Grade 3 Weekly Update Week of February 20, 2012

Unit of Inquiry Our current unit is Sunshine, On a Cloudy Day. The central idea is: Meteorologists study and try to predict the weather which affects people every day. It The unit includes inquiries into: why weather varies and changes, weather patterns and how they can be used, and how weather and seasons affect daily life. This week we are sharing weather data the students collected over break. 3C will visit the weather station in Potsdam March 2nd. 3A and 3B will go on March 16th. The weather station limits us to one parent per class. Permission slips will come home this week. Each class will have the students work on individual or small group research projects as they identify areas of interest. We will look at how several basics of weather are formed in class demonstrations, This week your child will look at the different states of water. The children will eventually be selecting a city of their choosing to track weather. This is an exciting activity that we will be doing in school. Also, due March 7th is an at home project where your child should build a weather measuring tool. We will look at some possible ideas in class this week. If you want a copy of directions, your child must let us know by February 29th. You can also find many different projects online. This is a time that parents may work with their child, but it should be child-led and must not be premade. On the 7th each child will share how they made their project, how it works and we will try it out. Vocabulary words you may want to discuss in your home language in the coming weeks include: water cycle, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, temperature, thermometer, barometer, air pressure, humidity, meteorologist, climate, weather You will find that the 3rd graders are very busy in language arts. Classes are doing activities revolving around writing using fluency, word choice, and voice. We will be adding to our poetry anthologies, especially with weather poems relating to our unit of inquiry. All classes are starting new literature circle books. Each child will have their own reading calendar to keep up with their group. Please consult their homework diary for details. We are continuing fraction work using fraction strips to compare, make equivalent fractions, looking at fraction of a shape, etc. We are continually reviewing number work as needed.
Math Other

Language Arts

Please return ocarinas if borrowed.

Andi Jamet andi.jamet@bbis.de

David Sexsmith david.sexsmith@bbis.de

Erika Victor erika.victor@bbis.de

Grade 3 Weekly Update Week of February 20, 2012

Looking Ahead

Up-coming events: Feb. 25th PTA Seeberg Walk 1-4. Please come! st Mar. 1 Trip week presentation
3:15-3:45 G. 1 in classroom Gr. 2 in MPR 3:45-4:15 Gr. 3 in classroom Gr. 4 In MPR 4:15-5:00 Gr. 5 in MPR trip presentation + exhibition overview

House shoes would be great to keep at school, as our classrooms are getting quite muddy with the mud all over the rooms.
Reminders

Andi Jamet andi.jamet@bbis.de

David Sexsmith david.sexsmith@bbis.de

Erika Victor erika.victor@bbis.de