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.

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!