Dear Parents,

Hi! Here is Mora Ariella, the Judaic Studies teacher.
I am happy to be a part of the Third Grade Blog and share some of the exciting things that happens in our classroom.

This year we started a special program to learn Judaic Studies called Tal Am.
In the program, we learn subjects such as Chumash, Jewish Festivals, the Parsha of the week, and Jewish Heritage. The program includes workbooks, music CD’s, story books, wall posters and educational games all in Hebrew. For more information about the program please check the website talam.org.

During the morning, the girls are learning to speak and integrate Hebrew words into their learning. As the weeks go by, we gradually add more Hebrew words and their vocabulary will I”YH grow throughout the year.

I am looking forward to a great year with your daughters and working with you to make it a positive learning environment Please feel free to email if there are questions or concerns at morahariella@mazeldayschool.com .Or call me at school and I will return your call as soon as possible!

Morah Ariella.

Science: Model of a Backbone

Directed Inquiry: Explore How can you make a model of a backbone?

Vertebrates are animals with backbones. On tuesday we made models of backbones.

We discussed how the model is different from a real backbone and how the model is like a real backbone; How a backbone is able to bend and what would happen if any of the bones in the back broke.

Middah of the Week - Derech Eretz (respect for those who are older or wiser than us)

At this weeks Morning Meeting we discussed a new middah of Derech Eretz - Showing respect for those who are older than us.





We talked about respecting our parents, grandparents, teachers and any older person.





We can respect them by standing up for them, or giving up our seat; Offering a drink before we take ourselves and talking with respectful words and tone of voice.





Please use the Middos Message notes to comment if your child practiced this Middah at any time during the week.





It is so meaningful to your child and to the rest of the class when you send in a Middos note! It reinforces the Middah of the week and celebrates your child's success! Thank you!

Words Heard In Our Classroom:

These are the words that our 3rd graders hear frequently in the classroom....

These are the kind of behaviors we expect.

Our class is so familiar with these words, some of our students have even begun to use them too! :)

Reading Skill - Main Idea

We have begun to practice a new reading skill: Main Idea.

Every text has a main idea supported by lots of details. Every paragraph has a main idea and details.

Our goal is to be able to identify what the main idea is and what the details are. We need to determine the importance of each idea we read.

This week during reading time - we wrote on a sticky note the main idea of the chapter we were reading and two supporting details.

Science - Chapter 1 Test and Beginning of Chapter 2

Here are some pictures of a recent investigation we did - "How fast do different kinds of seeds germinate?":

On Tuesday we had a test on 'Plants and how they grow'.

Today we are beginning a new chapter - 'How do animals live, grow and change'.
The new vocabulary words from this chapter are up on our wall:

• Trait



• Inherited



• Vertebrate



• Adaptation



• Hibernate



• Migrate



• Larva



• Pupa

If you have a chance to discuss these words with your child, it would be great to help reinforce their meaning!

Trip to Central Park Zoo - 28th October

Our class will be taking a trip to the Central Park Zoo on thursday the 28th of october.

We will leave school at 9:30 and arrive back to school at 1:30. We will be travelling together with the rest of Elementary school by school bus.
This is an outdoor trip, please make sure your child is dressed appropriately.

When we are there we will be studying different groups of animals: vertebrates and invertebrates. We will be discussing animal traits and which group of animals they belong to.

This trip is tied into our science curriculum, and social studies too, as we have been learning about NYC landmarks.
Im sure this will be a hands-on learning experience for our students and fun too!