Skills and Strategies

Classroom Updates


Math

      The Unit 1 Everyday Math program introduces and assesses many skills.

We have been working on telling time to the nearest minute. I encourage you to have your child practice this skill at home, if you have access to an analog clock.

Tomorrow we will begin learning about elapsed time.  This is the amount of time that has passed from the beginning of an event to its end.  For example, piano class began at 4:30 and ended at 5:15.  How long was piano class?


We also have been rounding numbers to the nearest ten and the nearest 100.

   The standard states that your child should be able to complete thirty addition facts in one minute.  Be sure to check your child's mad minute paper to see how your child is performing in this area.   Some strategies to help build math fact fluency are math games such as addition top it, flash cards, and mathletics. 

Reading

  We have been reading many books and discussing many comprehension strategies. This poster list some of the comprehension strategies we have discussed in the short time we have been back at school.

   

     I have sent home a copy of many reading skills that will be addressed here at Metcalf.  I have asked the children to keep this paper in their homework folder.  They may color the box when they have recognized the skill during their nightly reading.

     This week your child's reading homework will be to use a post it to mark a spot in their book that they would like to discuss.   I suggest trying to find a section that represents a comprehension skill he/she would like to mention.  I can't wait to hear about their books!

WELCOME TO THIRD GRADE!

Welcome to third grade with Mrs. Lavoie!

We have had a great beginning of the year.  We have been busy reading books, getting to know each other, learning routines, and working on beginning of year baseline assessments.

The children have learned academic routines such as :

* How to partner read
* "Book Talk
*Writer's Workshop routines
* Recording Assignments in their agenda
* Math Minutes
*Graphing results of Math Minute
* How to Write a 7-up Sentence

Informational Writing

Informational Writing

We have been exploring informational books to discover the components of informational writing.  Today the kids had a great time sharing their informational  library books with their classroom community.

The students have helped create a chart of all the things they have noticed about informational text.

Next week the students will select an animal to research in preparation for our
informational writing piece.

The students in room 206 have begun short presentations.  I have been so impressed!! We have focussed on presenting our information NOT reading our paper. The students are speaking in loud, clear speaking voices. They are practicing making eye contact with their audience and keeping their nervous fingers still.  Others skill we have worked on are to introduce ourselves and speak slowly. Some students have even been able to show enthusiasm during their presentation.  Ask your child to present for you, you will be so impressed at his/her presentation skills.   Our presentations were based very short information text about birds' nests.  Our next presentations will be much longer and based on our informational writing that we are just beginning now.


Check out the pics of the students observing real birds' nests.

Have a great weekend!!

2017

The long awaited 2017 is finally here!!    Before we jump start into the new year I want to thank our classroom community for helping us to celebrate the holiday season together.  We appreciate all the food and drink donations that helped us celebrate our day together.  I also want to thank everybody for the thoughtful gifts and cards and the scrumptious cookies!  I'm truly blessed to be working with such kind caring children.



A special thanks to Sonja Lemoi, Sande Horan and Mrs Sargent for helping us create our holiday swags.  Fun was had by all!

Classroom Updates

Math

     The standard states that your child should be able to complete thirty addition facts in one minute.  Be sure to check your child's mad minute paper to see how your child is performing in this area.   Some strategies to help build math fact fluency are math games such as addition top it, flash cards, and mathletics.  We will be completing a mad minute each day this week to help build our fact fluency.  

     We have also been learning about elapsed time.  A fun extension for students to try at home would be to find out the elapsed time between the sunrise in the A.M.and the sunset in the P.M.  The amount of daylight has changed significantly in the two weeks since we have done this assignment in class.

    If you take on this challenge please send in your findings.

Writing Corner

     The students have begun typing their personal narratives into google classroom, but we still have some revisions and editing to do before we have a final draft.  Our lessons have focussed on writing about a small experience from our  life.  We looked at many samples of catchy leads and we wrote a few of our own.   Our writing should have a clear beginning, middle and an end.   Personal narratives should include the feelings of the character.  The students have been working on showing their feelings rather than telling their feelings.  Ex. I was so nervous. vs. My heart was racing and my hands were sweaty.

Classroom Updates

Academic Highlights

Math

We have been working on double digit addition and subtraction problems where regrouping is necessary.  Please encourage your child to show their work!

This past few weeks we have also been practicing telling time, rounding to the nearest tens and hundreds, and creating a graph to show our data.

Science

This week we have experimented with volume and mass. Watch this interactive tutorial about mass to help support this week's lesson.




Watch this interactive tutorial, about volume to support in class investigations.

Reading 

Sequencing has been the comprehension skill for two weeks!   The students can tell you all about the sequence of events in the reading story What About Me or they can tell you their sequence/ procedure for finding out how much water a dry sponge will absorb.

Welcome to Third Grade!

     Welcome to third grade with Mrs. Lavoie!

We have had a great beginning to the school year.  We have read many wonderful books to help us learn routines, establish classroom rules, and get to know each other.

    I'm working to promote positive behavior along with a kind and respectful classroom environment.

Check out some of the options the students may choose for their reward.

 

I'm looking forward to having a successful, productive, and enjoyable, year with you and your child.