Things are really heating up in Temescal Creek, and we’re not just talking about the temperature. The learning and fun are also on the rise!
Temescal Mathematicans are adding and subtracting two digits and more (with and without regrouping), and will solidify this work next week. We also learned a new and elegant subtraction game called “Diffy!” in which students can challenge themselves by noticing patterns and trying out a variety of ever increasing numbers. Sparkle continues to be a class favorite, where we practice skip counting and noticing patterns as a foundation for our upcoming multiplication unit.
Our social emotional learning (SEL) was tied into math this week and we brainstormed how our inner coach and critic can bring us down or boost us up. And when we give voice to these thoughts they can also have an effect on others. For example, instead of saying, “This is so easy,” which may bring a classmate down who is struggling, we can say, “This is fun!” Or instead of thinking or saying, “This is impossible,” we can say, “I can do this even if it’s hard.” We loved hearing students inner coaches that tell them their work doesn’t have to be perfect and to try, try again. Keep listening to your inner coaches, third graders!
Instead of saying . . . try . . . inner and outer coaching in Math.
In reading workshop we practiced making and sharing different types of connections in our “just right” books. Ask your reader to make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections during your next reading together time. We also wrapped up our read aloud, the Wainscott Weasel, in which we practiced many reading skills together including predicting, inferring, wondering, summarizing, and visualizing. Ask your child what read aloud we just started. Hint: it’s a classic with a hook.
In writing workshop we launched into the week with Rocket Write as usual, then refined and added to our mind maps inspired by our summer adventures in nature. We also wrote opinion paragraphs that tied into science orgaized with a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence. Copies of these first drafts will be going home and we will be revising and editing these paragraphs next week. In small groups we worked on sorting and spelling word patterns and vocabulary. Third graders are thrilled to be mastering the foundational curves and slants for cursive handwriting. Please remind your child to use correct grip and to always start at the top when forming letters.
Thank you to our friends at Ruby’s Garden, a shop in Temescal, for donating a new picture book to our classroom. This punny twist on the classic made us laugh and helped us to apply new reading skills and learn new writing ones. Thank you, Ruby’s Garden!
Before saying goodbye to our celery and carnation experiment, we documented many observations and surprising discoveries. We continued our exploration of bubbles in the art studio by recording our recipes and findings, as well as trying out different paints to make art with bubbles. During super science on Friday we followed up on our hypotheses about what the inside of a pinecone looks like. Be on the look out for pinecones in your neighborhoods and bring in a few examples to share.
We hope you are all receiving and reading Newsnotes from the school with upcoming dates and important info like days off from school and the fall festival. You will also see Temescalians being featured in the latest issue! Also check out the school calendar linked to our blog!
More photos from our week . . .
