Elementary School
Grades & Classes
Third Grade
Marylou Bianchini
Marianne Gazzano
Language
 We just started our third Core book. This time they are assorted titles involving a family called the Littles by John Peterson. Our class is divided into four groups to read these books. The class is separated into four clusters, since each group is reading a different book. Our next two Core books will be whole class reading the same selection, as in the past. Those books will be Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.
We have just completed a book project over the Christmas break, which involved making a scrapbook about a character from a book that each child read on their own. We will continue with our regular book reports within the next week which will have different formats. Some types might involve a puppet show, one will be an Illustrated Classic, and one will be a Historical Fiction novel dealing with the Westward migration time period. This will also correspond to our study of this era and writing our books about Moving West. In the Spring we will have a report on a biography of a famous person. We will dress as this character when giving our report.
Math
We are continuing with multiplication and have just begun working with division. As the term progresses we will study geometry, work with fractions, measurement, and decimals.
Social Studies
Having completed our unit on Colonization, we will now begin our study about the pioneers and their moving West. As I mentioned, it is in connection with this unit, that we also write our books. These books are done in class, involving use of many research and reference materials in the classroom. The students edit and rewrite their work and usually by May, these books are ready to be illustrated by the students and eventually typed by some very helpful parents.
Science
Our next unit of study is the Solar System. The students always enjoy learning about outer space. We do several different activities with this unit. We finish our year with a unit on Nutrition.
We make our own individual Food Pyramids, based on the new revised one that changed last year.
Some Enrichment Subjects
- Music— We are continuing our recorder lessons with Mrs. Simon.
- Drama—We will begin practicing our Spring play, “Guys and Dolls.”
- Art and Technology ----Mrs. Betts
- Spanish----Twice a week
- Phsical Education----Mr. White
Some Future Field Trips
- Dixie Schoolhouse–Marinwood—to experience school life as it was in the mid 1850s, this ties in with our Moving West unit and books.
- Trip associated with our space unit—time and place yet to be determined.
- Novato walking tour— visit to the museum and other historical places in Novato’s history—this corresponds to our study of city government, etc.
- Teddy Bear Factory, San Francisco—this is just for fun!
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