Reading Like Writers

Have you ever heard of the Blue Tongued Skink or an Echidna?  How about a Quoll or a Blue Ring Octopus?  If you aren't familiar with these animals, don't fret!   Our class is hard at work becoming experts on these unusual animals because we know that writers of nonfiction are experts on the topic they write about.  I'm certain that as your child becomes an expert on his or her animal they will look forward to sharing interesting facts with you!

This week we continued to read nonfiction, but we were reading like writers.  We paid careful attention to the nonfiction text features in books and magazines and discussed why authors would include those text features.  We also noticed that nonfiction writers use specialized vocabulary, or special words related to the topic they write about.  We started to think about specialized vocabulary that might be in a nonfiction book about an Australian animal.

Coming up next week:
The children will continue to research their Australian animal in school.  If you wanted to do some research at home or go to the public library and check out helpful books, you are certainly welcome to do so!

In Science the children are continuing to examine their 12 minerals and perform tests on each in order to identify which mineral is which.

In math we are still working on multiplication and division.  The children are using the commutative and distributive properties of multiplication and drawing arrays and tape diagrams to model multiplication and division problems.  There will be a quiz on Wednesday 10/23 on tape diagrams and the distributive property.

In reading we are continuing to learn about the genre of Folktales.  The children learned this past week that folk tales are stories that have been passed down over time in which the characters often have to overcome a challenge or obstacle. Myths, Fairy Tales, and Fables are types of folk tales, each of which has its own distinguishing characteristics.  It can be difficult for young readers (or even experienced readers) to determine whether a story is a general folk tale, a myth, a fairy tale, or a fable, so we will continue to read examples of each and discuss their characteristics.

Somebody...Wanted...But...So...Then

Third graders have been working hard this week learning how to recount stories, which is another way of saying that they are learning to summarize.  A great trick they learned was to use the key words "Somebody" (Who is the story about?) "Wanted" (What is the main character trying to do?) "But" (What is the problem in the story?) "So" (How is the character trying to solve the problem?) "Then" (How is the problem solved in the end?).  It was amazing how expertly the children were able to summarize fiction stories using this technique.  They are bringing home fiction stories in their Book-in-a-Bag this weekend and should be able to demonstrate this new skill for you!

In Science this week the children continued their observations of Rocks and Minerals.  They are getting really good at using descriptive words as they record their observations!  They learned that there are different types of rocks called Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic and each type of rock is formed in a different way.  Next week they will be observing 12 different minerals and recording their observations of specific properties such as the mineral's luster, magnetism, and hardness.

Did you know that Australia served as a British Prison Colony back in the 1700's?  In Social Studies we read a book called You Wouldn't Want to be an 18th Century British Convict: A Trip to Australia You'd Rather Not Take by Meredith Costain.  This book was both informative and amusing, as the author mixed history with funny cartoons and speech bubbles.  The children recorded a fact they learned, a question they were wondering about, and their thoughts about what they heard in this book.

Next week we will begin integrating Social Studies, reading, and a non-fiction writing unit as the children will research an unusual Australian animal and create a non-fiction book about their animal. Their writing pieces will include non-fiction text features, which we started learning about last week.  I look forward to being able to share more with you about these books.  We have wonderful writers in third grade, so I know their published books will be amazing!