Thursday, January 16, 2014

Back to routines!

Yeah for having a full week of school. This allowed us to get things starting to feel a little more normal of a typical day in 3rd grade. It also meant a lot of work to complete and learn! :)

Math-In math this week, we continued to talk about the perimeter (the distance around an object, think about something like a fence). We also have talked about the area of a polygon. This is how many square units are inside the polygon. Then of course with measuring a polygon, we needed to discuss and learn about what makes up a polygon. A polygon is a closed figure (no open spaces), which has all straight sides, and where the sides do not cross.  
On Monday, the students even had a chance to have a little fun with perimeter and area work with the help of Cheez-it crackers! 









On Wednesday we learned about polygons, and completed a polygon sort. 



Reading- In reading this week we read Aero and Officer Mike by Joan Plummer Russell. 
In this story we learned about the partnership between Corporal Mike Matsik and his K-9 partner, Aero. They have been partners for four years. This story gave us a chance to observe them on duty working as one. Aero can anticipate Mike's every move and watches or waits for Mike's commands. Aero's incredible senses of smell and hearing, his speed and strength, his pure canine instincts extend and expand Mike's abilities as a police officer. But when Aero is off duty, he can be as gentle and friendly as a family pet. We discussed the author's purpose of this story was to inform us of what it is like in the life of a K-9 police officer. 

On Wednesday, we had the chance to compare and contrast a police dog with a therapy dog. We had a visit from Jack, a 7 month old chocolate lab therapy dog, and his owner, Nicki White. Nicki explained the difference of a service dog and a therapy dog. The service dog assists one person to help them or their job, while a therapy dog assists multiple people just by making them happy and calm. The kids all loved having the chance to meet Jack. I took a quick picture when they were in Mrs. Clark's room. Sorry, I was too busy listening to her stories while she was in our room! :)


 *This will also the first week students will start to take their reading quiz completely independently. We shall see how this goes, but I want to get them use to it before Iowa Assessments. In February we will also add the skill of transferring our answers to an answer sheet for added Iowa Assessment practice. 



Writing- We brainstormed a list of things that could happen to a snowflake for our writing "If I were a snowflake, I would...." For a little added inspiration we watched a short video featuring Olaf from the Disney movie Frozen. 
We also finally had a chance to work on cursive. Hopefully, we will be finishing up our letters soon and will fill out our "cursive application" to get their "cursive license" and be free to use all the cursive they want in class. 

On top of that, we completed some winter activities to review some of the language arts work we have already completed this year.



Social Studies-  This week we continued using our Map Champ Atlas in Social Studies.

Lessons completed this week were: 

Monday:
 How do communities make the goods we use? After the lesson we talked about what a consumer is, how we are all consumers, and created a small lab book of different goods or services a consumer might buy or use. 
 
Tuesday:  What view does a map show? This included a discussion about viewing a building from the ground, from a birds-eye view, and from directly above. 

Wednesday: How are colors used as map symbols? For example, why is Flordia orange on the map, while Mississipi is pink?  How are colors used as map symbols?How are colors used as map symbols?”

Thursday:  How do maps show natural features? We discussed how a dessert, wetland, lake, river, ocean, and various other things might be represented on a map. 

Friday: How do maps show cultural features? This would include how a map show interstates and highways. 

We even had a chance to check out some fun social studies videos! 
Countries- "Tour the World"
 

States- "Tour of the States"
States- "The Nifty Fifty"


Upcoming dates:

Monday, January 20th- No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Professional Development

Wednesday, January 29th- Happy Birthday Caden and Timmy!  

Wednesday, February 5th- 1:15 Dismissal
Thursday, February 13th- Valentine's Party
Friday, February 14th- No School
Saturday, February 15th- Happy Birthday Eden! 
Saturday, February 22nd- Happy Birthday Morgan! 

Tuesday, March 4th- I will be gone to Grant Wood AEA all day for a PBIS meeting
Tuesday, March 11th- 1:15 Dismissal, Conferences 1:30-5:30
Thursday, March 13th- Conferences 3:45-7:30
Friday, March 14th-Friday, March 21st- No School- Spring Break
Monday, March 24th- Happy birthday Allie! 

Calendar Changes: 
Monday, April 21st- Snow day make-up day, Students will need to be in attendance
Friday, May 30th- Full day of school, no early out
Monday, June 2nd- Last day of school, 1:15 Dismissal

Have a great weekend! 
 Mrs. Jodie Yuska