Week Five Highlights

In third grade we have become better at exploring the Bible on our own. Last week we started "Quiet Time with God." I showed your third grader my Bible and how it is all marked up with notes and handwriting in the margins from devotionals or sermons I have heard over the years. Then we practiced looking up words or phrases using the concordance. We also talked about the ways in which we can pray. A highlight was enjoying quiet time one of the days out doors. Check out the pictures below. We will incorporate "Quiet time with God" often and your child's reflections will be in their Faith Journals. I look forward to sharing them with you in late November when we meet for conferences. 

Week Four Highlights

Third grade really is a time of growing up. This week we discussed tests and grades. I'm hoping that the message that was heard is that I am not one to focus so much on the grade, but more on the effort and learning that occurs to earn the grade. There are always retakes available if your child is not satisfied with their performance on a test. This is a learning experience for everyone. That includes you too as you guide and get to know your young learner as they transition to more conceptual learning this year. Your child will receive a grade in Bible, Spelling, Math, Reading, and Social Studies. 

Bible: 50% is Bible Memory 50% is Tests 

Spelling: 100% Tests (9 each marking period)

Reading: 25% Fluency 25% Accuracy 50% Comprehension

Math: 10% Homework 40% Remembering Pages 50% Tests

Social Studies: 100% Tests

Highlight this week was our practice test using cookies! The kids had so much fun following directions and learning about the geography of this great state. A special thank you to the moms for helping me gather and put together materials! 

Another big thing happening is our learning chains. Third graders have been setting academic goals and as they reach them, they fill out a learning chain. These chains are on display by their lockers. I love seeing their excitement when they accomplish their goals! 

Preschool Buddies! Third graders pair up with a preschool room and become "big buddies" to these "little buddies." We help them practice colors and listened to their favorites. Then we wrote down their thoughts and ideas on paper for them. 

Week Three Highlights

We are called in 1 Peter 2:5 to be living stones for God - pointing to Our Savior by the way we live.

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood... 

By showing compassion to the downtrodden, caring for those in need, offering love without borders, and in the practice of preparing a table, we live as standing stones. And, when people ask for the reason behind our motivation, we respond with our story, and, God becomes a bit better known in this world.

We wrote our names on stones and piled them in our classroom serving as reminders to of the many things the Lord has done, and WILL do, this year!! We plan to tell the stories!

During READING WORKSHOP we are focusing on building good habits.  We are learning the procedures for participating in our new learning community. My role during the next couple of weeks is to rally the class, inspire them, and help them feel safe, secure, and confident as they become the strong readers I know they are capable of.


 In WRITING WORKSHOP is off to a fantastic beginning! I already can tell that I have a room full of authors!  We are in the midst of learning routine as well as recalling everything we know about being authors.  We are beginning the year by writing personal narratives.  

Your child is engaged in daily WORD STUDY.  This time of our day focuses on sentence structure in the English language.  We'll be learning "how sentences work" and applying these skills into our daily work of reading and writing.

In MATH WORKSHOP we continue to follow routines and learn about multiplication. This week we will begin  to explore division too. I am introducing strategies for 2s, 10s, and 9s before the end of the week. 

Week Two Highlights

Week Two was another week to build routines, and solidify procedures. It is going very well. Another big part of this week was learning what it meant to have a GROWTH MINDSET. Since third grade is a year where children start to grow up more in their academic life, I have been spending some time with these third graders on developing the understanding that they are in control of their learning path. To do that they learned the difference between growth and fixed mindsets, identified things they couldn't do quite yet, practiced using the language of someone who wants to persevere, and set SMART goals for themselves. Take a look a the activities below.

These kids are trying to save Fred the gummy worm who lost his gummy lifesaver under his boat(the cup). They could only use paperclips rather than hands to help him.

During this activity I wrote down some of their quotes. Some had more of a fixed rather than growth mindset. 

After this activity we took a survey to find out what type of mindset we thought we hand. I was surprised at how many kids had more of a fixed mindset than growth. We discussed how third grade is going to be a year where we grow a lot and that our mindsets will determine how much growth we can do. 

You can take the survey too to see where your land!

These are brains that show growth and fixed mindset quotes

We set SMART goals too! These goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely

Some created a goal to get 3 green lights this week in reflex math, others created a goal to memorize the Bible verse, another one that came up was to read 10 pages a night.

I noticed that many students picked goals they are already good at :) I'm hoping to push some of them out of their comfort zones a bit and choose goals in an area of weakness as we continue this routine.

This is where we store our goals when we achieve them. I will share this with you at conferences in November!