Antarctica!

This week we start a very exciting nonfiction reading study of Antarctica. We will focus on four texts about Antarctica to discover what the authors are teaching us as well as the way that they have chosen to share their message. We will notice the author's structure and the text features of the informational books we read, as well as the literary devices used in the literary nonfiction books we read. When we are done with reading and thinking with support of the class, we will move into reading with a partner to learn about penguins! This time the student partnerships will be responsible for doing the same type of noticing and recording of their thinking. State tuned for our thinking to be revealed in photos!
In math, we have begun the first of many multiplication units. This is what every third grader waits for! We are having fun so far with figuring out how repeated addition and multiplication are the same, but we quickly realized how much more efficient multiplication is! We've also realized that students already know many multiplication facts because they have been counting by 1,2,5,10s since kindergarten. We discussed the zero's family and recognize why those are easy as well. So when it comes time for your child to start the multiplication facts on Xtramath it should go quickly. I will include a link to Mr. R's World of  Math and Science for multiplication songs and poems to help students remember the facts. It's cute! Another resource with lots of math games for third graders is  ABCya.com
As you enjoy the week, don't forget to ask your child what he/she is learning about Antarctica!