The first few days in Temesal Creek were all about getting to know each other, the classroom and school, as well our third grade routines and expectations. We approach this big work in fun and engaging ways . . .
After our first morning meeting and greeting, we set off in groups for a Campus Hunt, which led us to the front desk to meet the new smiling face there, in search of fruit growing on campus, noticing exciting changes in The Depot, and interacting with other community members we met along the way. What does it say in the middle of The Labrynth? (“Follow the Child”) What does that mean to you? (One students said, “That children matter!”) We came back to Temescal with flower cuttings that we arranged in vases for our tables. After that, we played Getting-To-Know-You Bingo and A Warm Wind Blows.
During Writing Workshop we each wrote and illustrated our Hopes and Dreams for the year. Our hopes being goals we can take steps toward achieving, and dreams where we let our imaginations run a little wild. We also set up our Nature Gallery of items and photos from our summer, and began writing using wh-questions as prompts: who, what, where, when, why, how.
In Reading Workshop we started The Wainscott Weasel during interactive read aloud, toured our classroom library, set up our book boxes with “just right books.” This week we will start one-on-one reading assessments. We also read Jubal’s Wish and talked about how wishes and dreams sometimes come true in surprising ways that surpass our expectations.
For math we learned some favorite third grade games like Sparkle and Squeeze the Line. This week we are beginning our unit on numbers sense and sharing our different strategies for breaking apart and adding numbers. You can support these efforts at home by helping your child practice their addition facts to increase fluency. Especially focus on the Friends to 10 (7+3, 6+4 . . . ) and Doubles Facts (8+8, 2+2 . . . ).
“Real” homework begins in the new year. In the meantime, we encourage Temescalians to read nightly and look for real-world applications of what they are learning in third grade. For example, we are learning about directions, compasses, and map making. You can support your child in researching more about cartography at home and bringing in findings to share with the rest of the class.
This Friday we are headed to Lake Anza with grades 1-5 to spend the day hiking and enjoying each other and hopefully some sunshine at the beach. We are taking a bus and parents are welcome to drive themselves and join us. Watch your email for more details . . .
Onward into week 2!
