Welcome to Ms. Murphy's Class! Third grade is an exciting year. Below you will discover what we will be learning in third grade.
Reading Workshop Each Reading Workshop session will begin with a mini lesson that lasts approximately 10-15 minutes. During each mini lesson the teacher will introduce a specific reading strategy or skill. The teacher will model the skill for the students. The students then practice the skill or strategy on their own with their self-selected texts at their independent reading level. During this time the teacher holds individual reading conferences or meets with small groups of students for guided reading or strategy lessons. Reading Workshop will close with a whole class or partner reflection meeting, sharing their understanding of the practiced reading strategy or skill. Fundations This year we will be using a program called Fundations Level 3. Fundations provide a systematic and explicit approach to reading and spelling with phonics. In Level 3, emphasis is placed on advanced word structure, spelling, vocabulary, and cursive handwriting. The students will be assessed weekly or biweekly, depending upon the complexity or duration of each unit. The students will be assessed in the form of sentence dictation to assess mastery. This helps ensure that students are making the connection between the spelling words and how they are used in context. It also allows the students to apply language conventions such as capitalization and punctuation. Please read the Fundations letters I send home. Your child will be asked to identify language concepts in words through a process called marking, and these letters will show you how to mark up words. They will also contain updates, program information, and activity ideas. Set aside time to do these activities with your child.
Writing Workshop Each Writing Workshop session will begin with a short mini lesson. During each mini lesson the teacher will introduce a specific writing craft or a language convention skill. The teacher will model the skill for the students. The students then practice the skill or strategy in their writing binder. Students will use the writing process which includes brainstorming, drafting, revising, conferencing, editing, and publishing. This year we will be focusing on Narrative, Informational, and Opinion writing.
Math Workshop This year we will use the mathematics series, McGraw-Hill My Math. My Math provides interactive instruction presented in print and digital formats. Content addresses the Common Core State Standards and mathematical practices. Hands on activities connect learning to real world problem solving. Students will be captivated during lessons with rich digital resources, online games, and Apps. In third grade we will focus on five critical areas: developing understanding of place value and strategies for addition and subtraction up to 1000; strategies for multiplication and division within 100 and multiplication and division problem solving; developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes.
Chromebooks Third grade has an exciting new learning opportunity. We are very fortunate to be issued Chromebooks for use throughout the school year and will travel with us as we move through the grades. A Chromebook is essentially a small laptop that uses Google Chrome Web Browser to access Google Applications. Although it is meant to be used as an online device, it does have offline capabilities and internal storage. We will be using them in class to practice our keyboarding, language, reading, and math skills. We will type our final drafts in writing, complete assignments and assessments in math, and communicate with one another.