Understanding Our Abilities

The Eliot PTC has brought us a very special program called "Understanding Our Different Abilities." This wonderful program shares with children the important message that we are all people first, and that we all have a different range of abilities in terms of how we move, see, hear, communicate, think and learn.  

On Friday, February 14, the program was kicked-off with an all-school assembly featuring an inspiring story. Annie Garofalo, a Harvard student from Medfield, was born with only one hand. An accomplished athlete and student, Annie showed and discussed how she is able to play many sports, tie her shoes, drive and even play the piano. 

Next week, third graders will continue to learn about physical disabilities from a workshop, a different speaker and a performance of a wheelchair dance. Ask your child what they are learning about people who have different abilities.

Fractions!

Our class has been working on fractions in math. Your child has been using fractions to make "fair shares" of things like paper "brownies" and pattern-block "cookies." By working with these materials, your child is learning how "wholes" come apart into fractions and how fractions fit together as wholes. It's important for children to remember that fractions consist of "equal parts," that means that the parts each need to be the same size. 

Here are some ways that you can help at home:

*When your family is sharing food, talk about "fair shares" and help your child name fractions. If you want to split the pizza among five people, how can you split it fairly? How much does each person get?

*Cooking is another great way to learn about fractions. How can we measure 3/4 cup? Look together at how the fractions appear on a measuring cup. Doubling recipes, or cutting them in half, can help your child understand how to make new numbers with fractions.

The purpose of this unit is for students to visualize and compare fractions, to find different combinations of fractions that make a whole, to learn which common fractions are equivalent, and to begin to use fractions to solve problems like this one:

Six people at a party shared all the cookies evenly. Each person ate 1 and 1/3 cookies. How many cookies did they eat?

We love fraction action! :o)Melanie

State Project

Has your third grader told you about the state they will research? We have begun learning about the states in our country! Our study will culminate with a State Fair on Friday, March 21 at 9:00. (Please save the date! :o)

Each child will focus on one state. They will be asked to do research at home and at school. Ask your child which state he/she is studying. Hopefully you found the actual assignment for the state project in your child's folder today. This gives explicit instructions for each part of the assignment. We went over it carefully this morning. Please note that the projects are due on Wednesday, March 19. 


Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

:o)Melanie