"What's Being Taught"

First Nine Weeks

The "What's Being Taught" resource is available to help support parents in reinforcing the curriculum. Parents have asked, on many levels, how to support students from home as we navigate through the Standards Based Report card. We do not rely on the textbook to teach the standard, but allow the standard to drive our instruction. Students are provided with rich, hands on, real-world applications that encourage investigation and critical thinking. In an effort to provide you with resources, I will make it a point to upload PowerPoints created by the third grade team, provide a list of books used in the classroom, and will provide web links where available. Please keep in mind, I am not able to upload copyrighted materials, so not all resources utilized in the classroom will be found on these pages.

Reading Workshop Schema (Prior Knowledge) Students are reading a variety of text to gain meaning. We are integrating our reading workshop strategies into both our Social Studies and Science curriculum. We no longer isolate our reading block to the study of workshop skills, but teach through integration so that students can apply the workshop skills to any text they encounter. We have recently spent a great deal of time discussing metacognition. Metacogntion is thinking about our thinking. As we read text, many thoughts enter our conscious thinking (questions we may have, connections we've made through our experiences and the world around us, we may make predictions about what will happen next, etc.). Students are learning to become aware of these thoughts and to really listen to what they are thinking. It is only then that they understand that when a break down in comprehension occurs there are ways to repair it. For more information on Metacognition, please visit the link provided. Students are expected to use their metacognitive skills daily and to be able to prove their thinking through dialogue with peers, dialogue with the teacher, as well as written documentation using graphic organizers (to include a weekly homework assignment). Students will be able to: Reads a variety of text Recognizes words with multiple meanings Identifies elements of fiction and nonfiction Identifies and proves the author's purpose Identifies explicit and inferred main ideas with supporting details Compare sand contrasts story elements Identfieis and infers cause and effect relationships Reads grade level text with a target rate of 90 words per minute with express Demonstrates comprehension of grade level text with 90 percent accuracy

Writing Workshop Personal Narrative Students are learning to produce a personal narrative by generating ideas in their Writer's Journal. Students will then select an idea to publish and will use the writing process as they move through each stage of writing. The elements of a Personal Narrative are listed below: A Real Personal Experience A believable expereince that contains a clear beginning, middle, and end Includes a strong opeing (lead) setnence that tells who, when, where, what, and sometimes why Includes details that show the reader what happened rather than tell the reader what happened Includes a closing sentence that makes the writing seem finished Sentence Organizer Students will integrate their grammar skills through writing. Students will be able to: Write legibly Produce writing that has a clear focus Organize writing in a logical order Write text of length appropriate for the audience and includes word choice and sentence variety Uses conventions of capitalization and punctuation Writes in complete sentences with correct subject/verb agreement Spells grade level words correctly

Grammar Skills As students learn to write a Personal Narrative they will need to hone some very specific grammar skills. During the first nine weeks, students will spend time constructing paragraphs that include a main idea, five details sentences, and a closing sentence. Students are learning to choose a topic and maintain their focus. Students will have a weekly writing prompt each week that is to be completed at home using the Writing Calendar. A copy of the calendar can be found in your child's B.E.E. Binder. In addition students are learning the following grammar skills: Main Idea and Supporting Details Sequence of Events Transition Words Adjectives and Adverbs (Word Choice) Types of Sentences (Imperative, Declarative, Interrogative, Exclamatory) Common Nouns Proper Nouns Action Verbs Contractions Simple Subject and Simple Predicate Common Rules of Spelling Rules for Capitalization and Punctuation

Math Workshop Students have been participating in Guided Math Stations. Our math block is very different from what most classrooms are doing, but the children have really embrased our math program. At the beginning of each unit I give the students a math pre-test which indicates areas of strength and weakness. Rather than teach whole group instruction, I use the pre-test to customize and prescribe a math program that will support student's individualized needs. Students meets with the teacher in a small group setting and work both independently and in groups in math stations. Students will not atttend every math station but will participate in the stations that support their needs (areas of weakness). Students are accountable for their station work and meet with the teacher to confer about their work. We are currently exploring: Place Value of 4 and 5 digit numbers Adding/Subtracting 3 digit numbers with and without regrouping Multiplies one digit number by one digit numbers Solves 40 multiplication facts in 3 minutes Divides two digit numbers by one digit numbers Rounds to the nearest tens, hundreds, and thousands Uses symbols to represent operations and unknowns Recognizes and extends number patterns Solves one step word problems and shows work Use model, pictures, manpulatives, and symbols to communicate mathematical thinking Uses models, pictrues, manipulatives, and symbols to communicate mathematical thinking

Social Studies Students are continuing their study of United States history by studying the origins of American democracy. This year we will take a look at famous Americans who have helped to ensure our rights. We will also take a look at how ancient Greek deomocracy has influenced American democracy. We are currently exploring: Political Roots of Our Democracy Identify the influence of Greek architecture (colmns on the Parthenon, U.S. Supreme Court Bulding) on the present Identify the influence of Greek law on the present Identify the influence of the Greece Olympic Games on the present Explain the ancient Athenians' idea that a community should choose it own leaders Compare and contrast Athens as a direct deomcracy with the United States as a reprsntiative democracy Discuss the lives of Americans who expanded people's rights and freedoms. Explain the social barriers, restrictions, and obstacles that Paul Revere faced and overcame Topographical Features Locate Greece on a world map Locate the Equator, Prime Meridian, and lines of latitude and longitude on a globe

Science Students are using sceince tools to observe, measure, and manpulatie scientific activities. All students will follow saftey rules and cooperate with fellow scientists (students). Students should be able to explain and identify the steps in the scientific process as well as devleop and prove a hypothesis. Students will keep records of their investigations and offer reasons for their findings. Students will also come to understand that investigations are meant to be repeated and that scientific investigations seldom produce exactly the same results.  We are currently exploring: Heat Energy Categorize ways to produce heat energy (burning, rubbing, and mixing one thing with another) Investigate how insulation affects heating and cooling Investigate the transfer of heat energy from the sun to various materials Use thermometers to measure changes in temperatures of water samples over time Magnets Investigate to find common objects that are attracted to magnets Investigate how magnets attract and repel each other