The Week in Review

Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan

READING: We began reading a biography about Helen Keller, whom you may remember was rendered blind and deaf after a life-threatening illness in infancy. We looked at what circumstances made Helen Keller a noteworthy figure in history. We discussed what life events the writer chose to include the biography. Interest in the life of Ms. Keller was high and prompted us to do additional research on this champion of children with disabilities. Of particular interest was the video we discovered of Ms. Keller and her lifelong teacher, Annie Sullivan, demonstrating how Helen learned to speak. I include a link to that video here in case you're interested. The students appeared quite moved Helen's efforts at speech.

WRITING: Students are finishing the final drafts of their personal narratives and are beginning to type them. They are working on adding picturesque descriptions to the settings as well as to characters. They are focusing their efforts on conveying a sense of emotion through the writing in order to connect with the reader on a personal level. This requires a different kind of voice than the one employed for our character analysis last trimester.

On a related note, we will be starting our Young Authors Day stories by the end of next week. Be watching for more details to come.

MATH: Students are learning to multiply and divide with fractions within the context of comparison story problems. In other words, they are working on making comparative statements of differing amounts in terms of multiplication and division. This tends to be a difficult concept for most students every year. Again, knowing those times tables up to twelve times. Also, a big thank you to all you parents who have been encouraging your children to practice their times tables at homes. This week saw a huge improvement in our timed tests.

SCIENCE:  Students took their unit test on the human body. Students answered questions related to the skeletal system, joints, and muscles. They compared and contrasted the size and shape of human bones to related animal bones. They described how muscles work in pairs, the one contracting while the other extends, to move bones. This test was fill ed with a lot of tough vocabulary, but the class as a whole did exceptionally well. Way to use those opposable thumbs to write answers to those tough questions, kids!

SOCIAL STUDIES: We continued are discussions and discoveries into the topic of immigration. Specifically, we focused on the rich cultural influences that have become a part of the American life.

OTHER: Eastgate Eagles earned a bonus recess this week for having hit our blue ticket goals. Staff members award students blue tickets throughout the day when individuals are "caught" being safe, respectful, responsible, and kind. Blue tickets are collected in the classroom and sent down to the office on Friday. The third grade team took advantage of the promised sun today and scheduled our bonus recess for right after lunch. I joined a group of students in running laps around the sand field. We employed the Gallaway method of running. That is to say, we ran two minutes and walked one. Can a class marathon be far behind?