The (new) third graders came home today with summer homework packets. These will be due the first day of school. Doing a little bit each day will go a long way to avoiding the dreaded "summer slide". Keep them reading lots and fluent in their math facts. If they are ready for an additional challenge, you can have them start learning their multiplication tables! After their summer homework packet is finished, here are some suggestions to keep your third grader learning and growing all summer.
Reading:
- Choose your favorite fairy tale and read all of the different versions of it you can find. Here is a link to many different versions of Cinderella. After reading, write your own version!
- Do you have a burning question? Go to the library and find a non-fiction book that can answer your question.
- For summer car trips, get a map from AAA and help your family plan the route. Highlight the route on the map.
- Keep a daily journal.
- Practice reading a picture book until fluent. Make a video of yourself reading the story and send it to your grandparents.
- Write a letter to your teacher telling what you did over the summer. Use proper letter writing format.
- Get your own library card.
- Join the summer reading program at the library and earn all of the prizes.
- Learn a new word every day. Use the word in daily conversation with your grown-ups.
- Get together with a group of friends and act out a story in a play. Put on the play for your grown-ups.
- Pretend you are a super hero. Make a comic book about your adventures.
- Make a scrapbook over the summer with pictures and descriptions of all the fun things you do.
- Go to a movie. Pretend you are the script writer and write a different ending for the movie.
Math:
- Have you been wanting to buy something? Create a savings plan for your allowance. Count out your money. Figure out how much more you need to buy the thing you want. How many weeks allowance do you need to save to buy what you want?
- Make addition and subtraction flashcards and do them with a friend. Have a contest over who can do them the fastest.
- Make your own board game where the players need to know their addition, subtraction and multiplication facts in order to advance.
- Help plan and cook a family meal. How much is it to buy all of the ingredients? Is one brand of spaghetti cheaper than another? By how much? What if we have 8 people in our family, but the recipe only serves 4? Can we modify the recipe for 8 people?
- Measure the sides of your bedroom in inches. Convert it to feet and inches. Can you draw a map with all of your furniture to scale?
- Poll your friends and family about their favorite ice cream flavors. Draw a bar graph.
- Run a lemonade stand. If you put out a $5 investment in lemonade powder and cups, how much lemonade do you need to sell and how many cups do you need to sell to recoup your initial business investment?
Social Studies
- Research a country of your choice. Find it on a map. Find out what kinds of food they eat and make a dinner for your family.
- Interview your mom, dad, grandma or grandpa about what things were like when they were little and how things have changed. What sorts of games did they like to play? What were their favorite foods? Compare and contrast similarities to your own life.
- Visit a national park and read all of the informational signs.
- Read a biography and learn all about a person in history.
Science:
- Learn about an animal of your choice. What do they eat? Where do they live? What are their natural predetors?
- Go on a nature hike. Collect leaves in a journal. Look up what kinds of leaves you found in a field guide to trees.
- Learn the names of a few constellations and how and where to find them in the night sky.
