Third Grade Update

Many students did not have their binders today.  Please help your child to remember their binder, each and every Wednesday.  I just do not have room to store the binders for every student.

Wow, the first few weeks of class is always so busy.  We covered a lot of ground today.  We began with our Creative Problem Solving thinking activities.  Each students had to think of words that begin with the letter B.  Also, they listed things that are hard.  If you look in the binders these lists should be behind the first tab.

Next, we learned a new number activity.  This is called Think and Touch because many of the activities that I'll be teaching will require something the children touch while they are thinking about their answer. The children were given a grid in which they had to fit specified numbers in order to get a certain answer.  Again, you can see the examples in the first tab of the binder.  Each week I'll be teaching a new Think and Touch problem type until they've all been taught.  After that, I'll be giving one of each problem for them to complete each week when they come into the classroom.

The third activity of the day was PETS (Primary Education Thinking Skills).  We are learning about criterion based decision making.  Last week we heard a story about the Crystal Pond Woods School and how they wanted to make improvements. Today, the children came up with criterion by which they could decide on a restaurant to take Mom to for her birthday.  There is HOMEWORK this week that requires adult help.  The children seemed very excited to involve their parents in this process, I hope you find it useful as well.

Last, we began a soft entry into our first project, mystery writing.  The children will be reading mysteries in class for the next few weeks.  Then, we'll figure out all the components of a good mystery so we can finally write our own.

Soon we'll settle into a routine for GATE.  When the students come in they have what I call brainwork.  These are activities that require the students to use many different parts of their brain to solve.  We'll then do a PETS activity and finally our project work.

Don't forget, book orders are due this Friday, Sept. 23. On line orders need to be entered by midnight on Friday, paper orders should be here at school that morning.