Our third graders are finishing their first studies of the year, and we are moving into our second set of units. These include:

Reading: We have established norms for readers workshop, and students are meeting with their reading partners to discuss what they're reading. Now we are studying nonfiction: how can we determine the main idea of a text? How can we use nonfiction text features such as photographs, captions, maps, tables of content, and indices to understand our reading better? How can we draw conclusions from a text and use specific evidence to support our conclusions?

Writing: We will be studying persuasive writing. What is the difference between facts and opinions? How can a writer express an opinion clearly and specifically? How can opinions be supported with specific reasons and facts?

Math: We will study data and its representation. How can we gather and organize data? How can we represent data in graphs and line plots? How can we interpret graphs and line plots and draw conclusions about a data set?

Social Studies: We will study local government and citizenship. What does government do, and how is it structured? What are our rights as citizens? What are our responsibilities?