Learner Profile Stars

Congratulations to the students who earned Learner Profile Stars for Communicator and Reflective!

Ramiyah

Jayla

Jaleigha

Haven

Olivia

Joseph

Kate

Ivan

Keep up the good work!

Multiplication Ice Cream Party

After 12 weeks of practicing multiplication facts, the 3rd grade got to celebrate with a Sundae Party!

Be on the lookout in the first party of January for the new multiplication challenge. And get ready to start division facts too!

Rube Goldberg

What do you get when you combine lots of trash/recyclables, a buzzer, and small groups? Chaos, noise, and a Rube Goldberg machine that worked... well, sort of!

For two weeks, the class reviewed simple machines and did Rube Goldberg practice challenges.

 

Then it was time to get into small groups and put together a class machine. Boxes, ramps, balls, marbles, lots of tape, marble works… the room was a complete disaster! But great ideas and wonderful teamwork made for a fun two days!

Math Review

Our next math test is tomorrow! It will cover drawing fractions, naming fractions, showing fractions on a number line, measuring to the nearest ¼ inch, creating line plots, and reading circle graphs.

Here's a copy of our review sheet. You'll have to write your own fractions in for the first part of the review. :-)

Units 3 and 4 Review Sheet

Point of View

This week our writing has focused on Point of View. We've looked at the similarities and differences between 1st person and 3rd person. We sorted books based on the POV.

And then we started writing from different points of view. I've attached the dogs power point that we used in class. The kids wrote 3-5 sentence stories from a third person POV about the picture. Then they switched to 1st person and they pretended they were the dog. This a great activity to do with any picture!

Dogs Point of View
(all images are from Google)

Welcome Back!

I hope you had a fantastic Fall Break. I have to admit, it was great not being at school and getting to spend time with Emily! But I did plenty of planning and grading while I was away too!

 

So far, this has been a great and busy week. We've covered lots of information and have worked hard!

Just a reminder that we'll be covering the following topics in the next nine weeks. Not surprising, there's a lot here!

Reading:  cause and effect, main idea and details, shades of meaning, sequencing, theme, compare and contrast, author’s purpose, character traits, story structure, drawing conclusions

Math:  unit fractions, equal area, fractions on a number line, adding and subtracting fractions, fractions in measurement, line segments and lines, telling time, elapsed time, volume, mass, adding units of length, counting money, measurement conversions, multiplication facts through x10

Don't forget to check out Math Facts Pro and Moby Max for extra practice. I've added them to our Math Links too (you need to sign in so the work is recorded).

Math Test Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our Quarter 1 Math Test. For homework, the students need to finish their review sheets. We completed part of it together in class. If you want a blank copy to practice at home, click on the link below to download it!

Quarter 1 Review Sheet

IB Stars: Caring

Thank you to the following students for consistently showing the IB Learner Profile Caring. Your show of respect, kindness, and compassion is such a great example. Keep up the good work!

Henry

Arely

Amira

Cecilia

Pratik

Olivia

Moo Gay

Kate

Next month's IB Learner Profile traits are Risk-Taker and Knowledgeable. 

Mock Rocks

Remember this lesson prepping?

During the last two weeks, the students have been learning the characteristics of rocks. That began with an experiment called Mock Rocks, where pairs of kids "mined" through their fake rocks to discover shells, smaller rocks, food coloring, and sand. We learned that minerals are the same material all the way through, and that rocks are a combination of minerals.

Here are some pictures of that week...

Math Test Tomorrow

This first math unit has been a big one! Lots of new concepts, lots of big numbers, lots of hard work!

The test will cover the following topics:

*Rounding

*Subtracting across Zeroes

*Checking with Addition

*Comparing Numbers

*Even and Odd Numbers

*Place Value Models

*Ways to Write Numbers (standard, word, and expanded forms)

*Right Angles

*Perimeter

Today in class we completed a review packet. I've attached it here if you want a fresh copy. Otherwise, just make up your own examples! And keep in mind, the kids will have to read the whole test by themselves.

Unit 1 Review Packet

Lesson Planning

Getting ready for a lesson next week...

Yum (????)

Order in the Court

On Friday, Judge Burleson came for a question/answer session with the class. For 45 minutes, she entertained the kids with stories from her career, legal vocabulary, and connections to The Trial of Cardigan Jones. Thanks so much for volunteering to come in--the kids learned so very much!

Since the kids were so excited about everything they had learned, we wrapped up our crime scene from Monday with a trial. The kids looked at the evidence and drew conclusions based on what they observed. Four people were accused:  a random stranger, Emily (my daughter), Mr. Mastain, and me.

The class was divided into lawyer teams based on who they were accusing and used the evidence based statements to support these accusations. The jury decided which team gave the most convincing argument. And I pulled out my college graduation robe to be the "judge."

The jury

Key pieces of evidence:  books knocked over, scribbles on the whiteboard, footprints, and a piece of hair

Winning argument:  The only lawyer team that didn't focus on the footprints in the rug.

Winning team

Daily Schedule

Now that we're getting through assessments, we're doing better staying on schedule! It's a jam packed day, that's for sure!

8:15 Arrival and Morning Work

8:35 Phonics/Grammar

9:00 Guided Reading

9:30 Literacy Work Stations

10:00 Story and Snack

10:05 Writing

10:50 Interventions (literacy 3 days and math 2 days)

11:25 IB (science and social studies)

12:15 Lunch

12:45 Recess

1:10 Math

2:20 Specials

3:15 Dismissal Procedures

3:20 Car Riders Dismissed

3:25 Bus Riders Dismissed

Specials Schedule:

Library

Music

Gym

Spanish

Art

New Report Card

This year Washington Township has developed a standards based report card. This means that not only will your child receive a letter grade in each subject, he/she will also receive a 1, 2, or 3 in specific standards. This gives more detailed information about how your child is doing in the specific subject areas. For example, Reading includes phonics, fluency, literature, informational texts, and responding to reading.

Other changes:
*There's no specific Spelling grade. This is integrated into the Language grade.
*Social Studies and Science standards won't be marked each quarter. We don't cover each standard each quarter, and I'll only mark those standards that are covered.

Report Card

CSI

Monday morning, this is what the kids found in our classroom...

Begin crime scene investigation...

This week our reading strategies are Inferring and Drawing Conclusions. On Monday, the kids wrote observations about the crime scene. No inferring what happened or why. Just observations! Then Tuesday, we used those observations to draw conclusions about what happened and who created the mess in our room. Friday's lesson will focus on using these observations as evidence to write sentences. A huge part of reading this year is using the text to support your responses, so we created a list of sentence starters to do so. Since we didn't have text for this activity, we used our observations!

This activity provided the students a real life reason to observe. Then those observations were used as evidence to support their conclusions. This is also an easy activity to recreate at home to have your child practice these thinking strategies! We'll do more detective work as the year goes on, so students get used to looking for evidence within the text.

Evidence Sentence Starters
*On page _______, it said...
*The author wrote...
*For instance...
*According to the text...
*From the reading, I know that...
*For example...
*Based on what I read...
*The graphic showed...
*Based on the illustration...

Essential Agreements

Last week we created the Essential Agreements for this year...
*Work hard and be nice.
*Follow directions the first time.
*Listen during teaching times.
*Be honest.
*Take care of the people and things in our school.

Remind your child that these are the way we'll have a respectful and caring classroom family!

Retelling

This week, we're reading the story A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech. It's a humorous fiction story about an enthusiastic principal  who keeps adding more school...weekends, holidays, and the summer!

from Amazon

We'll be studying story elements and retelling this week. Attached are two graphic organizers to help students identify story elements (character, setting, problem, and solution) and retell the story. Keep in mind, the these responses should be in complete sentences. I also tell the students that each section of the retelling should have two or more sentences in it.

Retelling Graphic Organizers
from CFClassroom.com and Journeys Reading Series

Welcome to 2013-14

1 week down...

It's hard to believe that another school year has already begun, but we're off to a great start! Learning new names, connecting our interests, reading chapter books, and investigating gummy bears.

I'm so glad your child is in my class! Already this has been a great year, and I can't wait to see what adventures we go on in the next 177 days.  For the next few weeks, I'll be doing reading and math assessments to see what your child's strengths and needs are. After that, we'll be able to jump right into small groups.

Just a reminder that Back to School Night for all of Spring Mill will be Thursday, August 22nd. Until then, here's a quick tour of our classroom...

Welcome to Our Room

Our Classroom Library

Classroom Library (my favorite part of the room!) 

Computer Area and Standards Board

Small Group Area

Here's to a great start to the year!