looking forward to a wonderful year together in third grade. I can't wait to start our hard (but also super fun) work together down on the farm. I'm really looking forward to us all getting to know each other better.
Here is something that I spent time doing this summer that might help you get to know me better. I love traveling and going on adventures with friends. This summer I spent some time in California, and I was lucky enough to find some super scientific things there.
1. General Sherman
Maybe you're thinking that General Sherman is a person...you'd be wrong (that's what I thought at first, too)! General Sherman is a tree! So, why would people want to go see a tree? Because it's a special tree. Let me tell you some of the cool stuff I learned. General Sherman is the most massive tree on Earth. He is over 275 feet tall and is over 2,000 years old! He is a Giant Sequoia and is located in a national park where many other sequoias grow.
There were hundreds of people hiking around in the forest when I was there, so it was really hard to get a nice photo of myself in front of General Sherman, but here is a photo of me standing INSIDE another one of the sequoias nearby.
I also saw trees so huge that tunnels had been made in them so you could drive your car inside the trunk and out the other side. I could never imagine doing that with the trees we have around here. On the way out of the park, I also stopped near a tree that had fallen during a storm. It is called the Auto Log because you used to be able to drive your auto, or car, right onto it. Now it is decaying, so that would be too dangerous, but you can still pose for a picture.
2. The second super scientific thing I did was visit the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. Check out the link to learn more. They have a cool glass bubble where you can watch scientists work on piecing together some of the animal skeletons that have been found during excavations of the pits. Here is a cool photo that I took of some of the wolf skulls that have been found in the tar pits.
And here's how I compare to the height of a bear, which is good to know! If I had any plans to tell a bear who is boss, now I know that's not a good idea!
Well, those are just some of the things I did this summer. I can't wait to hear about all the cool things you did over the summer. Have you ever been to any of the places I described above? Do you ever want to go? If so, be sure to leave me a post, and of course, if you have questions about my adventures, I'd be happy to tell you more!
See you at school tomorrow. Go to bed early, and don't forget to eat a big, yummy breakfast. We are going to have an absolutely awesome time!
Here is something that I spent time doing this summer that might help you get to know me better. I love traveling and going on adventures with friends. This summer I spent some time in California, and I was lucky enough to find some super scientific things there.
1. General Sherman
Maybe you're thinking that General Sherman is a person...you'd be wrong (that's what I thought at first, too)! General Sherman is a tree! So, why would people want to go see a tree? Because it's a special tree. Let me tell you some of the cool stuff I learned. General Sherman is the most massive tree on Earth. He is over 275 feet tall and is over 2,000 years old! He is a Giant Sequoia and is located in a national park where many other sequoias grow.
There were hundreds of people hiking around in the forest when I was there, so it was really hard to get a nice photo of myself in front of General Sherman, but here is a photo of me standing INSIDE another one of the sequoias nearby.
I also saw trees so huge that tunnels had been made in them so you could drive your car inside the trunk and out the other side. I could never imagine doing that with the trees we have around here. On the way out of the park, I also stopped near a tree that had fallen during a storm. It is called the Auto Log because you used to be able to drive your auto, or car, right onto it. Now it is decaying, so that would be too dangerous, but you can still pose for a picture.
2. The second super scientific thing I did was visit the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. Check out the link to learn more. They have a cool glass bubble where you can watch scientists work on piecing together some of the animal skeletons that have been found during excavations of the pits. Here is a cool photo that I took of some of the wolf skulls that have been found in the tar pits.
And here's how I compare to the height of a bear, which is good to know! If I had any plans to tell a bear who is boss, now I know that's not a good idea!
Well, those are just some of the things I did this summer. I can't wait to hear about all the cool things you did over the summer. Have you ever been to any of the places I described above? Do you ever want to go? If so, be sure to leave me a post, and of course, if you have questions about my adventures, I'd be happy to tell you more!
See you at school tomorrow. Go to bed early, and don't forget to eat a big, yummy breakfast. We are going to have an absolutely awesome time!
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