Books Around the World

Dear Third Graders,

      This looks like a really cool event that Ms. Thompson and Mrs. Tabakman are hosting!  Don't forget to RSVP! 

 

Bear Hugs,

Here is to a new decade!

Dear Third Graders,

     I have enjoyed reading your 2020 flip books that are hung on our bulletin board in the hallway. You came up with some great goals for 2020!

Bear Hugs,

Personal Narratives

Dear Third Graders,

    We have been doing a fantastic job with our new unit for Writer's Workshop....

Personal Narratives

     So far, we learned that a personal narrative brings to life an experience from the author's life through the use of sensory details, feelings, talking, thinking, and sounds.  Personal narratives tend to be focused on one event that is significant to the writer. The author shows rather than tells the event by using story elements like characters, setting, and plot. 

    Often authors write personal narratives about something "big" in their life, firsts (like first time jumping off the diving board or making a basket), times of strong emotions (meeting a new sibling, falling off their bike), or celebrations.

    We have worked hard on distinguishing between Watermelon Ideas and Seed Ideas. 

Watermelon Topics:  very broad, unfocused, too many details, too many moments, not zoomed in

Seed Topics: very specific, focused in or "zoomed in", one specific detail or moment

     Watermelon Ideas often have lots of Seed Ideas inside them and we need to pull out the ones that would create the best stories. Stories that will entertain. We worked hard on coming up with some Seed Ideas .  I can't wait to read the stories you create! 

     A great activity to try at home or in the car is retelling a Seed Idea as a personal narrative. Get the whole family involved and have fun with it! 

Bear Hugs,

Collaboration

Dear Third Graders,

By combining Jo's art skills with Melia's science skills,

they could create MORE super-cool stuff together

than either could create alone. 

From Melia and Jo 

by Billy Aronson and Jennifer Oxley

   Today, we worked together to create our severe storm boards! It took a lot of compromising, hard work, and creative thinking.  We are looking forward to presenting on Wednesday!

Here are some other shots from this month...

Our bulletin!  

Bear Hugs,

Thankful

Dear Third Graders,

       I can't say it enough, I am thankful to be working with an incredible group of third graders! In addition, the parents and adults at our school work so hard to bring wonderful programs and events that make Rosendale a pretty special place.

    Here are some pictures from our assembly last week...

    We also had Mrs. Schwan's first graders join our class for our publishing party! We have been working hard on writing paragraphs with topic sentences and details. We have made these paragraphs strong by adding transitions, interesting words, hooks, thinking, talking, sounds, and more!  This unit will help us create informational paragraphs from research notes that we take on various topics, culminating in our Weather Presentations! 

    Lastly, we had another challenge where we had to stack cups... without touching the cups with any body part! Boy did we have to work together, communicate, and encourage one another! 

Bear Hugs,

A little big of everything!

Dear Third Graders,

     We have been investigating our weather through using our senses and a variety of weather tools that include weather vanes, anemometers, radar, a Beaufort scale and more! I was impressed at what careful and observant scientists we were collecting data outside! I wonder what the weather has in store for us this week!

   We also worked in buddies to make our writing stronger. This week we will finish publishing our two pieces! 

   On Friday, Mrs. Johnston, Mr. D and members of our PTO did a wonderful job putting on an assembly that honored the many brave men and women who have served our country. We got to sign patriotic songs, share letters written to Veterans, honor special guests, and watch a color guard. 

 
 We ended the week with our Friday Challenge! This week, our groups worked on coding. We had to learn from our "failures" and start seeing them not as mistakes, but stepping stones to reaching our goals.

Bear Hugs,