Weekly Update

All-Star of the Week
Damario was our All-Star of the Week last week.  Students enjoyed seeing the items from his sharing sack, including a signed hockey puck.  We also enjoyed all of the pictures he brought in, especially his adorable baby pictures.  Damario also had a special lunch with his mom and received many nice compliments from his classmates on Friday.

 Jog-a-Thon
Students had fun at this annual event!

Reading Workshop
 Students played a game of Kahoot! to review the different types of genres.  It is our hope this year students will be exposed to and try reading different genres, including: realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, traditional literature, science fiction, mystery, informational, biography, and autobiography.  Students also practiced giving themselves a comprehension check while reading during IDR time.  Students should be asking themselves "Who is in this part?" and "What just happened?" often while they are reading text to make sure they are understanding the text.

Math Workshop
Students have been working really hard solving lots of multiplication and division word problems this unit.  We are consistently reminding students to write an equation with a variable and a label for each answer.  This will help students earn full points on their math assessment at the end of the unit.  We have also been solving many area problems.  Students understand to multiply the length and width of a rectangle to solve for area because we've practiced solving multiplication with arrays.  One strategy students have practiced recently is to break apart a large rectangle into two smaller rectangles in order to more easily solve the area of the large rectangle.  Below is an example.  At first we practiced this strategy using square inch Cheez-its.  Students will need to be able to write an equation like the one in the picture as well to receive full points for this type of problem on the unit assessment.

Science
We have learned a lot about water through our first set of investigations.  Students investigated what happens to drops of water on different surfaces, including: foil, waxed paper, paper towel, paper, and sponge.  We have discussed surface tension and have conducted water races with domes of water of different sizes down a slope.  Students learned that heavier domes of water win the race every time!  Students also discovered the water domes will race down faster when the slope is steeper.

 

All-Star of the Week: Aloki

Aloki was our amazing all-star last week.  On Monday, she brought in her sharing sack where she showed the class a book she had made when she was in pre-school titled Out in Space.  She also shared chimes that she made to attract birds for her birdhouse and photographs from her trip to Hawaii as well as baby pictures and pictures of her and her brother at preschool together.  She read her favorite book Pinkalicious: Tickled Pink and enjoyed a special lunch with her family.

 

 

Reading:

Last week in reading we were establishing how important it is for readers to build reading lives.  This means that we can't just put our eyes in a book and expect to become better readers.  Readers need to come prepared and ready to work, read in spots where they can concentrate and feel comfortable, make a plan or goal as a reader and challenge themselves to reach that goal. Lastly, we practiced monitoring our reading by checking in and asking ourselves "Did I set myself up for the best possible reading today?"  As we reflect on our thoughtful practice, we can make changes for tomorrow's reading or repeat the successes we had to develop our reading skills all year.

Writing:

Our writers learned the importance of editing as they go last week.  From the chart below, students learned that they can use the resources around them when crafting true stories.  They were also expected to try the word study patterns in their writing for words they didn't know how to spell if they had the long a sound in them. They are also expected to write their individualized high frequency words correctly every time they write.  Additionally, they learned strategies for writing tricky words.

Here you see students using a resource to help them edit--their Quick Word booklet.

Independent writing time in action

At the end of the week, students learned about LEADS in writing.  Students learned that there are different types of leads and that good writers must have a good lead to hook the audience so that they want to continue reading the story.

•  Talking Lead: the lead begins with dialogue

• Question Lead: the lead begins with an interesting question

• Action Lead: the lead gets the reader quickly involved in the story by starting with an exciting event or some kind of action

• Sound Effect Lead: the lead gets the reader hooked with words that describe a sound

• Snapshot Lead: the lead gets the reader interested in the story by the writer painting a picture with words which draws the reader in

Both Andrzej and Aastha were showing evidence of good leads in their personal narratives.  Below you see photos of them sharing their work at closing meeting.

Math:

Seth was our mathematician and he is leading the class in our count by routines for x9s facts.  Students also practiced their count bys on their whiteboards.

In math, the students reviewed 2s, 5s, 9s and 10s.  They were given the problems below and asked to show their picture proofs of how they problem solved.  This led to students sharing their own strategies for problem solving (math talk).

 From there, we applied those strategies to different story problems in our journal work.  Below is a snapshot of Andrzej's thinking and picture proof for a divided by 5 story problem.

Word Study:

Last week students began word study.  They learned about LONG A and the first two patterns that long a words have (a-consonant-e and ai).  Students played games on the Smartboard to sort words based on their vowel sound.

They also had to find words within a paragraph, highlight them and then categorize them on their whiteboards based on the long a pattern the word followed.

 

 

 

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.