A Snowy First Day Back – Happy New Year!

Dear Third Grade Families,

Happy New Year! What a whirlwind of a first week back! We hope that everyone stayed safe during Thursday’s  “Bomb Cyclone” winter storm. Over our few days back in school, we started a new math unit as well as a mini social studies unit on the Civil Rights movement.

In math, we have moved onto word problems, for addition and subtraction. Word problems integrate literacy with math and are connections, for students, between school and the real world. To visualize the concepts in a word problem, students can use the bar model method as a strategy to help solve equations. This method is a way to represent a word problem situation, usually using rectangles. The process starts by using real world, tangible representations, before moving onto showing the problem using a pictorial diagrams before then introducing the abstract algorithms and notations. Bar models are able to be used for all four math operations — addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 

The particular power of the bar modelling pictorial approach is that it is applicable across a large number of topics. Once students have the basics of the approach secured, they can easily extend it across many topics. It is important to remember that bar models don’t give you an answer – it gives you an understanding of what to do do get to the answer. The “what to do” part is where students can use one of the four operations to solve the word problem.

In Social Studies, we started our study of Civil Rights, in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In Third Grade, our focus is on Rosa Parks and Montgomery Boycott, with the goal of building upon students’ prior knowledge of the movement from previous years. As a way to build context, students began their study by looking at pictures representing the Jim Crow Laws and Segregation. We talked about how the Jim Crows Laws existed primarily in the South, and how they affected the daily lives of African Americans. Students made observations, asked questions, and reacted. Their overall reactions were of confusion, sadness, anger, and unfairness. The following day, third graders reflected on a time they felt something was unfair. We then had a conversation about what fairness means and how one can change a situation that’s unfair. We agreed that nonviolence is the best choice, because as they say, “two wrongs don’t make a right”. In partnerships, children worked to explain different forms of nonviolent resistance, including, boycotts, mass marches, sit-ins, strikes, and picketing.

To conclude our week in Social Studies, third graders were asked to consider the question of whether rules are a necessity. They also considered whether there are rules or laws that are not needed or beneficial. Students shared that rules and laws are needed in society because otherwise people could do whatever they want, which could be dangerous. We then examined a historical document, outlying the bus laws in Montgomery, Alabama prior to the bus boycott. (See the document here). Students were passionately opposed to the majority of laws expressed in this document. Next week, we will continue to explore the logistics and motivation behind the bus boycott, while zooming in closer on Rosa Parks’ story.

Topics to talk about with your student:

• How long did the Montgomery Bus Boycott last?
• What are some of the jobs Rosa Parks had?
• What are some of the different ways people used nonviolence to fight for change?

Dates to know:

Friday, January 12 — Martin Luther King Jr. Tekes @ 9:00am

Monday, January 15 — no school (MLK Day)

Wednesday, January 24 — 3rd Grade trip to the Wyckoff House

(please fill in the permission slip!)

Stay warm this weekend!

Hilary and Alisa

Judaic Studies with Aliza

I hope everyone enjoyed their snow day! In Judaics this week, we learned about verb prefixes and suffixes in Ancient Hebrew, and how they can help us translate words in the Chumash text. Since third graders filled their marble jars and earned a reward, we also enjoyed hot cocoa and marshmallows in class this week! Next week, we will continue learning to read the Chumash, start learning about the Amidah in Tefilla, and read our final stories from our Chelm unit. Shabbat Shalom!