Happy Vacation!

All of our special February events have ended...so this week we were back to work finishing projects,  reading for the Reading Olympics and publishing our speeches!  When we return from vacation in March we will be starting a geometry unit in math, a character study using the text Because of Winn Dixie, a narrative fairy tale writing unit, and a weather unit of study. We will be busy!  A reminder that school will be back in session on March 5th.  We wish you all a great week and are excited to enter into the last few months of third grade!

This week in math, the children were introduced to the concept of area and that it is an attribute of plane figures (such as squares and rectangles) and is measured in square units. We used paper rectangles and plastic square tiles to estimate and measure the area of surfaces around the classroom.  Through our work with area during the week, we found that the most efficient way to calculate the area is by multiplying its side lengths!

As the Winter Olympics come to a close, so did our Reading Olympics!  The children worked hard over these two weeks to read books of different genres, lengths, and with characters that are different than them.  What books did your child read?  What medals did he or she earn? Way to go, readers!

We also finally finished our persuasive speeches, created slideshows to accompany our writing, and recorded our speeches!  That was a lot of hard work by Esprit third graders!  All the children then learned how to share their Google Slides...hopefully, they were able to successfully share their speeches with you!

Our cursive study ended earlier this month, so we have been working on punctuation, spelling, and grammar with our Fix-It books.  Each day we try to "fix up" a few sentences, noticing the grammatical errors.  It is amazing how quickly these third graders are able to find the errors!  Ask your child to tell you about Fix-it! After vacation, we will continue to work on grammar and punctuation, but we will also start back with word study/spelling.

Lastly, if you have not signed up for a parent conference yet, please visit this link! Conference Sign Up
Thanks!

Another busy week!

Our week started with a visit from the puppets of Puppets in Education.  Through the puppet show we learned about celebrating differences, both cultural and learning.  The puppets taught us what the word culture means and encouraged us to share about traditions and celebrations that connect to our families' cultures. We also learned about learning differences and that we all learn in different ways!  Be sure to ask your child about the puppet show!

Besides celebrating friendship on Valentine's Day, we also had a Mix-it-Up afternoon!  Miss Niles' class visited Ms. Bennett's middle schoolers to play board games and card games and Miss Deb's class met up with Mr. Brunvand's class to play board games as well!  It was fun to watch Jenga, chess, charades, and various card games all going on at one time. 

In writer's workshop, we are continuing to finish our opinion speeches and turning them into slideshow presentations on Google Slides.  This week Miss Niles' class learned how to use Screencastify to record their speeches to go along with the slide show   We will be sharing these with you at home soon!

During Reader's Workshop, we have been participating in the Reading Olympics!  For each sport in the Winter Olympics, the children have a corresponding reading challenge.  For example, to earn credit for the biathlon, the children have to read two books by the same author. If a child competes in and completes two events, he or she earns the bronze medal.  If a child completes four events, he or she earns a silver medal and if a child completes seven events, he or she earns a gold medal!  We have a lot of Olympic Readers on Team Esprit!  How is your child doing in the Olympic Reading Challenge?

In math, we learned two games that involved division: Line 'Em Up and Division Capture.  In one game, Line 'Em Up, we used the array model to demonstrate division.  Division Capture provided the children with practice with their division facts.  Ask your child to tell you about these two games!  We also focused some of our time on finding the area of surfaces.  We measured the area of surfaces in the room using non-standard units and made comparisons to our estimates of the area of these objects.

Have a great weekend!

A fun and festive week!

Happy 100th Day!  Can you believe it?  It's amazing all that our Esprit third graders have learned in one hundred days.  We had a little celebration on Friday with a visit from Zero the Hero.  Zero the Hero read us a story to celebrate the number zero that plays a big role in making the number 100.  The children had a variety of one hundred day activities to work on and Miss Niles' class had a special 100th day trail mix. It was a fun day!

We also enjoyed our trip to the Flynn Theater to see Pilobolus.  See if your child can tell you about the show of shadows and light.  Can he or she explain how the people made the shape of a car or flowers with just their bodies?

During Hands on Nature, we learned about birds!  We learned about how birds' feathers, wings, and beaks are specially adapted to help them survive in their environment.  We even had the chance to observe different bird feathers up close!

In math, we spent much of the week working on multiplication and division.  We solved many game store problems and then the children had the chance to make their own story problems for their peers to solve.  What was your child's story problem about?  Was it a multiplication problem or a division problem?

Lastly, thank you to the many families who purchased gift certificates or books for our classrooms.  We are very appreciative of your generosity!  Have a lovely weekend!

Red Clover Favorites!

This week marked the end of our Red Clover Book study!  All month long we have been reading and re-reading the ten nominees for the Red Clover Book Award.  After reading each book, the children participated in an activity regarding comprehension strategies or an activity to just celebrate the story and its illustrations.  We voted on Friday. Penguin Problems was the favorite in Ms. Deb's class and They All Saw a Cat was the favorite in Miss Niles' class!  Which book got your child's vote?  We will anxiously be waiting to hear which book is the official winner in April.

In math we began a new unit: Multiplication, Division, and Area.  In this unit we will be revisiting multiplication, but this time exploring its connection to division.  This week the children used arrays to model and solve division and multiplication problems.  Can your child explain what an array is to you?  The children also solved story problems related to multiplication and division and will create their own problems for their peers to solve.

As we finish our persuasive speeches in Writer's Workshop, the children will be learning how to present their speeches using Google Slides.  Jeff Badillo, our technology integrationist, will be visiting both classes to demonstrate how to create Google Slides with important points and visuals for their speeches and then teach the children how to record their voices to present the speech along with the slides.  We are very excited to see..and hear the final products!

Lastly, we are finishing up our cursive letter writing practice this week!  The children have done a great job forming and practicing writing in cursive.  We will continue to encourage the use of cursive handwriting for classroom work throughout the rest of the year. Ask your child to write his or her name in cursive for you! Once our cursive lessons are completed, we will turn our attention to working on grammar and punctuation in our writing.  Stay tuned for more information!

Have a great weekend!

Upcoming Events in February!

Please add these dates to your calendar!

On Wednesday, February 14th, we will be having a Valentine’s Day celebration.  If your child is choosing to bring in valentines, please have your child bring his or her valentines in on February 13th or February 14th to distribute them.  Also, if your child is bringing in valentines, please make sure there is a valentine for each child in the class.  A class list has been sent home.

Scholastic Book Fair:

On Monday, February 5th, our class will be going to the library to preview the books that will be on sale during the book fair.  This is the day for the children just to look and make a list of the books they like.  Then on Tuesday, February 6th, we will be going back to the book fair to make any purchases.  So if your child is interested in purchasing books, February 6th is our class’ only day to do so in school; however, you and your child can always visit the book fair to purchase books instead.

Flynn Theatre Field Trip

On Friday, February 9th, we will be going to the Flynn Theatre to see a show called Pilobolus Shadowland. It is story told through dance and shadow play with a large screen.  We will leave school at 8:45am and will be back to school by 11:15am.

Puppets in Education

On February 12th, we will have a presentation from Puppets in Education.  Using 3 ½ foot tall puppets, children are taught about important issues such as health, cultural and physical differences, or bullying.