Rereading Our Writing

Third Graders were delighted to add another tool to their scholarly tool belts during our grammar lessons this week. We examined the process and benefits of stopping to reread during writing to check for meaning. Rereading as we write allows us to keep up our momentum and focus on meaning. Writers know to reread frequently as they write and to stop and ask themselves, “Does this make sense?”. We also discussed that sometimes we reread our writing to proofread and edit as we prepare our writing for an audience.

Math

This week, students have been busy working on a project that we will continue throughout the year. We have begun tracking the sunrise and sunset in Charleston. Students are given the sunrise and sunset times for the day and work with a partner to find the elapsed time. Students calculate the amount of sunlight and record them on a class data pad. We have begun to graph the data and are making predictions for winter and spring 2016. Stay tuned as we begin to record weather and temperature changes in the Charleston area!

Learning Centers

Third Graders were thrilled to launch Learning Centers this week! Student groups delighted in cycling through different independent activities over the course of the week, all related to our areas of study. This student-directed time allows children to reinforce their learning and to have lots of fun in the process. This week, Third Graders got to make recycled paper with seeds in it! This recycled paper can be planted to grow a lovely wild flower garden. In our Reading Learning Center students analyzed characters form our novel study, identified a character trait and provided evidence from the text to support their claims. They then created their favorite scene of that character using construction paper cutouts. Finally, to enhance all spellers, the Spelling Learning Center has a BINGO board of engaging Spelling Activities. Students work to get four in a row on the board as they select activities that interest them.