Mrs. Andaloro's Third Grade

Learning News

5/31/2026

MATH
We wrapped up our fraction unit and are now working on an addition and subtraction unit. We began the unit learning about liquid measurements and mass. We learned that 1,000 milliliters equals 1 liter and 1,000 grams equals 1 kilogram. We made estimates and measured the volume of water as we filled different shaped containers. We also used balances and weights to measure the mass of items around the classroom. This week, we’ll learn a variation of the game, Capture 5, using a 300-600 chart as our gameboard.

ELA
After analyzing the structure of a book review of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, we wrote a book review of Peter Pan in the form of a four paragraph essay. We first decided on our opinion of the book and whether we recommended it, didn’t recommend it or recommended it with caution. We brainstormed reasons for our position along with detailed evidence from the text to support our review. We also performed a reader’s theater of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. We invited our first grade reading buddies to our performance on Thursday afternoon.

SCIENCE
We recently studied patterns of hurricanes by looking at data over a period of four years. We graphed the data and noticed which months were more common for hurricanes to occur. We also learned about the conditions necessary for hurricanes to develop. This week we’ll explore precipitation patterns across cities in the United States.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We enjoyed a wonderful, interactive visit to the Jason Russell House this week where we learned more about colonial life in Menotomy (present day Arlington). Activities included: a scavenger hunt to learn about the use of various plants in the 18th century, a tour of the Jason Russell House, a water bucket challenge to simulate the chore of carrying water from the well, ink and quill writing, and an exploration of historical artifacts. We also began learning about what life was like for free and enslaved Africans in Massachusetts Bay Colony. This week we’ll learn more about the system of trade between the New England Colonies and islands of the Caribbean.

Learning News

5/3/2026

MATH
We created unit fractions (where the numerator is 1) with paper models and ordered fractions from least to greatest. We’ve also been using cuisenaire rods and pattern blocks as models to understand fractions. Last week, we learned how to place fractions on a number line, and we’ve been finding equivalent fractions such as ½ = 2/4.

ELA
We finished reading Peter Pan, and we’ll wrap up Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens this week. We have been noticing similarities and differences between these two texts. We continue to work on retelling chapters in a concise way by following a protocol where one partner retells the chapter in 45 seconds and the next partner retells it in 30 seconds. Next week we’ll begin drafting a book review of Peter Pan.

SCIENCE
We wrapped up our Motion and Matter unit with cart designs before April break. Ask your child how they designed their cart so that the wheels would roll. We just began a unit on water and climate. We’ve been exploring the water cycle, and we’ve been learning about humidity and how it affects evaporation.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week we learned why John Winthrop referred to Boston as a City Upon a Hill. This week we’ll learn more about the establishment of Massachusetts Bay Colony and daily life in a Puritan town.

Learning News

3/28/2026

MATH
We are well into our second multiplication and division unit. We began by assembling “cube trains” with colored patterns as we explored multiples of 3 and 4. We’ve also been solving related multiplication and division problems. This week we’re delving into multiplication with factors that are multiples of 10.

ELA
Students are enjoying our class read, Peter Pan. We have been studying character traits based on text evidence, point of view, the historical context of the text and stereotypes. We are aiming to identify text evidence in support of our ideas. We’ve also been practicing retelling in a concise way.

SCIENCE
We’ve enjoyed student presentations of their science fair projects during class time. We continue to study balanced and unbalanced forces. Ask your child what forces are in play in our floating paper clip experiment. We tried out a computer simulation yesterday where we could manipulate the forces being applied to a cart.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Last week, we read a primary source to investigate the causes and effects of King Philip’s War, a war between the Wampanoag and the English. This week we’ll begin learning about Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Puritans. We’ll learn about the differences between the Puritans and the Separatists and their reasons for establishing colonies.

Learning News

3/7/2026

MATH
We have been studying the attributes of polygons, including quadrilaterals, rectangles, squares, rhombuses and triangles. We learned about right angles and the number of vertices, angles and sides on each polygon. We used a new math manipulative called anglegs, to build polygons as we learned about them. Next week we’ll begin our second multiplication and division unit.

ELA
We are preparing for your visit to our Frog Fest this Friday, March 13th!! We worked hard to edit and revise our frog essays and frog booklet, complete with maps and interesting facts about our frog. We also created a scientific frog diagram and gave our partners specific feedback to improve our first drafts of the drawings. We even created a frog trading card. We can’t wait to share our work with you!

SCIENCE
We continue to study force and magnetism. We tested various metals around the classroom to discover which types of metals are magnetic. This week we’ll explore balanced and unbalanced forces. We’ll discover that when forces become unbalanced, motion occurs.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We’ve been learning about some of the challenges the Separatists faced when they arrived in 1620 and about some of their first interactions with the Wampanoag. This week we’ll read excerpts from Mourt’s Relation, written by Mayflower passenger, Edward Winslow, to learn about the peace treaty between the Wampanoag and Pilgrims.

Learning News

2/1/2026

MATH
We have been solving perimeter and area problems. We measured the perimeter of various objects around the classroom to the nearest half inch. We also determined missing side lengths of polygons when given the perimeter and some side lengths. Next, we’ll learn to find the area of rectangles and rectilinear polygons.

ELA
While spending time researching and taking notes, third graders are becoming experts on a particular frog and its physical and behavioral adaptations. We are writing an essay to answer the question: How does a frog survive in its environment? Last week we wrote our introductory paragraph, with a hook to catch the reader’s attention, background facts and a focus statement. This week, we will have a visitor in our classroom for a few days- an American toad named Jennifer!

SCIENCE
We have been learning about the properties of magnets recently. Last week we turned paperclips into temporary magnets by rubbing a magnet against the paperclips, repeatedly and quickly. Ask your child how long their paperclip chain was.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Students created newspaper reports about the Mayflower voyage and the hardships faced along the way. We also learned about the Mayflower Compact and how it was intended to support the new colony.

Learning News

1/9/2026

MATH
We have been solving distance problems recently which involve finding the distance between two points on a journey. We have been using number lines and a series of equations to solve the problems. We also learned a new game this week, called How Far from 100? Ask your child about our “Thinking Partner” activity.

ELA
We have put the finishing touches on our pourquoi tales about frogs. When writing our tales, we planned our stories according to the elements we learned to include in the beginning, middle and end. Ask your child what parts we include in the beginning. We also aimed to use a storyteller’s voice by including dialogue, lots of details and descriptive language. This week we began researching frogs, using the text, Everything You Need to Know About Frogs and Other Slippery Creatures.

SCIENCE
We have been exploring the forces of magnetism and the magnetic field. We did a series of experiments to observe these forces at play. Ask your child what they noticed when hanging a paperclip from a string above a magnet.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We’ve been reading about the Separatists and Strangers who traveled on the Mayflower. We learned about their motivations for leaving England and finding a new home.

Learning News

12/7/2025

MATH
We played the game, Capture 5, as part of our new math unit, focusing on addition and subtraction. In this game, students add and subtract multiples of ten and ones to move on a one hundred chart to capture game pieces. We are also playing Close to 100 to further develop our place value understanding. We created a 1,000 chart and added landmark numbers, numbers that are easy to add and subtract on/from.

ELA
We began our second language arts module last week. We are studying the plot structure of a pourquoi tale, and we are collaborating to write a class pourquoi tale that answers the question: Why do tadpoles have wiggly tails? Ask your child what parts go in the beginning of a tale.

SCIENCE
We played a game called Walking Stick Survival this week. We learned how the habitat of an organism can change the traits of the population over time. Students were “virtual birds” hunting stick bugs in a bamboo environment. Next week, we’ll play this game again with a different habitat and notice how that changes the outcome.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We’ve been learning about some of the first Europeans who came to New England and what their motivations were. We are also reading about their first interactions with Indigenous people.

Learning News

11/21/2025

MATH
Recently, we have been working with numerical data and measurements. We’ve been measuring lengths and distances to the nearest half inch. We collected data on how far we could blow a pattern block, and then we represented it on a line plot. New math vocabulary words we’ve been working with are: range, outlier and mode. We continue practicing our multiplication facts as well! We’ll begin our third math unit next week which focuses on addition and subtraction.

ELA
We are wrapping up the publishing phase of our essays on challenges we face in our lives. Students worked hard to revise and edit their writing. We are including transition words and phrases to link our ideas together. We also learned an important spelling rule this week! We learned that we must double the final consonant in a 1-1-1 word before adding a vowel suffix. For example mop + ed = mopped. A 1-1-1 word has one closed syllable, only one vowel, and only one consonant after the vowel.

SCIENCE
This week we conducted a virtual fossil dig to model how humans use their knowledge of today’s habitats (and the animals and plants that live there) to make determinations about animals and plants that lived long ago.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We began our second unit where we’ll study Patuxet and Plymouth during the 1600s. Thanks to the PTO, a Wampanoag group visited Dallin to engage us in singing and dancing in a schoolwide assembly today. This visit connected well with our studies of the First Peoples of Massachusetts.

Learning News

11/7/2025

MATH
We have been categorizing, graphing and analyzing data. We collected data from our class about our favorite places to read, play, visit, swim and shop. We then graphed the data and recorded our observations. We are aiming to be specific when writing what we notice about the data. For example, instead of writing, “The most is on the couch.” We may write, “The most popular place to read is on the couch.” We had a great time graphing our candy data last week!

ELA
We wrote an organized paragraph about learning challenges in either Canada, Zimbabwe or Finland. We revised our writing with ARMS (adding, removing, moving and substituting) and edited with CUPS (capitalization, understanding, punctuation and spelling). We also peer critiqued to make sure our paragraphs answered our research question. We also read the book, More Than Anything Else, by Marie Bradby, a story based on the life of Booker T. Washington. We determined the gist of the story, the lesson and text details that conveyed the lesson.

SCIENCE
We examined the physical traits and behaviors of millipedes recently. Ask your child what body structures a millipede has and what the function or purpose is of the body parts. During the week ahead, we’ll poll a group of classmates to collect data on traits such as tongue rolling, hand clasping (with right or left thumb on top), scars and dates of last haircuts. We’ve been discussing whether a behavior is an instinctual behavior, such as migration, or a learned behavior.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We’ve been investigating the technology of early Indigenous people of Massachusetts. We are learning that technology doesn’t always pertain to electronic devices! Instead it can involve skills, tools and knowledge. Ask your child about the natural resources used to make wetus, longhouses, mishoons, fish weirs and wampum.

Learning News

10/17/2025

MATH
We’ve been learning strategies to solve division problems as we learn about the relationship between the properties of multiplication and division. We created our own related multiplication and division story problems to contribute to a class book of story problems for our classmates to solve. We also learned a new game called Missing Factor, where we see the product and one factor and determine the missing factor.

ELA
We’ve been learning about the main idea in nonfiction texts. We are noticing how sometimes the main idea is in the first paragraph of the text. Last week, students chose an “expert country” from the book, My Librarian is a Camel. Students are working in small groups and practicing close reading to understand the geographical features of the country, the learning challenges and the solutions to those challenges in some parts of the country. We are creating country posters and then writing a focused paragraph about the learning challenges in that country.

SCIENCE
We are learning all about plant and animal adaptations. An adaptation is a structure or behavior that helps a living thing survive in its environment. Ask your child to name an adaptation of a polar bear or a desert plant.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We are learning more about the natural resources in our area and the advantages and challenges presented by the climate in our area. Next week, we’ll spend time investigating maps and locations of various Indigenous peoples in our area.

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