Wonderful Writers

This week we took all of the inspiring words from our amazing visit with Jeff Kinney and used them to launch our own true stories. The students learned about how to start a story with a strong lead and tried out several of the strategies that we introduced until they found the one that fit their narrative best. Then we moved on to working with a partner to locate the heart of our stories. This is the part that makes a reader sit up and read closer to find out the big idea or problem. Then we used our storyteller's voices to make that part even stronger using dialogue, sensory details, and action. To end the week we practiced closing our stories with a strong ending. Now we are working on editing, especially using what we have learned about punctuating dialogue. We will finish publishing our stories using Google Docs next week. Then we will share our stories with you. This is the first time this year that the students have gone through the whole publication process, so keep in mind that this is a true reflection of what they can do independently. It is perfectly acceptable for there to be some mistakes. Their goal is to use a storyteller's voice to organize and structure a story with a clear structure and elaboration.

We finished up our introductory unit on Multiplication last week. Next week we will be starting a new unit in Math. During Unit 3 the mathematicians will use estimation and rounding strategies to solve two  and three digit addition and subtraction problems. They will revisit some old strategies and practice the standard algorithm for addition and subtraction. (This is the way that we learned way back when!). Some students are hungry to get to this spot and others will be challenged with the abstract nature of the procedure. Third graders are not expected to master this concept, but they will be introduced in a hands-on way that supports them conceptually wherever they are developmentally. Please see the links below for more information on this unit and on the support materials that align with the concepts that we will be teaching. These are great things for students to practice with at home on nights when  they do not have a math sheet to do. (Though it is not a "have-to")

Bridges Unit 3 
Unit 3 Support Resources 

Please help you student remember to come to school prepared for the winter weather. At this point they needs to have boots, hats, gloves and snow pants daily. They should also have a pair of warm, dry shoes to change into. The salt is rough on our carpets, so we ask for them to leave boots in the hallway.

Information about our Winter Craft Morning will head home in Yellow Homework folders tomorrow. We are looking for volunteers to run a small craft workshop on the morning of December 18th from 10:00-11:30. You would have three rotations of approximately 8 children at a time. We could provide you with ideas or you could come up with your own craft. Please return the sheet if you can make it. If not, perhaps you could provide a healthy drink or snack for the children to enjoy that morning.

Thanks for your support! 

Jess and Liz