October 2 - 6

We had a very THANKFUL week in 3A. Leading up to Thanksgiving, our class talked a lot about our blessings and the many reasons we have to be thankful.

VIP

We had a great week celebrating our Very Important Person - Mr. A. Thanks for being such a great helper this week! The students also really enjoyed our visit from our VIP's grandma.

Reading Workshop

This week we used "The Most Thankful Thing" by Lisa McCourt as a mentor text for our writing project. While reading the book, we focused on making personal
connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). We specifically discussed how Text-to-Self (T-S) connections are made between the text and the reader's personal experience. After reading this story, the students discussed what they were most thankful for.  They chose their top 10 "Most Thankful Things" and created "Turkey Word Art" on the Chrome Books.  The students really loved this project.

Home Reading

Congratulations to the following students for making it to the first destination in our Amazing Race Reading Challenge!  They have read 600 minutes in our home reading program and were so excited to fly to India!

Writing Workshop

During Writing Workshop this week the students focused on narrative writing and generating ideas about the things they are thankful for.

Back and Forth Journals

Please take the time to respond to your child's entry in their back and forth journal. The students love telling you about their week and they really look forward to your responses. However, it can be very disappointing for the students if they have nothing to read back from you. We really appreciate your participation in this weekly writing activity.

Word Study

The students continue to write their word study pretest every Monday to determine their personalized word list for the week.

During our "Draw and Label" activity the students have the opportunity to practice their vocabulary by drawing a picture of each word from their spelling list. This was an excellent activity to really get the students thinking about the meaning of their words.

Making Words

The students were challenged to make as many words as possible using the letters in THANKSGIVING.

Math

This week the following curricular outcomes were covered in math:

• Ordinal Numbers - correctly use ordinal numbers (written in words, such as first, second, third, or using numbers, such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd) to identify and answer questions about positions of objects or symbols in lists.

The students also had some time to practice their Math Facts while playing Soldier Salute.

Social Studies

The first unit we will be doing in Social Studies this year is "mapping."

This week we discussed the difference between a map and a globe. The students also learned that a compass rose is used to display the orientation of the directions on a map: North, East, South, and West—and their intermediate points - NE, NW, SE, SW.

Art

I read the Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis in preparation of our art project this week. This story is about the Baxter Brothers who find a wonderful pumpkin for Halloween. But first they must catch up with it when it rolls down a hill. 

After reading the book we created fun pumpkin "zentangles". A zentangle is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. I gave the students a drawing of a simple dimensional pumpkin and asked them fill in the spaces with different repeating patterns.

Congratulations to our Student of the Week!

Wishing all of my students and their families a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you have a wonderful time spent with family and friends!