A lot of changes are going on in Room 29! We have moved on from our focus on personal narratives and our study of character traits in non-fiction literature in Writer's and Reader's Workshops, and finished up our unit on rocks and minerals in science. Not to mention, we've jumped into a new module in math where we're learning about time and measurement. That means lots of new things to learn and lots of new, exciting activities to work on.
As the week began, we started off Reader's workshop with a series of lessons about non-fiction text features and how they help us to become better readers and to better understand the content of the texts we read. We used the great technology tool, Learnzillion every day to learn about a new aspect of how to better understand non-fiction texts. We learned how headings can help us find out what a section of an article is mostly about, about how to understand tricky words, about how to use our prior knowledge to ask questions about text, and about how to find the main idea about a section of a passage or an entire book.
Students put those lessons into practice by using sticky note to ask questions about their own reading and to identify what they thought sections of articles would be about based on their headings. We used non-fiction texts in our classroom library as well as National Geographic for Kids magazines.
In Writer's Workshop, students learned about how to choose a topic they know a lot about and how to begin to craft a non-ficiton informational writing piece about that topic as if they were an expert. They learned all sorts of key text features that they might want to include in their own writing. We picked topics to write about and began to get started working on our new books.
During our review for our end of unit science test, we played a rousing game of Jeopardy on the Smartboard.
As we continued to study time to the minute and elapsed time, students worked in cooperative groups on an application problem. Each group had to answer their question using a reasonable strategy and then design a poster to represent their answer and strategy.
We also reviewed multiplication facts with a new game called Read, Think and Color. While multiplication facts were shown on the Smartboard every 20 seconds, students had to color in the corresponding answer on a 100's grid. In the end, if the student answered all the questions correctly, they would discover they had created a picture. This week we made Pigeon from the Mo Willems Pigeon books and Steve from Minecraft. We also worked on a multiplication fact pumpkin.
Our second game--one which we will play throughout the year to keep sharp with our facts--is Three Strikes. Representatives from two teams face each other to see who can answer multiplication facts the fastest.
As a Halloween treat, students wrote amazing stories after being given some ominous first sentence story starters! We have some great imaginations in Room 29.
Reminders:
*Coats, coats, coats! Recess is held every day unless it rains--and it's getting cold out there! Students should come to school dressed appropriately for the chilly weather.
*Mystery Masks are due Thursday, October 30.
*Our Halloween Party is Friday, October 31. This is a party for children only though room moms may contact you to ask if you would be willing to send in a few items like plates and napkins. All snacks served at the party will be healthy and nut free. We will not be dressing up that day, though we will have our mask parade in the morning with the other 3rd grade classes. I also will be displaying the masks in the classroom and will take pictures of them for the blog and to post on Edline.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Room 29's Week in Review
Since I am keeping this blog public, I won't be posting any photos of students or mentioning any names here. However, if you would like to see great pictures of your kids at work in the classroom and out, please visit our Edline site. There are photos located under each content area in the right hand sidebar.
We had a great week (check out the pictures!) in Room 29. The highlight of our week was our Publishing Party where all our writers got a chance to read their personal narratives to the class! What amazing storytellers we have! The kids really grew tremendously as authors in the 7 weeks we worked on this unit.
In reader's workshop, we had a lot of fun preparing for our mystery mask project (due on Thursday, October 30). We read short mysteries in class and then broke up into groups and answered questions about them. I cordoned off the desks with real police crime scene tape and gave all the children magnifying glasses to set the mood! They had a great time. Next week we will try to work on writing our own mysteries!
We wrapped up our unit on rocks and minerals in science with a few fun experiments to learn more about sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. There are some pictures on Edline of the kids working to make samples of sedimentary rock using layers of clay. They learned about how small pieces of sediment settle on the bottom of bodies of water and how, over time, weather and pressure press the layers together to form solid rocks. Likewise, we learned that when rocks under the earth's crust are pressed and squeezed together under great heat, they can change into metamorophic rock. Students did another fun experiment using clay to demonstrate this process.
In math, we began learning about telling time to the minute, a skill that everyone needs! We used a numberline as a strategy to help us figure out application problems involving elapsed time. On Friday, we played a really fun game called What Does the Clock Say (Tell Time and Move It). With the music What Does the Fox Say in the background, clockfaces were projected on the Smartboard. Students had to write the times on their dry erase boards and hold them up. Randomly, we would have to stop everything and Move It! A timer counted down 30 seconds during which time students had to do a variety of movement activities like jumping jacks, arm circles, running in place, etc. Everyone had a blast!
A reminder that as the weather gets colder children will need appropriate outerwear for going outside. We go out for recess every day unless it is raining, so children should be dressed for the colder weather.
We had a great week (check out the pictures!) in Room 29. The highlight of our week was our Publishing Party where all our writers got a chance to read their personal narratives to the class! What amazing storytellers we have! The kids really grew tremendously as authors in the 7 weeks we worked on this unit.
In reader's workshop, we had a lot of fun preparing for our mystery mask project (due on Thursday, October 30). We read short mysteries in class and then broke up into groups and answered questions about them. I cordoned off the desks with real police crime scene tape and gave all the children magnifying glasses to set the mood! They had a great time. Next week we will try to work on writing our own mysteries!
We wrapped up our unit on rocks and minerals in science with a few fun experiments to learn more about sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. There are some pictures on Edline of the kids working to make samples of sedimentary rock using layers of clay. They learned about how small pieces of sediment settle on the bottom of bodies of water and how, over time, weather and pressure press the layers together to form solid rocks. Likewise, we learned that when rocks under the earth's crust are pressed and squeezed together under great heat, they can change into metamorophic rock. Students did another fun experiment using clay to demonstrate this process.
In math, we began learning about telling time to the minute, a skill that everyone needs! We used a numberline as a strategy to help us figure out application problems involving elapsed time. On Friday, we played a really fun game called What Does the Clock Say (Tell Time and Move It). With the music What Does the Fox Say in the background, clockfaces were projected on the Smartboard. Students had to write the times on their dry erase boards and hold them up. Randomly, we would have to stop everything and Move It! A timer counted down 30 seconds during which time students had to do a variety of movement activities like jumping jacks, arm circles, running in place, etc. Everyone had a blast!
A reminder that as the weather gets colder children will need appropriate outerwear for going outside. We go out for recess every day unless it is raining, so children should be dressed for the colder weather.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Week In Review
Once again, it was a very busy week in Room 29! I hope you all had a chance to check out the kids' great character trait projects that I posted last week. You can also find them and other pictures on my Edline site under the Room 29 at work and play link in the right hand sidebar.
Unfortunately, I was out sick with strep throat for a couple of day, but I left the substitute plenty of work for everyone to do, so it was pretty much business as usual.
On Monday, we served at the lab classroom for a Writer's Workshop lesson by Gary Peterson, a consultant from Teacher's College/Columbia University in NYC. He worked with our students on everything from making good transitions in their writing to elaborating and expanding on their ideas. He was very impressed with their writing! We really have come so far as storytellers in these past 7 weeks or so.
During the rest of the week, students worked on finishing up their final narratives; we will be moving on to informational writing next week.
In Reader's Workshop, we are also wrapping up our unit on character change and character traits. We read Dancing In the Wings, The Paperbag Princess, and The Honest to Goodness Truth and wrote about all three of the stories.
Students also read independently and wrote me letters about their thinking about their reading and worked hard in their reading groups to improve fluency and comprehension (both orally and in writing).
After a long 7 weeks or so, we finally finished up our first module in math and took the end of module assessment. I have these tests in your children's folders, which I will share at conferences, but if you are curious about how your child did, please let me know and I can give you their grade. This was a tough test, but everyone has come a long way in their understanding of the principles of multiplication and division. Next week we move on to concepts in time and measurement--I have some really fun math games designed to fit in nicely with this unit. I think your kids are going to love them.
In science, we broke open a rock (after I bashed it with a hammer about 100 times) and saw the geode inside. I gave everyone a small piece to take home. We will be concluding our unit on rocks and minerals later next week.
The students continue to learn more about our state of Connecticut in social studies. We also talked about Christopher Columbus (both positive and negative aspects of his campaign to the Americas). We will continue this discussion/debate next week.
Lastly, we began reading my favorite book of all time, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. As with The Witches, I would ask that you not read this to your child at home while we are reading it at school; we will be doing some predicting and a lot of discussion about the book, and I don't want anyone to get ahead and miss out on the daily suspense of hearing it read every day. I would, however, encourage you parents to read the book yourselves. I think you will fall in love with it as much I have. It is a breathtakingly beautiful story. Don't forget to keep the tissues nearby, though.
Hope you all have a fun long weekend!
Unfortunately, I was out sick with strep throat for a couple of day, but I left the substitute plenty of work for everyone to do, so it was pretty much business as usual.
On Monday, we served at the lab classroom for a Writer's Workshop lesson by Gary Peterson, a consultant from Teacher's College/Columbia University in NYC. He worked with our students on everything from making good transitions in their writing to elaborating and expanding on their ideas. He was very impressed with their writing! We really have come so far as storytellers in these past 7 weeks or so.
During the rest of the week, students worked on finishing up their final narratives; we will be moving on to informational writing next week.
In Reader's Workshop, we are also wrapping up our unit on character change and character traits. We read Dancing In the Wings, The Paperbag Princess, and The Honest to Goodness Truth and wrote about all three of the stories.
Students also read independently and wrote me letters about their thinking about their reading and worked hard in their reading groups to improve fluency and comprehension (both orally and in writing).
After a long 7 weeks or so, we finally finished up our first module in math and took the end of module assessment. I have these tests in your children's folders, which I will share at conferences, but if you are curious about how your child did, please let me know and I can give you their grade. This was a tough test, but everyone has come a long way in their understanding of the principles of multiplication and division. Next week we move on to concepts in time and measurement--I have some really fun math games designed to fit in nicely with this unit. I think your kids are going to love them.
In science, we broke open a rock (after I bashed it with a hammer about 100 times) and saw the geode inside. I gave everyone a small piece to take home. We will be concluding our unit on rocks and minerals later next week.
The students continue to learn more about our state of Connecticut in social studies. We also talked about Christopher Columbus (both positive and negative aspects of his campaign to the Americas). We will continue this discussion/debate next week.
Lastly, we began reading my favorite book of all time, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. As with The Witches, I would ask that you not read this to your child at home while we are reading it at school; we will be doing some predicting and a lot of discussion about the book, and I don't want anyone to get ahead and miss out on the daily suspense of hearing it read every day. I would, however, encourage you parents to read the book yourselves. I think you will fall in love with it as much I have. It is a breathtakingly beautiful story. Don't forget to keep the tissues nearby, though.
Hope you all have a fun long weekend!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Week in Review
Everyone worked so hard this week to complete their amazingly original character trait posters. We shared them with Mrs. Walls, the district Language Arts coordinator. She was pretty impressed! Here are your kids' completed projects! Make sure to ask which one is belongs to your son or daughter!
In language arts we also learned about paragraphing during writer's workshop and finished up our rough drafts of our personal narratives. Next week we will move on to informational writing.
We also read Thank You, Mr. Falker and finished up The Witches! I would like to show the kids the Jim Hensen created movie version of the book as I've done for the past couple of years so they can compare and contrast them, but will need your permission to do so. The movie is rated PG due to some very mild scary stuff. The Grand High Witch is ugly, as you can see in the trailer posted below, but other than that there is no bad language or inappropriate adult situations. I will be sending home permission slips laster this week and would like them back so we can watch the movie on Friday. It's a really cute movie and follows the main storyline of the book pretty well. Click on the link below to see the official trailer.
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2020583193
We began learning about Connecticut in social studies this past week and learned about our state's governor, state flag, and symbols. Students are working on a Connecticut packet chock full of great information about our state.
I was delighted to see everyone's awesome looking science projects! Everyone worked so hard!
In math we continued to work on multiplication and division problems focusing on the commutative and distributive properties, specifically on how to decompose problems to break them down into smaller, more manageable units. So far we have worked hard to learn our 1-5's tables. Please keep practicing those facts at home! Our end of module assessment will likely be Friday. We will review in class and take notebooks home to use as study guides.
Friday the 10th is picture day! Please make sure your child brings in his/her picture envelope/money on the day of the photo shoot!
In language arts we also learned about paragraphing during writer's workshop and finished up our rough drafts of our personal narratives. Next week we will move on to informational writing.
We also read Thank You, Mr. Falker and finished up The Witches! I would like to show the kids the Jim Hensen created movie version of the book as I've done for the past couple of years so they can compare and contrast them, but will need your permission to do so. The movie is rated PG due to some very mild scary stuff. The Grand High Witch is ugly, as you can see in the trailer posted below, but other than that there is no bad language or inappropriate adult situations. I will be sending home permission slips laster this week and would like them back so we can watch the movie on Friday. It's a really cute movie and follows the main storyline of the book pretty well. Click on the link below to see the official trailer.
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2020583193
We began learning about Connecticut in social studies this past week and learned about our state's governor, state flag, and symbols. Students are working on a Connecticut packet chock full of great information about our state.
I was delighted to see everyone's awesome looking science projects! Everyone worked so hard!
In math we continued to work on multiplication and division problems focusing on the commutative and distributive properties, specifically on how to decompose problems to break them down into smaller, more manageable units. So far we have worked hard to learn our 1-5's tables. Please keep practicing those facts at home! Our end of module assessment will likely be Friday. We will review in class and take notebooks home to use as study guides.
Friday the 10th is picture day! Please make sure your child brings in his/her picture envelope/money on the day of the photo shoot!
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