She's Here!

Piper Grace Mastain

May 2, 2014 at 12:46

8lb 12 oz, 21 3/4 in

Sweet girl loves to eat and snuggle, but hates to sleep when she's not being held. Which made for a long first night back at home! Each night will get better though, right?

Emily loves her baby Piper. She's been showering hugs and kisses on Piper from the moment they met. Good thing babies are tough!

Deal or No Deal

Deal or no deal? How does money make trading easier? Why was money invented? How do people and companies decide if a trade is fair? 

These were all questions the students asked as they worked in our economics unit. The unit began with a review of some key vocabulary:  producers, consumers, goods, services, human resources, capital resources, natural resources, productive resources, and opportunity cost. 

The following two weeks explored how supply and demand affect price and how people can trade for the goods and services they want or need. We "traded around the world" and found that some of our peers are very good business people! These games also taught the meaning of scarcity! The students quickly learned that if they didn't have something worth trading, there was a high probability that the good they wanted would be gone!

We also discovered that specialization and assembly lines made the production of goods much more efficient! Play dough hamburgers have never been so informative!

Our summative project was to open an Ice Cream Shop. Based on the favorite ice cream flavors and toppings of the class, each small business was assigned a specific number of ice cream scoops and toppings.

The Goal:  Make your favorite ice cream sundae--at least 2 scoops of ice cream and at least 2 toppings

 

Day 1--trading day

Day 2--money day (where the shops tried to make the most money)

Prices varied based on the shops' ideas of supply and demand. Who would have thought that $6 scoops of triple chocolate ice cream would sell!

In the end, the students decided that it was much easier to get their perfect sundae using money. They didn't have to make sure they had what someone else wanted, and they had a much better chance to move quickly through the shops. Even still, many of the kids didn't get to create their perfect sundae. 

And we decided we needed some real ice cream!

Sound Challenges

I realize we've been done with our Sound unit for weeks... but the kids loved the unit and I thought I'd share some of the work we did.

Visiting Ms. Streit's classroom to see oobleck "dance" from the vibrations of the song through the amp.

The lower the pitch, the faster the oobleck danced... until it jumped right off the amp!

This unit involved lots of hands-on experiments. The kids tested how well sound vibrations moved through solids, liquids, and the air. We tested with high and low pitches by changing the length and tension of the instruments. We also tested with loud and soft volumes using megaphones (not my favorite day).

To wrap up the unit, the students wrote a Sound and Light Magazine. This summarized their research and practiced using nonfiction text features. They also completed Sound Challenges, combining the investigations throughout the unit to solve a problem.

Math Facts Challenges

Sorry, I know it's been awhile since I posted on here! Things certainly have been crazy with ISTEP and IREAD! And to think that things won't really slow down in the classroom until the end of May!

I'll be updating the blog with some pictures of activities we completed during the third 9-weeks. To start with... Our math facts!

Hot Chocolate Party:  Mixed Multiplication
*11 kids reached their 90 and 100 facts! Fantastic :-)

A great way to fight off the cold of winter!

Cookie Party:  Division Facts
*13 kids made it through their /9
*10 of those kids also passed their mixed division! Wow!

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Be on the lookout for a new Math Facts Challenge coming soon! 

We'll be reviewing all addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.

Learner Profile Stars

Congratulations to February's Learner Profile Stars! These students were excellent examples of being Balanced and Principled!

Youseff

Ramiyah

Amira

Jayla

Pratik

Olivia

Moo Gay

Kate

Valentine's Day Party

Many thanks to Laura des Bordes for coordinating and hosting our Valentine's Day party. And thanks to Kathy Dreyer for coming in to help out too! Many thanks to each of you who donated cupcakes, candies, plates, etc.

Needless to say, the kids had an amazing, loud, and sugary time! Making valentines envelopes, handing out and reading cards, two cupcakes, a heart relay race, and chopsticks to move little candies... what more could a kid ask for!

Homework Mistake

Oops! I made a mistake while copying the Reading Homework. You can disregard this page and just do the Math Homework. Don't forget the Reading Log and Fluency passage! Sorry about the confusion. :)

Practice Website

Mrs. Gentry found a great new website that allows the kids to practice ISTEP multiple choice questions. It will tell you if the answer is incorrect and doesn't allow you to move on until the correct answer is chosen. I especially like the practice since it's online--IREAD and ISTEP multiple choice are all the computer, so it's a great way to get the kids used to it! Enjoy!

Ms. Todd's Website

Constructed Response Questions

During the Reading Comprehension portion of the March ISTEP, students will be asked to write a response about what they just read. The week of the snowstorm, I went to a Reading Conference put on by Kristina Smekens. It was tons of fantastic information that is guiding the 3rd grade's preparations for ISTEP Reading and IREAD.

High Scoring Responses:
*Question was restated
*Response was more than a summary
*Specific details from the text
*Stand-alone paragraph (you didn't need the question to understand the paragraph)

Process (EVERY TIME)
1.  Understand the question
2.  Restate the question
3.  Provide a general answer
4.  Skim the text
5.  Give two reasons from the text
*6. End with why the evidence fits (due to limited line space and time, this is something that will be more appropriate for 4th grade and on)
7. Reread only your response

Product:  Yes, Ma'am
We're talking lots about The Test Lady as we practice. She's the Ma'am we're writing to!

Use this format for any written responses that come home. And ask your own questions about what you read together--even if it's an oral response, getting your child into the habit of thinking through these sentences will help!

Example: 
What do fossils tell us about the past?
Fossils tell us about the past. The text says they show what plants and animals looked like. The text also says that fossils show what dinosaurs lived in groups. That's what fossils tell us about the past.

Prepping for the Test

It seems like everything we're doing right now circulates around preparing for ISTEP and IREAD. Test taking strategies, constructed response formats, working in a time frame, reading longer passages, taking tests on a computer, writing math procedures... So much goes into getting the kids comfortable to sit down and take a lengthy, high stakes test. And no matter how we feel about the testing itself, we want them to feel as though they can tackle whatever "The Test Lady" throws at them.

The good news is, even with all this test preparation, it's not sacrificing quality instruction and the learning of skills to be successful next year. We'll still do reading, writing, and math--there will just be time set aside to show how test questions could be asked about what we're doing! (PS--Science and Social Studies will be taught too! But since we don't test over them, I won't tie it into test taking prep).

Things We're Doing In Class To Prepare:
*IREAD practice test (coming soon)
*ISTEP practice reading test (closer to the multiple choice test in May)
*Daily Reading Review
*Reading lessons:  reading longer passages, finding the answer in the text, constructed responses, multiple choice questions
*Reading small groups:  targeted practice on skills that need support
*Online reading tests
*IREAD practice packets
*Writing prompts:  how to answer a prompt, prewriting, organizing into paragraphs, editing, grading
*Daily Math Review
*Math problem solving:  multi-step problems, explain how you solved, key words
*Math work stations:  leveled activities to brush up on difficult skills based on the Math AYP
*Multiple Choice practice:  how to read, 50/50 strategy, go back to the text
*Reading/Math/Grammar practice book:  worksheets and games to be completed every two weeks

Things You Can Do At Home:
*Homework
*Moby Max:  both reading and math (Login information:  Username--96 number, Password--last name in all capital letters)
*Optional practice packets
*Open ended question practice:  criteria, ideas, and procedures will be coming home in the next two weeks
*Word games
*Read and ask questions
*ISTEP questions from previous years

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Keep checking out the blog for ideas for how to prepare!

IREAD Parent Meeting Thursday, January 23rd at 8:45 and 6:00. Please plan to attend.

ISTEP/IREAD Practice

A whole extra week of Winter Break! As much as I LOVED the extra time with Emily, we were going pretty stir crazy. It's amazing what a trip to Target can do when you've been stuck inside for three days!

But with this week off, I've done lots of planning, creating, and Pinterest-ing for ideas to make practicing for our upcoming standardized tests meaningful, targeted, and fun. It's going to be an intense couple of months! Our third grade team has already collaborated on some practice packets, which you'll see coming home soon.

We're really targeting the open ended questions:
*Reading Response:  Read a lengthy passage and answer a question using evidence from the text (length:  approximately 8-10 sentences)
*Writing:  Write a story from your life with a focus on organization and word choice
*Math:  multi-step problems solving and explaining how to solve the problem

For in-class practice, I'll be creating binders that will change each week (Reading will change every other week).
*4 Reading Activities
*1 Reading Game
*4 Grammar/Phonics Activities
*4 Math Activities
*1 Math Game

But this is where I'll need your help! Putting these binders together is a pretty laborious project, and while I think it's HUGELY important, any help you can provide would be much appreciated!
--Run copies
--Change out the activities (These will be switched out of the plastic page protectors each week)

Send me a note or email to let me know if you're interested in helping out. The binders will change every Friday, but whenever you're available will be great!