April 18

I sincerely hope all of you are outside soaking up the Vitamin D. What a glorious weekend. I managed to get in a lovely 8 1/2 mile run along Lake Washington on Saturday. Divine! Speaking of the sun, I encourage you to make sure your children put on sunscreen before coming to school. I encourage everyone to bring a water bottle as well. These hot days make us all a little extra thirsty. Also, please leave the flip flops at home. Students should be wearing shoes that can safely withstand the fierce running about that happens at recess.

And here's what we've been learning the last few weeks.

LITERACY- We're reading fantasy fiction and examining how writers use animal stereotypes to help their readers develop a clear sense of the character's traits. For example, the donkey is foolish, the cat is sly, and the dogs are loyal.
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/3/3/

We are continuing to draft our Young Authors Day stories. Students are working on using ARMS (Add, Remove, Move, and Substitute) to help them revise their stories. We are also using frequent rereading as a strategy to help us monitor whether our stories sound like natural speech when read aloud.
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/3/5/

MATH- This geometry unit continues to be heavy in vocabulary. Students are discovering how a single shape can meet the mathematical definition for multiple quadrilaterals. For example, a shape with four right angles and four sides of the same length is commonly called a square, but mathematically speaking, it is also a rectangle, a parallelogram, and a quadrilateral. We also learned how a rectangle's perimeter and area can be found using the length of the sides as a guide.

SOCIAL STUDIES-We have started a new unit on the economy. Students are learning how supply & demand influences the prices of goods and services.

Former student and most recent Principal for the Day visited our room and complimented
3rd graders for their hard work.