I have to take a moment to brag about how wonderful your kiddos are. I might be a little biased, but I think I have the most incredible group of students. EVER. I love learning with them and spending time with them. They are just a hard -working group. In the past couple months, I have seen them demonstrate unending cooperation (A PYP Attitude we have been talking about) amongst themselves. Anytime they break up into groups, I have no fear of any student getting left out. They have really started to look out for each other. It is such a special moment when I stop and take a moment to just watch them interact with one another and see how they are including others. Just a couple of special moments I witnessed recently: We had been working on our opinion pieces in the classroom. One day, I turned around to see a couple of my students going around the classroom helping students who were needing additional help on their opinion piece. They sat down right beside them and gave them advice, helped them spell words, and gave them positive feedback. They weren't just telling them how to do it, they were teaching them. They took it upon themselves to help the others out. Not only have these kiddos become learners, they have also become teachers. These kids really do care about each other. They have learned how important it is to help one another so that we can all succeed as one classroom family. Another special moment in our classroom had been when our OBOB Team was battling against other teams. Everyday during snack they came together as one big team to help out the Pink Fluffy Unicorns. Students had timers, students were reading practice questions, and the rest of the class was there supporting them. All. Of. Them. I have loved seeing the collaboration in the classroom. Math: We finished our area module and moved on to fractions. We are now in Engage NY Module 6. Modules 6 and 7 with both be on fractions. Fractions are a very large concept for 3rd graders, so we will take our time studying about them. We kicked off our fraction unit by playing with food. I brought in Twizzlers, Kit Kat Bars, graham crackers, smarties, and oranges. I posed a question to the students asking them if it is possible to share with a partner if I only give you 1 of each food. They spent time splitting these foods into equal parts. Their challenge was to determine how many pieces were there total, how many pieces did they get, and could they compose a fraction using that information. They didn't do too bad! Writing: Students finished up their opinion pieces. This was the first time this year where I really saw students' writing skills surface. They started to understand what is really means to edit a paper. They learned rough drafts get messy and when they are messy, we have done our job of editing. There was one day in particular where I went over editing again and the importance of doing it. Students were all about editing their paper, editing their friends paper, and adding more details after more details. At one point I gave them a choice about continuing to edit or move on to our read aloud time. When I asked for feedback it was a unanimous response of: KEEP WORKING! They were so into it and so passionate about making the best writing piece! They are really starting to blossom! :) Science: A couple weeks ago we did a quick science inquiry experiment. Students learned about the different steps scientists take when conducting an experiment. We talked about how you first pose a question, research, make a hypothesis, test your experiment, etc. The question they posed was: "Is the push or pull of the magnetic force stronger?" Ask them to find out the answer. :) Social Studies: We have started our new PYP Theme: Sharing the Planet. Students brainstormed in groups about what they think it means to share the planet. They created posters representing what they thought it meant. After discussing about what it means to share the planet, I put pictures around the room. I told them that each group was categorized for a reason, but they had to figure out why I put the pictures the way I did. They moved around the room in their groups discussing their thoughts. The next day I posed another questions to them: "Using the tools you have learned this year to help understand words you don't know, what do you think the word landform means?" They talked amongst each other and came up with some awesome explanations. This discussion led into our mini project on landforms. Students created a little booklet of a variety of landforms (you should have seen this come home). Next I brought out a map of Oregon, and I said Oregon can be broken up into 6 main regions or areas. I drew in the first region, Coastal Range. I said look at the location of this region. What information about Oregon that you already know that could help you figure out the name of the region. They guessed several different ideas but eventually came up with coast! We continued talking about the region and labeling a map of Oregon. Them seem to be really enjoying this unit! We will continue with it after Spring Break. I hope you all have a wonderful Spring Break! Keep having them practice their math facts, typing skills, and reading!! I will also keep you posted on the upcoming testing schedule as soon as it is finalized. Testing will begin before we know it!
Thanks for being such a tremendous support for your kiddos. They are very fortunate to have you! Best wishes, Kait
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Sept. 14th- First Day of Online Learning
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