Hello From the Pirate's Cove! “We should play ‘Pass a Smile’ every day!” –Stevenson Third Grader It is hard to believe we have been in school for almost four weeks. As the saying goes: time flies when you’re having fun! This week we explored rounding numbers, worm rings and homophones. Your child may have mentioned a third grade pen pal from Scouter Mountain School in Happy Valley, Oregon. We are exchanging letters as part of a cultural community exchange, and hope to Face Time with our new friends, as well as an international school, by year’s end. Some of the academic goals of this yearlong project are: use graphic organizers to enhance the writing process, master the Friendly Letter format (a lost art!), compare the climate and geography of different regions, identify the most important aspects of diverse communities and make personal connections around the world. It is our hope these new friendships will last well beyond third grade. Did you know third graders are Puppy Problem Solvers? Your child has many unique and individual gifts to share with his or her classmates. As a community, he or she brings these gifts to “the circle” to help solve problems and think in innovative and creative ways. Check the weekly photos to see the steps to independently or group problem solve. This week, your third grader brainstormed Classroom Rules for the year (also posted in the weekly photos). We have begun to discuss the dilemma of what to do if rules are broken. The children had several amusing ideas (Classroom jail! Extra homework! No recess!). They also had many practical ideas. Next week we will further explore the practical: logical consequences, “you break it you fix it,” taking a break to get it together, conflict resolution through 1:1 conferences, team problem solving, apology of action and other positive discipline approaches (we’re still giggling over the jail idea). We have wrapped up our September reading, writing and math baseline assessments. We look forward to sharing the data with you at conference time. Your invaluable input will help us set exciting academic and social/emotional goals for your child’s third grade year. With gratitude and love, Nina and John | MEMORY JOGGERS
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