Weekly Update (9/28/14)

We are now finished with our first block of the year. This week saw us wrap up the story of Esau and Jacob. It was a great beginning to the third grade and it was a real joy to bring these stories to the children. They are quite engrossed with them, and I hope that they are sharing them with you at home! We covered quite a bit over the past few weeks, and have filled our books with a great deal of writing and art. Please stop by and have your child show you what they’ve done!

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 To dig the ditch, to plough the land

To this the farmer turns his hand. 

To sow the seed, to how and weed,

To give the plants the light they need

To milk the cows, to feed the hens,

To clean the pigs within their pens.

To cut the corn, to store the grain,

To bring the sheep to be sheared again.

To care for the soil, to let it rest,

To feed it – so it gives its best.

To grow good food for beast and man;

The farmer works as best he can.

 

We will begin our first foray into a series of blocks entitled “Life on the Earth”. The first will deal with farming and how we feed ourselves. Our block plan has been posted on the website. Please take a close look at it for details on why’s, what’s, and when’s of the block.

A few quick notes…

• Math Problems: 8+4; 7+5; 10−4; 10−3; 10−2
• Spelling Words: corn, thorn, chore, work, more
• Multiplication Table of the Week: 7. This is entirely optional and totally recommended. Before you sit down to do your homework with your child, they can write out the times table of the week in their notebook ( 1 x 7 = 7, 2 x 7 = 14, etc). This is an excellent way to reinforce these important facts. 
• Monday, September 29. Michaelmas at UPWS. We may be spending some of the day working in Arrigo Park, spreading mulch around the trees. Please have the students wear appropriate shoes and clothes, and bring work gloves.
• Soil. We will be looking very closely at our good friend dirt and soil these few weeks. If you find yourself ranging far and/or wide this next weekend or the next, please bring back a gallon ziploc bag of dirt for us to look at. Comparing and contrasting different soil qualities and concentrations of silt, sand, and clay will be a great activity. It can be from your backyard, a trip to the park, or even the next state.
• Book Show and Tell. This week I showed the children one of my favorite books of all time, The Mysteries of Harris Burdock, by Christopher Van Allsburg. I took about 5 minutes to talk about why I enjoy it so much and some of my favorite parts. If your child is reading a book they particularly enjoy, I would encourage them to share it with the class. There will be a short amount of time each day to do this.
• Sukkah Construction. We will be constructing a Sukkah over the next few weeks. It fits right in with our third grade studies in so many ways!  If you are interested in helping out, please let me know. The children will also be introduced to the Jewish holiday of Sukkoth and will be able to try out their building and construction skills.
• Legos. A few students have been bringing Legos and baseball cards to school to trade with each other. Please know that children are not allowed to bring toys to school.