Third Grade
We have two new teachers this year teaching third grade; Clarissa Heck from Iowa City, Iowa and Macy Elwood from Stanton, Iowa. We are enjoying having them in Clarinda Community School District!
Third graders have been working hard to learn our multiplication and division facts. We have made flashcards for us to use to help us become more fluent with our facts. So far, we have flashcards for our 2s, 10s, and 5s. A standard for third grade is to have mastery of the basic facts 0-10. We will keep working on our facts and making more flashcards as the year progresses.
We recently finished up a Science unit on plants. In this unit we learned about the plant life cycle, selection, and how traits are inherited. We created “Grass Heads” by wrapping grass seed in a wet paper towel and placing it inside nylons. The grass grew out of the nylons like hair.
The third graders are also working very hard in reading. We have been working on making inferences about characters, how characters change in a story, and questioning to gain a deeper understanding about a story. Some of our favorite books are The Raft by Jim Lamarche and Julius the Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes.
We are also starting our Christmas Around the World project. Third graders will be in partners and have a country assigned to research and discover how they celebrate Christmas in their country. This is part of our Culture unit in Social Studies.
Each third grade class has a Kindergarten Buddy class. We do various projects and activities with them throughout the year. Mrs. Pullen’s class works with Mrs. Morrison’s class. Mrs. Bragg’s class is partnered with Mrs. Hill’s class. Miss Heck’s class is buddies with Mrs. Jobe’s class. Miss Elwood’s class works with Mrs. Kirsch’s Kindergarten class. We have done activities such as Thanksgiving stories, the homecoming parade, and Santa letters.
Third graders continue to work on their Cardinal “PRIDE” expectations. All classes have filled their “marble jar” numerous times and have earned privileges like PJ day, bring a stuffed animal, movie, eating lunch in the classroom, and special activities with our kindergarten buddies.