La Lectura
This week we are really focusing on our reading fluency, what this means, and how we can improve it as a whole class.
The Common Core State Standards, adopted by most states, require third-grade students to “read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.” Children must balance punctuation cues, phrasing, pace and expression to develop reading fluency. They also need to acquire a strong base of sight words. When students can read smoothly and accurately, and they transfer the skill to silent reading, comprehension increases.
All students were assess on 169 Spanish sight words and they all did a fantastic job! They know them very well! Now we are continuing to work on our reading strategies, identifying main idea and supporting details. I am finding the online reading (where they record their Spanish reading) very helpful. Please try to have your child read aloud each day and do at least one recording on the site each week.
Teamwork: cooperation makes tasks possible in this ‘flip the blanket’ activity.
Las matemáticas
We have completed our addition within 10,000 unit and will add in subtraction next week. We have continued to have our daily 2-minute timed tests for addition. Students are doing very well! (Please get those flashcards out if your child comes home with a test below 45 correct.)
This week we practiced making our own addition word problems. Understanding how to make the story problems is very helpful when they read other problems.
I’d love for the students to bring their Halloween candies to school next Friday so we can use them to make some more addition and subtraction stories. This will be fun!
Science
An experiment with reflexes. Learning about our nervous system.
Our main goals this week were to:
- Explain that one of the systems of the human body is the nervous system and identify its function
- Identify the brain and spinal cord as the control center of the body
- Identify nerves as messengers that transmit information from all of the parts of the body through the spinal cord to the brain
- Explain that the five senses work with the brain to process information about our surroundings
- Describe a reflex action as a quick, unconscious action and explain its purpose in protecting the human body
- Identify parts of the brain: brain stem (medulla, cerebrum and cerebellum
- Describe the human brain as divided into two hemispheres
History & Geography
This week our objectives were to:
- Explain why Rome was considered a civilization
- Compare and contrast the three categories of people in ancient Rome: patricians, plebians, and slaves
- Describe the evolution of government in ancient Rome: monarchy to republic to empire
- Describe the senate as part of the government of the Roman Republic
- Describe the importance of forums in Roman society and government
- Identify some of the contributions from the ancient Roman civilization
- Identify and locate on a map the following: Mediterranean Sea, Italy, Sicily, North Africa, Carthage, Spain and the Alps
- Explain the significance of the Punic Wars
- Describe the role of Hannibal in the Punic Wars