Reading The World Slueths and Bookworms Reading Groups continue their working on their Book Report. The draft’s of these reports need to be completed by Friday, 25 February. They will be given the weekend to complete their Poster or Power Point presentation. These reports will be presented in class on Monday 1 March.Writing This week children will prewrite their Opinion Essay. They will choose a topic and then brainstorm reasons to support their opinion. We will also be linking the Winter Olympics to our writing.Math Children continue to work on learning multiplication and division facts. They will also continue to learn what multiplication and division mean and the relationship between these two operations.
Weekly Update
It’s a short week, this one as Ash Wednesday is the 17 of February and Mid Term break is on the 18 and 19 February. I hope you all enjoy a well deserved break!AssessmentChildren will complete their STAR Reading and STAR Math Assessment. These assessment reports will be handed out to parents and then kept in the Child’s portfolio for future reference.HomeworkThe weekly homework will be checked next Friday. The World Sleuths and Bookworms Reading groups are to continue their Book Report work during the mid term break.
Reading Assignment
Book Report
1. Choose and read a novel.
2. While you read:
· Refer to the Stop and Think Card.
· Take notes at the end of each chapter. What was the main idea? What events took place? Which characters were involved?
· Create a character profile. Draw the character and write some descriptive words about that character.
· Also take time to read aloud parts of the book to your parents, teacher and friends.
3. When you have completed reading the novel:
· Write a paragraph summarizing the novel.
· Write a paragraph describing the character.
· Find out five facts about the author and write at least three questions you would like to ask the author.
· Give your book a star rating out of 5.
4. Finally, you can create a poster, diorama (model) or Power Point to present your report to the class. This report is due Wednesday, the 3 March.
Weekly Update
Reading– The Bookworms and Word Sleuths reading groups start work on their Book Reports. An outline of what will be expected in their Book Reports has been glued into their Reading Book. An online copy is also available on this site under the category Assignments and Projects. Book Reports will be due Friday 26 February.Writing– We start work on writing an Opinion Essay. This week we will be identifying fact and opinion in an Opinion Essay and discussing features used for this type of writing. A homework assignment linked to this Opinion Essay work has been given to the children and should be in their Agenda. This assignment is due Friday, 12 February. Please also check out this site www.eduplace.com/kids/hme for help with the assignment and other writing related projects.Math – We continue to work on improving accuracy and speed when recalling our multiplication basic facts. We start to look at division this week, relating this to equal groups and sharing.Science – A variety of Science lessons and experiments will start to take place in class to help children prepare for the upcoming SAT tests.
Weekly Update
Inquiry – Congratulations to all children on a job well done in presenting their Power Point presentations! The parents and other class mates enjoyed learning about different aspects of Cayman and seeing excellent computer skills in action. Math/Numeracy – we start our focus on Multiplication and Division. A focus will be made on quickly and accurately recalling basic times tables of 2, 5 and 10. Children will also start to develop strategies to solve more difficult times tables.Literacy – In Reading, we focus on determining fact from fiction. In writing, we work on improving our expressive writing and recounts when writing within a short time frame. Each writing period will start with a 10 minute speed writing session based on a topic given by the teacher.Homework – It seems that many of the children have forgotten the homework expectations for Grade 3. I have told the children that Show and Tell will now be banned until all children remember to complete their Homework. Can I ask that you and your child take time to review the homework page on this Blog to help your child remember these homework expectations. Thank you for your help in this area.
Weekly Update
Literacy – Children will be completing their Literacy Assessment this week. The booklets will be marked and then sent home so parents and children can go over the results together. Can I ask that parents sign the cover of the booklet and have it returned to me by Friday, 22 January.Math– We complete our Measurement unit this week. Revision work will take place in class and extra homework will be given in preperation for the Measurement test on Thursday, 21 January.Inquiry – Children should have completed their research about their chosen aspect of Cayman. They will start putting this information into a Power Point presentation. We aim to have all Power Points complete by Friday afternoon so that we can share them with the class and with any parents who wish to view them. An email invitation will be send home when the Power Points have been completed.
Inquiry Project
Inquiry Project
To help us understand and answer our big question (What does it mean to be Caymanian?), each student will be inquiring into a certain aspect of Cayman. The children have now chosen their topics and written questions to guide their Inquiry. In class, research time will be given on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. The rest of the research will need to be completed at home as part of their weekly homework. Once all research has been completed, children will present their information as a Power Point presentation. This will be worked on during the week 18 – 22 January. The children will then share their Power Point presentations either at the end of that week or the beginning of the next, 25 or 26 January. Parents will be informed about the time and date we intend to share our work so that they can come and view the Power Point presentations.
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Rubric for Inquiry Project |
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D |
C |
B |
A |
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Questions |
Teacher directs the focus of the Inquiry questions. |
Some teacher assistance needed to write the focus for the Inquiry questions. |
Little to no teacher assistance needed to write the focus for the Inquiry questions. |
Independently writes thoughtful and engaging questions. |
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Research · Utilizes effective reading techniques e.g. skimming and scanning, finding the main idea, supporting details and the sequence of events. · Can use a variety of sources for information e.g. internet, books, personal expert. · Records where they found that information (source). · Records information neatly and in their own words i.e. does not copy sentences/paragraphs from their source. · Answers their questions which were written to guide their Inquiry. |
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Expectations for Grading |
Meets only one or two of the research criteria. |
Meets three of the research criteria. May meet more of the criteria but only with a lot of teacher/adult input. |
Meets four of the research criteria |
Meets all five of the research criteria. |
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Presentation · Is able to use the features of Power Point e.g. create new slides, add pictures, animations and backgrounds. · Slides are appropriately sequenced with helpful headings. · Only main points are listed on the Power Point and the speaker adds more details about their research as they present. · Shows a thorough understanding of their topic by effectively answering questions from others at the end of their presentation. |
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Expectations for Grading |
Meets only one or two of presentation criteria. |
Meets two or three of the presentation criteria. |
Meets three to four of the presentation criteria. |
Meets all the presentation criteria. Shows a confidence about their topic as an ‘expert’ in this area. |
Weekly Update
I trust you all had a great Christmas holiday and are enjoying the start of the 2010 year!This week:
- Writing. Children will be writing a story based on the Folk Tale The Six Blind Men.
- Reading. We read and then design a picture book for The Elephant’s Child by Rudyard Kipling. Other folktales will also be read and analysed during our scheduled Reading time.
- Math. We continue our focus on Measurement with a particular focus on Area, Volume and Capacity. Children will take a mid chapter review test on Friday. This review will also cover previously looked at areas in Measurement such as length and perimeter.
Next Week
- Assessment (Literacy). Children will complete the Harcourt School Publishers Storytown Grade 3 Benchmark Assessment for Mid Year. These tests will be spread across the different literacy times during the week. When all tests are completed, it will be marked by the teacher and then sent home with the child for discussion with parents. The test booklet will then be signed and returned to class where it will be kept in the Child’s Portfolio. These test results will be discussed in the next Parent/Teacher meeting or we can arrange an earlier time should this be desired by either parent or teacher. Let me know if you have any questions about this assessment.
Developing Drama Skills
Weekly Update
Inquiry (Homework assignment) – Each child has been given a specific continent to learn more about. The assignment requires children to use an atlas, plot points using co-ordinates and find out facts about that continent. Each child has been given a booklet to complete. This is due Friday, 11 December.Math – We extend our understanding of length to now explore how a perimeter of an object can be measured.Literacy – We begin to read and analyse a variety of Christmas themed stories. We also finish writing our Folk Tale story based on The Three Wishes.Important Dates to remember:
- Tag Rugby Festival on Wednesday, December 9.
- Class Christmas Party Thursday, December 10 from 1:30 – 2:30pm. We would appreciate it if each child brought one of their favorite Christmas foods to share. An invitation is also extend to all parents of children in Grade 3.