This morning, we completed the "Caught Ya" and solved two math problems.

If the sun rose at 7:31 this morning and will set at 6:55 this evening, how many hours of sunlight will we have today?

The high across the nation on Oct. 16th was 103 degrees in Laredo, TX. The nation's low on the same date was in Northway, AK at 8 degrees. What is the difference between these two temperatures?

Both answers were recorded in our math journals (pages 43 and 27).

Afterwards, I introduced the new Wordly Wise words for lesson 4.

We also read an anonymous student's story and gave it a score on the Ideas rubric in teams. It was a well written piece about a family trip to the beach.

For math today, we first practiced how to add multiple numbers as quickly as possible.



We also talked about "standard" units for measurement and how once upon a time, people used their actual feet, hands, thumbs, and arms for measuring. When we are all built the same, it seems to be confusing having everyone refer to their own foot as a "foot" of measurement. Nonetheless, we found the "average" third grader's shoe size and spent time finding objects around the room that are about "one class shoe" in length.

Later this afternoon, we will estimate the length of objects around the room in terms of how many "class shoes" it will take. Then we will test our estimates out to see if they were correct. (Math journal page 55)

After lunch, the children will create a character using a stick figure I've begun for them. I will ask them to dress their character to suit the personality of Brenna from the Manatee Blues book we are reading. The directions can be found here, but the stick figure will be sent home to you.

Afterwards, we will discuss how a character's behavior, actions, and words effect our feelings about the character. We will discuss the literature circle job of "Character Captain". The class will read pages 55-73 in the Manatee Blues book and complete the form independently.



Before the end of the day, I will share with the class the next topic of study: The Timucua Indians of Florida. Students will be working in teams as they research a part of the Timucua way of life. You will get a chance to decide what part of their lives you would like to become an expert on:

Families and Children
Hunting and Tools
Villages and Homes
Medicines and Teas
Clothes and Decorations

If we have time at the end of the day, we will complete a new page in our cursive books and take a few moments to share our most recent stories.

We hope you are feeling better and will be able to come back to school tomorrow!
:)Mrs. Neal