We have started to learn to play our recorders in this first trimester in third grade.

There are many benefits to playing recorders in school none the least being that it is an entry level instrument for learning other wind instruments. Here are a few other reasons: Children have fun learning to play the recorder. Not only is playing a popular and fun activity, but it also has substantial medical benefits. Children learn to breathe regularly and to increase their lung capacity. But what are the other positive aspects of this hobby? Children who learn to play also develop basic music skills, and learn to use a variety of rhythmic instruments, from wooden sticks to triangles. The rhythmic exercises, which form an integral of the lessons, teach children to divide words into syllables, which is very important later in reading and writing. When children play, they also train their memory. During playing, they must focus on how to play individual notes and remember subsequent melodies and patterns. Children learn notes by fun sentences/sayings, with the initial letter as the name of each line or space. Another important skill is to master hand-eye coordination. Children must check if their fingers are properly positioned and learn to carefully cover the holes of the recorder. It is also difficult for them initially to raise or put down just one particular finger, but after a few finger exercises, they eventually master it, and are proud to show their parents during summer and winter holiday. We will be ready to show you what we have learned by the winter holidays! Colleen Zandbergen Music Teacher

What a great start to the year! It is hard to believe that is the middle of October. Pumpkin carving time is quickly approaching. We will be carving on October 26th. Students should bring the pumpkin to school by October 23rd. If you are able to come and help prepare the pumpkins, we appreciate all the help we can get. Come and join the fun! Academically, the third graders have been working hard in math, reading, writing, social studies, and science. In reading, we have been reading fables as we are studying how to determine the authors message. We learned about picking just-right books and have started our literature/guided reading groups. Also, we LOVE reading on Raz-Kids. In social studies, we have been studying Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Students have been comparing the past to the present in order to identify the contributions of these cultures on modern day. Students love traveling back in time! We have also been working hard in math. We are greatly enjoying getting to know students from the other classrooms. We have been working on developing number sense, addition, subtraction, rounding, and estimation. We have also started working on 2-step story problems using the K-W-L strategy. Ask your child what these letters mean. We are also having fun, too! We recently had the opportunity to participate in an OREO stacking challenge. In math, students made predictions, tested their predictions, and recorded their data. Then, we compared our data with other students across the United States who also participated in this fun challenge. Of course, we also got to have a tasty treat at the end of all this hard work! Holly Knutson, Kristi Lafrentz, DeDe Plante, Barbara Stansbury The Third Grade Team