Third Grade Mrs. Roller
Welcome to Third Grade!
What’s Happening in Science
Fall is approaching and with it comes the great Monarch Butterfly migration! Third graders recently raised and released a health batch of these amazing insects. It was thrilling to see them soar almost straight up into the gusty sky, beating their powerful wings to a rhythm that has driven generations of monarchs south to their winter home in the mountains of Mexico.
Before their release, we studied the monarch life cycle and anatomy. We are currently investigating their unique sensory systems, scientific classification, and some of the dangers they will encounter over the winter. Danger doesn’t only come from predators. People living near the wintering colonies depend on the land and forest to support their families. This human activity is threatening the monarch’s survival. The students will recognize and evaluate the effects of competing kinds of land-use on the people and the environment.
Monarchs are a shared resource spanning the North American continent from Canada to Mexico. Students will participate in a symbolic migration. We will take on the role of ambassadors by creating paper butterflies. Complete with messages in Spanish, encouraging Mexican students to help preserve the oyamel trees. In this way, students are taking an active part in the preservation of wildlife.
What’s Happening in Language Arts
Each week students dig deep into stories and discover the many wonderful aspects of literature. We learn the author’s purpose for writing by looking at the structure of the pages, listening for opinions and facts, and allowing ourselves to be entertained. We hear the author’s voice as we sense feelings coming through the words. We marvel at how authors use carefully chosen details to paint pictures in our minds. From these stories come our spelling and grammar lessons. The goal of each lesson is to enjoy literature, to apply strategies to fully appreciate it, and to be inspired to create it ourselves.
Our first writing assignment is to produce a descriptive paragraph. The class has been writing descriptions of people, places, and things, incorporating the five senses. The final project will be to describe an event using their “voice” and details to capture our imaginations. Punctuation, spelling, and capitalization, as well as sentence variety are a must. Our work will be displayed in the classroom on “Back to School” night.
Students will be participating in a contest sponsored by Weekly Reader. Here is what they must do: Write a response to the following question: Your favorite character has jumped out of a book to spend the day with you. Tell us: What happens next? Your response should be up to 150 words, with optional drawing(s). The deadline for entries is October 15th.
Marvelous Math
Our year’s journey in Math begins with graphing. Data can be displayed in many ways, and third graders must be able to read and interpret them. Finally, we will make up surveys, gather our own data, and display it on a graph of our own choosing. Additionally (pardon the pun!), we are reviewing addition and subtraction facts, as well as problem solving strategies for word problems. The children enjoyed the IN/OUT machine lesson, which is a pre-algebra activity where they had to find the missing number by systematically verifying the rule in a data set. We love to figure things out! The next chapter will about keeping numbers in their place (place value – he he!) and telling time to the nearest minute. We’re counting the minutes until that lesson.
What’s Happening in Social Studies
Reading for information is a relatively new concept for third graders. The social studies curriculum teaches strategies students can use to read informational text. I love the first chapter because it’s about community. Califon is a perfect example of community rich in tradition and legacy. We will map our town and learn about important landmarks. Finally, we will make postcards and send them to students around the country, telling them about our community, and asking them about theirs. It’s a thrill when we get a response!