Engineering Challenges

Third graders were challenged to create a free standing marble run that would carry a marble at least 40 centimeters.  An additional challenge was to include turns and changes in level in the marble run. The classroom buzzed with excitement as they worked as engineers and teammates.

First Week of School

We had a wonderful and busy first week of school.  I have enjoyed getting to know your children.  They are an amazing group, full of thoughtful questions and insightful ideas.  I have been especially impressed by how quick they are to help a friend and how well they focus. Thank you for sharing them with me! 

We spent a lot of time this week establishing routines in the classroom and learning about one another.  Ask your child about some of the different games we played to get to know one another.  In addition, we started keyboarding, art, music, P.E., and library.  We ended the week with our first Spanish class during which we learned a baile (dance).  Third graders are looking forward to having Spanish everyday starting next week. 

   

I enjoyed meeting many of you on Tuesday morning and am looking forward to working closely with you and your children this year.  Building a strong home school relationship is important to me. Feel free to contact me by phone or email with any questions or concerns.  I will get back to you as soon as possible.  My email address is sestroff@blakeschool.org, my home phone is 401-556-5870, and my phone number in the classroom is 952-988-3523.  

  

In math we started the unit Numbers to 10,000.  The unit started with a review of the place value they learned last year.  I am impressed by how comfortable they are with large numbers!  In addition, we played a few fun and mathematically rich games. Outside of our classroom is a display of self-portraits.  Third graders looked through magazines to find pictures and words that showed what was important to them.  They then figured out how to display the work in a silhouette.  It was fun to learn about one another through the self-portraits. We began to establish routines for readers’ workshop.  Please help your child remember to have a “just right” book at school each day.  Students spent time this week recording the weather in Buenos Aires and Minneapolis.  We will record the weather every Friday throughout the year.