Third Graders are Authors and Scientists!

We have been hard at work in science learning about Rocks and Minerals and in Social Studies learning about Australia.

In science the children are wearing the hat of a scientist (figuratively speaking) and are performing tests on their set of 12 minerals in order to observe some of the properties of the minerals.  They have used flashlights to test whether their minerals were transparent, translucent, or opaque.  They have also used black and white tiles to see whether each mineral left a streak when scratched across the tiles, which tested the minerals' identifiable color.  This week they will be observing the luster of each mineral to determine whether they are glassy, waxy, or dull.  The children are recording all of their observations as they perform each test, and will use these observations to try to identify each mineral at the end of the unit.

In Social Studies our third graders are wearing their author hats.  Each child has chosen an Australian animal to research and will be writing a non-fiction book about the animal.  Before Miss Smith left she taught the class about writing an informational paragraph, which must contain a topic sentence and supporting details.  We are now building from that to write longer informational pieces about these unique animals.  The children will also think about non-fiction text features, such as headings, pictures, captions, bold words, glossaries, etc and decide which text features would be helpful in teaching their readers about their animal.  The children are already getting excited as they research their animals and find out amazing facts and they are looking forward to getting to the Rough Draft part of the writing process where they can put their notes into sentences!

Be sure to ask your child about their amazing animal at home.  I know they will be able to tell you many fascinating facts!