Happy Spring!  Yesterday was certainly a taste of warm weather AND we finally got to on our snowshoe jaunt.  There was still quite a bit of snow in the woods so we enjoyed our walk down the nature trail with one classmate we wanted to get to know better and our walk back up the nature trail with another friend.  We talked with Mr. Caron on either end to share what we had learned.  It was a fun way to develop and strengthen friendships – as long as we stayed with our partner followed the direction so no one felt left out.  Unfortunately the latter happened a little – too bad!  We’ll keep working on that in order to learn what it means to be a caring and considerate friend in 3E.

Secrets According to Humphrey

            We finished our chapter read aloud Tuesday.  It hit home when we talked about secrets and secret clubs and how it feels to be excluded.  Unfortunately, it seems as if everyone knows what that is like.  We talked about the difference between good and bad secrets.  We know that the good kind is the kind that everyone will find out in the end.  It is something that anyone can know at the right time, but a bad secret is intended to be kept away from others.  Humphrey did a great job letting us know that we should tell a bad secret to an adult and get some help.

At the end of each chapter, Humphrey wrote a “secret scribble” as he tried to figure out how to help his friends in Room 26 deal with their issues surrounding secrets.  At the end of the read aloud we created our own Humphrey’s along with a “scribble” to remind us of how to be a more caring friend. If you look on the blog you can see the Humphreys we made and by clicking on the images you’ll be able to read our messages about secrets and friendships too.

Secrets According to Humphrey is the tenth book in the series.  If you’re looking for a family read aloud any of the others would be great to share.  Humphrey is a classroom pet who notices all the things around him and tries-tries-tries to help the friends in his classroom find solutions to any problems they have.  Humphrey is unsqueakably observant and smart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning About Our Country

This week we began our exploration of the United States.  This is in preparation for our big parade event in May.  We are structuring this project a bit differently this year.  We plan to spend more time learning about the country as a whole and about the individual states before we send the “float” information home.  Our intention in doing this, for those who’ve had someone involved with this project before, is to help the children better define the elements of their project prior to the home building portion.

For those families who have not yet been involved with this exciting project, for the last few years 3rd Grade has held a Parade of the States in May.  Each student researches a state to discover, much as Eben did in Sassafras Springs (a mid-year read aloud), seven Wonders found there.  Once the wonders are identified the children make symbols of them to put on a float that becomes part of a parade.  The parade is an evening event combined with a recorder concert and a presentation of maps and writing about the states.  This year they will also have the opportunity to create some of their wonders in school.  We are collaborating with Mrs. Haight so the students will be able to create some of the symbols for their wonders in Art and in the classroom.

This is an integrated project that allows us to explore and further develop many of the science, social studies, math, reading and writing standards for third grade.  It is also a wonderful way to bring all the children in the grade together for a grand celebration of hard work, learning and accomplishment.  If you’re on the blog, look on the posts from last May to see some examples of last year’s celebration.  We will let you know in the next week what the date for this year’s parade will be.  We know this is a challenging time with so many spring sport commitments  – it is sure to conflict with something.  Our hope is that if we plan early enough families will be able to make plans and work things out.  Thank you for that!

Bits and Pieces –

• We have begun learning about fractions and division in math.  Thank you for your continuing work to help your child learn the facts.  Multiplication War, Salute and Tiguous are great games for that, along with several on the eboard.  Fourth grade is counting on the children being proficient with addition and multiplication.
• Report cards are being sent to you today via your email address.  If you do not receive it, please let us know.  We may need to update your email address and of course, we can send you a printed copy.  There is a handout defining term expectations so you have a sense of what habits and behaviors at this point of the year will lead your child to meeting the end of the year standard.
• Report cards come with narrative comments this time.  If you have any questions and would like to schedule a conference, please do!
• A new student is joining 3E.  Her name is Viviane (pronounced Vivi-ann).  We are excited to have her join our class.