Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Cycle 5


Time for Cycle 5.

Hello 3rd Grade Parents,

Welcome to our new 3rd Grade Reading, Language Arts, and Social Studies blog.  Here you'll find homework, spelling lists, and a general layout of what we're doing over the course of the year, cycle by cycle.  This year our curriculum follows a basic 7 day cycle that we'll follow as part of our studies.  The cycle is broken into two basic parts:  a reading section which is the first four days, then it is wrapped up by three days of writing.  This week are are , so we are off with a new spelling list and a new set of reading objectives to cover.  In addition, this cycle will also cover the ground we are discussing in Social Studies.  So feel free to drop in every seven days or so to catch-up on what we're doing, or daily to keep track of homework and what material we are covering.

Spelling

Base words with /k/, /s/, and /j/ sounds.
Our list this cycle uses words that have hard /k/ (like knock), /s/ (and soft c sounds like ceiling) and /j/ (like judge) sounds.  We've discussed this in class and we're looking for examples of words with these sounds in our text.  One thing that can help your child is to look for these words in your daily use and on signs you see as you drive or travel around town. 

You'll notice that our spelling list has changed.  We now have 20 words in our spelling lists.  The students are only held to the first fifteen words.  The other five words are extra credit words that use the same strategy as the basic list and grant your child extra credit if they get them correct on the test.  I don't count them against your child if they are missed.  Please study these words with your child so we can enrich their vocabulary!

Spelling List.
1. clock
2.  large
3.  page
4.  mark
5.  kitten
6.  judge
7.  crack
8.  edge
9.  pocket
10.  brake
11.  change
12.  ridge
13.  jacket
14.  badge
15.  orange

Challenge Words
16.  ceiling
17.  advantage
18.  pledge
19.  Kentucky
20.  pencil

Homework.  
11/7- List in ABC order.
11/10- Write each word you missed on the spelling pretest three times each.
11/12-  Worksheet
11/13  Study for the test.

Reading

In this cycle we have been studying a text about the stars called "Constellations".  We are using this text to accomplish two basic things:

1.  Students are being asked to read the text in small chunks, usually paragraphs, then they are being asked to think about what they are reading.  Finally they are being asked to jot their thoughts down in a journal or to share them with a classmate or with the class.

2.  Students are being asked to use text features, mainly graphic ones like maps and illustrations, and then explain how these features assist them with understanding the text in their selection.

These strategies are a part of the close reading process and they are tools to help the students gain as much insight out of a text as possible.

There are several ways you can help with this.  For SIR reading have your child stop reading after a page or so then have them tell you their thoughts about that small section.  Then have them continue for another section and do the same thing.  For using text features you might break out a newspaper or magazine and have them look at a picture or graph and tell you what's going on in that feature. Then you could both look at the text and figure out how this illustration helps you to "get" the text.

Writing

This week your child will be looking through their writer's notebook and will be looking for a subject to write about.  They have two basic choices:  to write a narrative (story) about a memory or experience or to write about something that interests them, but as an informational text.  The story requires your child to come up with a character (it could be them!), a setting (where and when the story takes place), and a plot (a problem for the character to solve and their solution to the problem).  The informational text should have a main idea (I think our school should not use uniforms) and details to support it (this would be reasonable reasons, ones that are well thought out).  We will start the prewriting process during this cycle and we will wrap it up during cycle 6.

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