We finished Stone Fox!

This week during Reader's Workshop, we finished our first Reading Unit and the book Stone Fox.  Our discussions this week focused around asking questions while reading and determining the author's purpose in books.  As we read the ending, we tried to decide why the author might have ended the book the way he did (Ask your child about the ending...many were surprised.).  After finishing the book, the children were given a choice of book projects on which to work to show there learning from the book.  They could choose from the following options:  a new book cover, a map of the race course, a poster for the dogsled race, re-write the ending, or create a timeline of events in the story.  Many children chose to make maps of the race course.  They were very creative and incorporated details from the book!  We certainly enjoyed this book, but are looking forward to reading the ten Red Clover Books next month and working on comprehension strategies!

In writer's workshop, we are still working on our opinion writing pieces.  This week we talked about organization and creating paragraphs.  As the children read through their work (or continued writing), they were encouraged to check to make sure each paragraph was just about one reason.  Sometimes all their reasons to support an opinion can show up in one paragraph!  Organization and revising can be a tricky aspect of the writing process so we will be working on this for the next few writer's workshop lessons.  We continue to be impressed by these Esprit writers!

During theme, we are beginning to wrap up our Shelburne History unit.  The children have been working on creating timelines of important events in Shelburne.  Can your child tell you something that happened long ago in Shelburne?  Our hope is finish this unit with a walking field trip through Shelburne Village to look at some of the sites we have learned about in our reading.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend!  I imagine many of you will be enjoying some Halloween festivities.  Please note that although we are having a festive and special snack, costumes and candy are not allowed at school on Monday.  Thanks!

Hands on Nature

Miss Niles' class had Hands on Nature this week!  This month's focus was on seeds.  We learned about the structure of seeds and how they are dispersed throughout nature.  We also had the opportunity to investigate and taste seeds.  Each child was given a lima bean, that had been soaked in water, to take apart and explore the structure of the seed. We also noted that seeds can come in many different sizes and in different places as we taste-tested strawberries, kiwi, and pomegranate seeds.  We finished Hands on Nature by going outside and exploring our school yard for many kinds of seeds on the plants.  Thanks to our Hands on Nature volunteers for a great morning!

The BFG

The Esprit team is currently reading The BFG by Roald Dahl as part of the Global Read Aloud.  The Global Read Aloud is an opportunity for students all over the world to read the same book and connect in a variety of ways through the book we are all reading.  Team Esprit will be connecting with a third grade class in Illinois to share our ideas and understandings about The BFG and learn more about their community.
In Math, we are beginning a new unit that will help us develop a deep, conceptual understanding of multiplication.  We will be working with problems that help students think about equal groups and begin to use multiplicative reasoning.  Students will begin by examining various arrays that facilitate the use of repeated addition and skip-counting and move them toward multiplication strategeis.
During Reader's Workshop, we have continued to read Stone Fox and have been learning about different strategies we can use to tackle hard words.  We are talking about chunking words, thinking about the story, asking, "Does it look like a word I know?", "Does it sound like a word I know?", trying out different words, and searching for clues to figure out what words mean.  We will continue to work on a variety of strategies that support our reading comprehension.
In Writer's Workshop, we are now writing opinion pieces about "noteworthy" people.  We are writing to get others to pay attention to people, places, things or ideas that they might otherwise walk right past.  We are learning about ways to address our audience directly through our writing and practicing using those strategies in our writing.
Miss Deb's class enjoyed a Hands On Nature lesson this week about seeds.  We learned about different kinds of seeds and how their design helps them to travel in different ways so they can grow in a new place.  A big thank you to our Hands On Nature parents for this fantastic learning experience! Miss Niles' class will be learning about this in a couple weeks.

We look forward to meeting with everyone for parent/teacher conferences this week.  Please check your time on the Esprit google site to make sure you arrive for your scheduled conference time so we can have plenty of time for our conference with you.
Have a terrific weekend,
Deb and Jenn

Opinion Writing

This week during Writer's Workshop, we began a new genre of writing: persuasive speeches or opinion writing.  We began by discussing that persuasive speech ideas are often generated when we see changes that we might like to make in our home, school, community, and world.  As a class, we brainstormed changes we might like to make in school, such as longer brain break, earlier recess, healthier food in the cafeteria, and even a door in our classroom.  After choosing a change he or she would like to see in the world, your child began writing a speech which included an opinion (thesis statement) and reasons with details.  What did your child write about this week?

In Reader's Workshop, we continued reading Stone Fox.  We are certainly intrigued by this story!  This week we focused on the comprehension strategy of making predictions based on clues in the story. We then took our predictions to a higher-level by not only predicting what will happen next in Stone Fox, but also by explaining how we thought it would happen.  We accurately predicted that Little Willy will find a way to get the $500 to save his Grandfather's farm.  Ask your child how Little Willy is going to do this!

During math, we continue to discuss and work on a variety of strategies to add and subtract two-digit numbers.  This week we worked on those strategies by solving story problems. Through our discussions we found that third graders are using base ten piece sketches, number lines, and equations to help show their thinking.  We also learned a new game called Target 100.  Be sure to ask your child how to play and what strategies he or she used to add up numbers to 100 in this game!

Please note there is no school on Wednesday, October 12th in observance of Yom Kippur.  Picture Day is on Thursday, October 27th.  You will receive your child's portraits that day! Have a lovely fall weekend!

Global Read Aloud!

From October 3rd- November 11th, the Esprit third graders will be participating in the Global Read Aloud.  What is the Global Read Aloud, you might wonder?  Here is an excerpt from their web site:

The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to make a truly global connection with more than 1,000,000 students having participated. The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. While there are official tools you can use such as Skype, Twitter, WriteAbout or Edmodo, you choose the tools that will make the most sense for you. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year.

We will be participating in the Global Read Aloud by reading The BFG by Roald Dahl.  Each week we will read and discuss sections of the book. Our hope is to connect with another school in the country and share our thoughts about the book with them.  We have heard from one third grade class in Illinois about the possibility of connecting so we hope that works out!

Speaking of reading, the children have been thoroughly enjoying reading Stone Fox together during Reader's Workshop.  We have read four chapters so far and have used those to talk about how strong readers stop and take quick comprehension and checks by asking "what happened?" and "who was in this part?" and strong readers envision (make a movie in their minds) as they read to  better understand what is happening in the story.  Everyone is anxious to find out what will happen next in the story!  Ask your child to tell you about the characters in this book!

In writer's workshop, we have been working on conventions (grammar, usage, mechanics) in sentences and the structure of paragraphs. Through modeling and independent practice we have found that paragraphs contain a topic sentence, detail sentences that support the topic, and a closing sentence.  Be sure to ask your child about the paragraphs he or she wrote this week.  Next week, we will begin our first writing genre unit: persuasive or opinion writing.

During math, we continued to work on subtraction and addition strategies. We also did a bit of measuring this week and completed a scavenger hunt in the classroom, looking for objects that were a certain number of centimeters long.  Then the children solved some story addition problems related to those measurements.  What strategies does your child use when adding or subtracting double-digit numbers...jumping on a number line, drawing a picture, decomposing a number based on place value?  Ask them...you'll be amazed by their math thinking!

Lastly, we send home your child's first reading homework assignment for the month of October.  Your child should have  brought home a reading log to record minutes read this month.  The goal is to read 500 minutes in October.  Please return the reading log at the end of the month.  If your child meets the goal and returns his or her reading log, he or she will be invited to a Lunch Bunch with Ms. Deb and Miss Niles!  Happy Reading!