Ms.

Gutierrez

Grade 3

WEEKLY NEWS
Juliette Low Elementary School | Friday, May 6 | Issue 18

These Past ?! Weeks

I have been painfully behind
on these newsletters, but with
good reason: the work that has
been happening in the
classroom, despite all these
standardized tests, has been
phenomenal! We are deep
into our persuasive writing unit
in writers workshop that is
tightly bound to our research
groups unit in readers
workshop. In content we have
overlapped our study of the
movement of people with our
science unit on the human
body. We have dissected owl
pellets, celebrated Childrens
Day, explored the Museum of
Science and Industry, hosted
Dr. Fessler for bit one
afternoon, presented our
Genius Hour, celebrated many
star students, loved up on
teachers for Teacher
Appreciation, and so much
more! We are now in the last
few weeks and will work hard
until the end!

How to Reach Me
gutierrez.elisa@ccsd59.org
(847) 593-4383
http://low.ccsd59.org/
teachers/gutierrezelisa/

Persuasive Writing
Nobody likes the reason, because I said so, especially kids! We
have talked about why that is not a strong argument for kids to
use, along with whining, begging, and pleadingwithout
reasoning and thought, ones argument is not strong! The kids
dove into convincing adults around the school for changeand
have convinced the 3rd Grade teachers for some extra recess
(honestly, it was not a hard sell!). We are now working on an
individual piece (be prepared for some video presentations) and a
group research-based persuasive project that we will be
presenting to Dr. Fessler for some school-wide change! All of the
excellent writing that has been produced in the classroom focuses
on clear arguments with strong support, using powerful language,
addressing the listener directly, and incorporating
counterarguments. It has been wonderful seeing how their
writing has grown over the past few weeksalthough this unit
has made every decision a negotiation!

Ms. Gutierrez

Grade 3

Number Sense

Happy Mothers Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful
celebratory weekend! The kids
worked hard on their projects for
their mamas. It was quite sweet
hearing the brainstorming ideas
for why their moms are great and
then reading their final products.
I did not edit, tweak, or change
anything they wroteit came
100% from the kids. The kids are
growing tremendously this year.
They are taking on loads of hard
work throughout the day and it is
only possible due to the support
they get from home. I celebrate
all the mamasand the dads!for
you make it possible for kids to
come into the classroom ready to
learn.

Calendar Reminders
May 13: Soccer Tournament
Assembly
May 20: Explore More Day
May 23: Lewis & Clark Performance
May 25: Extended Specials
May 30: No School
June 3: Field Day
June 8: Last Day of School!

We have moved on from multiplication and division into general

number sense through 1,000. This includes place value, rounding,
multiple digit addition and subtraction, multi-step word
problems, base-10, and much more! This unit builds on what we
have already learned throughout the year and steps it up a bit by
using bigger numbers, expanding the place value vocabulary, and
using all types of math in a single problem. I have also spent time
teaching new/dierent strategies for 3-digit addition and
subtraction problems to expand student resource when solving
problems. I continuously stress that we all think dierently and
learn in our own way and by learning new strategies some
students experience that ah-ha! moment, which is my favorite
part of being a teacher. Using base-10 blocks have been vital in
making math more hands-on and taking abstract concepts into
tangible manipulatives we can move around.