Friday, September 23, 2016

All-Star of the Week: Rishit
Rishit was our amazing all-star last week. On Monday, he brought in his sharing sack.  One of the items that he brought in was a towel with his name on it that his aunt gave to him,  a medal, and a book with a collection of Rishit's incredible artwork.  He shared photographs of he and his brother when they were babies as well as a few pictures from the trips he has taken with his family.  He also read his favorite book to the class and enjoyed a special lunch with his mom, dad and brother.


Math Workshop:
In math last week, the students were introduced to the concept of division, learned the commutative property and were exposed to strategies for solving simple multiplication/division facts.  Below you will see students using our count-by routine for x2 facts.   


In our small group work, students used manipulatives to solve story problems with multiplication and division.  They practiced writing both types of related equations as a strategy to help them problem solve.  For example, many students are more confident when trying to solve 5 X ? =20 but less confident when they see 20 / 5 = ? If they can think of the related multiplication fact for the trickier division one that they are stuck on, they can find success in coming up with a solution.


Another strategy to solve division problems is to use the math mountain framework that they are used to from lower elementary, only now they will apply it with multiplication/division.  When trying to solve for 45 divided by 5 = ? students can put 45 at the top of the mountain and count by 5s until they hear themselves say 45.  Then they count how many 5s they drew to find their answer.  


In the photos below, you'll see our third grade mathematicians learning what the heart of division is---equal groups.  Students were given a set number of total counters and a set number of counters that needed to be in each group and had to then determine how many groups to make.  They worked together in partnerships as they explored division in this hands-on format. 


Writing Workshop: Crafting True Stories
Our writing unit kicked off with students forming writing partnerships and sharing the most important tool that a writer has---their writing notebooks.  By sharing the photographs on their notebooks, students were planting seeds for the many true story ideas they will begin to write in the upcoming weeks.  



From there, our writers learned that writers think about the special people in their lives and the small moments that they share with those people and write a whole story about them.  Below you can see students writing a person's name in their notebook and listing the small moments that they have shared with that person.  This pre-writing stage of the writing process is important because it will help them generate ideas for future true stories.




Throughout every unit this year in writing, students will learn from exemplar authors.  Below are copied notebook pages from a third grade writer named Rebecca.  We will refer to her and many other mentor authors to help us know what our own third grade writing should look like.  We've made the connection of using exemplar writers to help us with our own writer just as we would use the picture on the lid of a puzzle box to help us know what our puzzle should look like at the end of piecing it together.  This helps us determine our own goals and the steps we need to take to reach those goals.  


Below is a close up photo of an anchor chart from our writing mini-lesson.

Once we have taught the mini-lesson with our anchor chart, it is displayed above the writing table and the students' cubbies.  These visual reminders are helpful tools for all.  Students are encouraged to refer to these charts when working independently to help them monitor their success in reaching a given writing goal.  They are also helpful for students because they reiterate the big idea from the mini-lesson. 


Reading Workshop:

In reading last week, the students learned about our classroom library. Students learned where different genres and series were located and how the library was organized.  They also practiced returning books to our classroom library so that they can book shop for just-right books easier and not waste any of our precious reading time. We are enjoying reading with each student individually because we're able to see the many strengths they all have.  This information is helpful in planning for our small group instruction that will be implemented in the upcoming weeks!



Social Studies: Where is Troy, Michigan?
We began our first unit in Social Studies...Where is Troy, Michigan? To help students learn the different regions of the United States this year, we kicked-off our geography work with learning exactly where we are in relation to the rest of the world.  Last week, the students learned about the 7 continents and major oceans that make up our world.  We then zoomed in and looked at North America and the three countries that make up our continent (Canada, Mexico and the United States).  Students are practicing using map keys to find different locations and how to label those locations. 






Sunday, September 18, 2016

Weekly Update

Our group of third graders is off to a great start!  They have done an awesome job getting back into a school routine.  Students have downloaded the following apps, which we will use throughout the year: Educreations, Scholastic News, Raz-Kids, Spelling City, and Front Row.  Below are a few pictures of students exploring the Scholastic News app.  We read about the constitution in an article titled, How Teamwork Built America.



Reading Workshop:
Students have learned the organization of our classroom library.  We have talked about how to choose just right books and fill their book boxes with books which interest them.  We also read The Dot as another example of a character who had a growth mindset.  Afterward we painted our own dots to symbolize the growth mindset each of us will have as we enter Room 13 each morning.






Writing Workshop:
Students decorated the outside covers of their writer's notebook.  We will write personal narratives throughout our first unit.  The writer's notebook will be a place for students to write about special people and places in their lives.  We will be creating lists of memorable experiences associated with those special people and places as well.







Math Workshop:
Our first math unit focuses on multiplication and division.  This week we introduced our 5s count-bys  and focused on solving multiplication word problems.  They are writing equations and drawing pictures and arrays to show how they've solved the problems.  Students have learned the commutative property of multiplication as well...3x5=15 is the same as 5x3=15.  We will take our first math fact fluency quiz on Tuesday.  Please practice 5s multiplication count-bys with your child.  If your child scores at least 19/20, he/she will take the 5s division quiz on Thursday.  If your child scores less than 19/20, he/she will take the 5s multiplication quiz again on Thursday.  Below are the pictures we showed on Curriculum Night.  Math Talk will be an important part of math throughout the school year so that students are exposed to different ways of thinking and solving the same problem.








Friday, September 9, 2016

Room 13 All-Stars 2016-2017


Meet Our Starting Line-Up..
#1 - Luca

#2 - Aloki

#3 - Brynlee

#4 - Jayden

#5 Quin

#6 - Quin

#7 - Owen

#8 - Mariana

#9 - Simran

#10 - Hank

#11 - Damario

#12 - Jake

#14 - Lana

#15 - Yaseen

#16 - Andrzej

#17 - Aastha

#18 - Braeden

#19 - Muhammad

#20 - Rishit

#21 - Seth

#22 - Lourdes

#23 - Kyndal

#24 - Dominic


Some First Week Fun:
The students entered third grade with all smiles as they worked on figuring out our welcome message using  a secret Emoji code.  They also decorated their sports caps and joined our team to kick off a great year together.




The all-stars also completed a Who's Who activity in our room to get to know each other.

Students also had a chance to browse our classroom library and book shop for books for IDR time.

Sometimes...we just need to DANCE! Below you see students dancing/moving to a Go Noodle brain break.

STEM Challenge #1: Apples Aloft
S.T.E.M. is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  We use STEM-driven challenges to help our students gain the skills required to succeed in today's challenging world. This includes the ability to think critically, solve complex problems, and drive advancements in science and technology.

Our first challenge was called Apples Aloft  The students were given a number of school supplies along with a small apple and were challenged to work in groups to build the tallest tower given the constraints listed below.



Building Time in Action...



Out of 4 teams, 2 were able to build a free-standing structure in the set time.  However, one group didn't follow one of the limitations leaving the green table to be the winning team. 

We have a winner.... 

After our first STEM challenge, we gathered together to debrief.  The "+" are the things that the students felt that they did well in their challenge and the "deltas" are things that they felt could be changed for better results in the future. You can read the students' take-aways below.  What impressed us most was how reflective they were of the activity.  Many were surprised at how difficult the challenge was.  At first glance, they said that they felt building a tower would be easy given the many supplies that were distributed.  What was even more surprising they shared...was that the winning group used the fewest number of supplies and found a way to simplify the challenge.  We also discussed how the winning group was the one that had all members contributing, working hard and persevering the entire time.  Although their original design failed, they came up with a different tower design by observing what each other were trying and making modifications in the moment. 

We are excited to see how our class develops their thinking skills throughout the year as they encounter more challenges like the one above!!!!

Room 13 Class Culture: The Importance of Thinking and Using a Growth Mindset
A big portion of our week was spent creating our classroom culture.  One way that we did this was through our class read-alouds.  Feel free to check these out from the local library to see what room 13 will be all about this year!

In Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, the students learned the importance of thinking for oneself or thinking differently than others.  The uniqueness and creativity of each individual person is what led to the success of Diffendoofer School and will lead to each person's success this year in third grade. 

The Energy Bus for Kids is a story that teaches us how to overcome negativity and everyday challenges.  It shows us how to find our inner motivation and how to share that with others to help everyone find success.


The Most Magnificent Thing is a great book that illustrates what the Growth Mindset is all about! In this story, the girl is set out to make the most magnificent thing but although she has a great plan, she tries and fails repeatedly.  With a little inspiration from her pug, she perseveres, finds the best part of each previous failed attempts and creates something amazing!

Growth Mindset Videos
Below are five short videos that the students watched to learn about a Growth Mindset.  Making mistakes and the power of YET are two powerful messages that you'll see in the videos below that are important for a successful third grade year.  

https://ideas.classdojo.com/i/growth-mindset-1
https://ideas.classdojo.com/i/growth-mindset-2
https://ideas.classdojo.com/i/growth-mindset-3
https://ideas.classdojo.com/i/growth-mindset-4
https://ideas.classdojo.com/i/growth-mindset-5

A Friendly Reminder...
Curriculum Night is Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!