Hello Families,
This past week was I Love to Read and Write week at Orchard School. Each day the students participated in different literacy activities. On Wednesday, we read with Mrs. Fischer's 2nd Grade class. Each 3rd Grader had one or two 2nd grade buddies that they got to read with. It was a lot of fun to listen to their favorite stories and to share our own. On Thursday, we Skyped with author, Josh Funk. Mr. Funk shared that when he was in school he didn't enjoy writing, but did LOVE to make people laugh. He found that his stories were a way to make people laugh all over the world and that is what made him pursue writing. Finally, on Friday, local author, Jason Chin, came to Orchard. He spoke with the whole school at Morning Meeting and then we got to meet with him again later that morning. He showed us his amazing illustrations and all the steps and time it takes to get a book published. One of his stories had over 45 revisions!! In 3rd grade just one revisions is difficult, so it was nice to hear that published authors go through the same process that we do!
We also had Farm to School this week. The students learned all about cabbage and made an apple cabbage slaw. The class voted unanimously that they LOVED the slaw (even at 9:30 in the morning!). The recipe will be in next week's Core. We also had our Valentine's Day celebration- what a week!
Math
In math we have been working A LOT with area and perimeter. Students have been working cooperatively to solve different area and perimeter mysteries. Pictures of their products are in the photos below. Ask your student what they needed to accomplish!
Students have also been working with fractions. We've been looking at fair shares, finding equivalent fractions, comparing and ordering, and next week we will begin exploring fractions as distances using a number line.
Key vocabulary:
Perimeter - distance around the outside of a shape, calculated by
adding the length of all sides together.
Area - the size a surface takes up, area is measured in square units
Numerator - The number of parts we have
Denominator - How many parts the whole has been divided into
Reading
In reading we have talking all about characters. We talked about how before you start a new book you want to think to yourself, "what will this character be like?" and as you dive into a new story it's important to notice your characters likes, dislikes, and personality traits. Understanding our characters helps us to make well informed predictions as we read, and have a deeper connection with the text. Just like how when we meet a new friend, we want to learn all about them- we do this with our characters, too!
We have been reading Jack- The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk for read aloud. It is the sequel to Rump (that we finished last month). The students enjoy finding the similarities between this story and the fairy tale they've grown up hearing. We've all agreed that we love how much more detail this author goes into than the fairy tales do. We've really gotten to know Jack and have identified him as a courageous and determined character. We will finish this book before we go on Winter break and I know the students will agree with me that it will be hard to end our adventure with Jack!
Social Studies / Writing
We have started our Native American unit. So far we have focused on the Northeastern Woodlands tribes. Students have created their own Native American names and written pictograph stories. We will continue our research of the different regions and combine these studies with our nonfiction writing.
This past week was I Love to Read and Write week at Orchard School. Each day the students participated in different literacy activities. On Wednesday, we read with Mrs. Fischer's 2nd Grade class. Each 3rd Grader had one or two 2nd grade buddies that they got to read with. It was a lot of fun to listen to their favorite stories and to share our own. On Thursday, we Skyped with author, Josh Funk. Mr. Funk shared that when he was in school he didn't enjoy writing, but did LOVE to make people laugh. He found that his stories were a way to make people laugh all over the world and that is what made him pursue writing. Finally, on Friday, local author, Jason Chin, came to Orchard. He spoke with the whole school at Morning Meeting and then we got to meet with him again later that morning. He showed us his amazing illustrations and all the steps and time it takes to get a book published. One of his stories had over 45 revisions!! In 3rd grade just one revisions is difficult, so it was nice to hear that published authors go through the same process that we do!
We also had Farm to School this week. The students learned all about cabbage and made an apple cabbage slaw. The class voted unanimously that they LOVED the slaw (even at 9:30 in the morning!). The recipe will be in next week's Core. We also had our Valentine's Day celebration- what a week!
Math
In math we have been working A LOT with area and perimeter. Students have been working cooperatively to solve different area and perimeter mysteries. Pictures of their products are in the photos below. Ask your student what they needed to accomplish!
Students have also been working with fractions. We've been looking at fair shares, finding equivalent fractions, comparing and ordering, and next week we will begin exploring fractions as distances using a number line.
Key vocabulary:
Perimeter - distance around the outside of a shape, calculated by
adding the length of all sides together.
Area - the size a surface takes up, area is measured in square units
Numerator - The number of parts we have
Denominator - How many parts the whole has been divided into
Reading
In reading we have talking all about characters. We talked about how before you start a new book you want to think to yourself, "what will this character be like?" and as you dive into a new story it's important to notice your characters likes, dislikes, and personality traits. Understanding our characters helps us to make well informed predictions as we read, and have a deeper connection with the text. Just like how when we meet a new friend, we want to learn all about them- we do this with our characters, too!
We have been reading Jack- The True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk for read aloud. It is the sequel to Rump (that we finished last month). The students enjoy finding the similarities between this story and the fairy tale they've grown up hearing. We've all agreed that we love how much more detail this author goes into than the fairy tales do. We've really gotten to know Jack and have identified him as a courageous and determined character. We will finish this book before we go on Winter break and I know the students will agree with me that it will be hard to end our adventure with Jack!
Social Studies / Writing
We have started our Native American unit. So far we have focused on the Northeastern Woodlands tribes. Students have created their own Native American names and written pictograph stories. We will continue our research of the different regions and combine these studies with our nonfiction writing.
A few reminders...
- Even though the weather looks like it will be warming up this week, please continue sending your student with all winter gear. The playground will get wet and muddy so their winter gear will be crucial!
- Teacher raffle bidding is 2/20 & 2/21
- Winter Break is 2/25 - 3/7
- Science Fair is 3/16
- Skate Night is 3/24