Weekly Update

With the snow day and so many absent third graders...last week was an interesting week!

All-Star of the Week:

Levi was our amazing all-star last week.  He shared photographs of himself and his family...with the favorite being the one of he and his dad in his dad's mail truck.  Levi also brought in his favorite book to read to the class and had a smile the whole time he read it! The other big hit was when Levi shared a car he had received when he went to the Detroit Auto Show this year.

Research Workshop:

Last week, the students began their country research. They started the week by learning what research workshop is. Next, they learned how to find books that would help them in their research.  They began to record interesting facts in their composition notebooks and also recorded facts about their country in their draft booklets (population, size, which continent it is on, language spoken, etc.).  Many students became frustrated when they didn't find the information right away.  This was a good struggle for many because they learned that research takes a lot of commitment and perseverance---answers just don't come to us right away!

Adrien recording interesting facts about his country in his composition notebook.

Hannah flagging important facts with a sticky note that would later be recorded in her draft booklet.

Ben reading a sub-topic area of interest in his country book.

Fatima reading her country book at her book nook.

Math:

In math, the students continued their study of fractions.  After checking homework 7.5, we realized the students needed a more concrete way of comparing fractions to determine if a given fraction was greater than, less than or equal to 1/2.  We spent a day cutting out fraction strips and finding ways to fold these strips in eighths, quarters, halves, sixths, thirds and a whole.  Once these were labeled, we compared the fractions to one-half.  For example...the students used their fourths fraction strip and would line it up with their halves fraction strip.  They found that 2/4 = 1/2.  This was repeated for other fraction sets (3/4 is bigger than 2/8 or 1/8 is less than 4/6, etc.).

Students then used their fraction strips to complete a math page where any fraction that was larger than one half was colored yellow, any fraction that was exactly one half was colored green and fractions smaller than one half were colored orange. 

Social Studies:

We continued our study of the Southeast region this week. After visiting the coal mines of Appalachia, an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, Natchez, Mississippi, and Montgomery, Alabama, we made our final stops in both Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana.  In both Memphis and New Orleans, we learned about some of the most popular musical styles in the southeast.  The students worked on their tour stop writing as they listened to Dixieland Jazz, Delta Blues, Cajun music and Bluegrass.

You can see in the photos below that in the Southeast Region, the students traveled by boat (fisherman hats) rather than by train like in the Northeast.

Here, the students wore Mardi Gras masks as we stopped in New Orleans.

On Monday, March 7th, the students will take their Southeast Region test.  The review with the quizlet link is below.

Weekly Update

All-Star of the Week
Yousif was our amazing all-star last week.  The class laughed out loud at the story told about Yousif in his parent letter.  Students also enjoyed the pictures Yousif shared and the items in his sharing sack.  Yousif read aloud Pete the Cat and enjoyed a special lunch with his dad during his time as our class All-Star.

Valentine's Day
Students enjoyed pizza and bottles of water from our Classroom Party fund.  Thank you to Mrs. Frisen and Mrs. Clarke for delivering the pizza and serving it to the students.  Students then enjoyed passing out their Valentines and reading their cards.

Research Workshop
For our next unit, Reading and Writing Workshops will be combined as Research Workshop.  Last week students were immersed in nonfiction texts.  We reviewed the importance of nonfiction text features, and students enjoyed reading and sharing new facts they learned.  Students picked a text which interested them and chose a chapter to read.  Then they practiced creating a subtopic web and taking notes.  Finally they turned their notes into a paragraph using a paragraph map.  All of the steps students went through were to prep them for the research they will be doing this coming week on their country.  

Math
We are continuing our study of fractions.  This past week, students learned how to locate fractions less than and greater than one on a number line.  They also compared unit fractions using fraction bars and number lines.  Students can use the following rules when comparing fractions: 1. When two fractions have the same numerator, the fraction with the lesser denominator is the greater fraction.  2. When two fractions have the same numerator, the fraction with the greater denominator is the lesser fraction.

Science
We have begun our Structures of Life unit.  In our first investigation students went on a seed search while taking a closer look at a variety of fruits.  Students were introduced to the term property.  Students were asked to identify properties of the various seeds, including size, shape, color, texture, smell, and other features.  Each group took a closer look at seeds inside of an apple, pear, pomegranate, Chinese bittermelon, ugli fruit, kiwano melon, passion fruit, papaya, starfruit, and kiwi. 

In the next investigation, groups worked together to set up their mini-sprouters.  The mini-sprouters were created from a plastic container and coffee filter.  Students have placed bean, pea, popcorn, and sunflower seeds in their mini-sprouters and have been watering them.  We are keeping a close eye on them to see if they will grow.  We also set up a class sprouter, which has many seeds that have begun to grow.  

The final investigation was a two-day investigation.  Groups worked together on day one to measure the weight of five dry lima bean seeds.  Then they soaked the beans in water.  On day two, students   weighed their soaked bean seeds to discover the beans had absorbed water and weighed more.  Then students carefully opened the beans to examine the structures found inside.  Students were introduced to the seed coat, cotyledons, and embryo.  You can check out your child's Structures of Life Digital Notebook on his/her iPad saved in Keynote.

Mark tries to find seeds in his piece of starfruit.

Audrey is showing off the pile of seeds she found in her piece of papaya.

Madison is pulling seeds out of her piece of bittermelon.

David is searching for seeds in this piece of ugli fruit.

Daniella is working on the slides of her science journal in Keynote.

AJ is making sure her group's scale is balanced.

Our class sprouter is full of growing seeds!

Students took a close look at parts of a seed: seed coat, cotyledons, and embryo.

Typing Practice
Students have saved two websites to their iPad home screen: www.typing.com and www.keybr.com.  Your child can practice his/her typing skills using either of these websites.  Your child should place his/her iPad flat on a table and have both hands on his/her keyboard while practicing.  Every Friday morning in class your child will practice his/her typing skills using a keyboard, which plugs into the iPad.  Below are a couple pictures of students practicing in class.