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.
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