It was an amazing Friday full of curly mustaches and wacky beards! (We even think we saw Gandalf! ...or was that Mr. Elliott?) Here we see a group working on their Rock Cycle Journey comics! I am excited to see their motivation and hard work on creating a comic that is both entertaining, accurate, and educational! I am excited to the different paths they each undertook as a rock. Science has also been about some serious research as we have practiced underlining important information and adding quick notes in the margins. More and more they are becoming rock cycle experts using new vocabulary words such as: erosion, deposition, weathering and silt to join the many others they have become quite familiar with!
The One and Only Ivan!For Reader's Workshop we have started a new book and it has proven to be quite the thought and discussion starter! The One and Only Ivan is the true story about a gorilla that spent most of his life in a mall in Tacoma! He is a gorilla of few words but of great depth as he comments on the habits and behaviors of humans. I find this book to be the perfect practice text for making inferences as Ivan forces the us to read between the lines as to what he is really trying to say and how he really feels about the events and characters around him. Ivan has wise observations on the world such as: "humans waste words" and "with enough time, you can get used to anything", providing a great context for class reflection and discussion. Also, Ivan uses similes and metaphors extensively to describe the world around him and I am excited to have started an Ivan's similes and metaphors wall to keep track of them all. It has been a great launch into how to use both to increase interest and detail in our writing! Ignore my goof in color coordinating as the similes are in blue and the metaphors are in teal. One sentence we found had both! Lastly I want to add that I am impressed by the responses of the class, the independence of their thought, and the budding use of text evidence to back their inferences and the empathy they have shown in their responses to the book! Click here for a great NPR audio on the book and author! |
Multiplication, Magic Arrays, and Mental Math
We continue on in Math exploring the relationship between addition and multiplication. For many this is not a new topic and my approach this past week has been on vocabulary, visual models of multiplication with arrays and lastly the real world application of how prevalent multiplication is in the world around us as seen in the packaging of materials, the quantities in boxes and so on. Both Ms. Klope and I have also incorporated a great book called Math Talks which focuses on mental math strategies. We talked about how 2x, 5x, and 10x can help with the mental math of either fact families we have not yet memorized or multiplication with very large numbers. Ms. Klope and I are also working closely together and have created a workshop approach to our Math block which looks like about 10-15 min of direct instruction regarding a new topic or the focus of the day, a quick evidence of learning, then a personalized math menu that allows the student to choose from Math games and other resources. During this time we are planning on handing out tickets to a workshop in either Ms. Klope's or my own class of a targeted skill or extension/enrichment of a concept in a small group setting. As a third grade team we are working together to create a math program that is fun and challenging for every student.
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick!In Writing we have just introduced the mysterious disappearance of Harris Burdick and the intriguing illustrations and captions he left behind! Some of them are curious while others are downright magical! I am super excited to unleash the class' creativity and have them explore plot and story development! Here is a link to the Harris Burdick website which talks more of his backstory and interviews with some amazing authors about his disappearance. | |
Student Weebly Sites and Blogging
I love looking through all of their Weebly sites and seeing how they are beginning to personalize and upload some of their hard work from this year already! Soon next week I will have all the drafts and published copies of their first narrative writing piece to add to their site. In the mean time I would like each student to create mini bios of themselves as an Artist, Writer, Reader, Scientist, and Mathematician! Also on the main page of their site I would like them to write an introduction paragraph of themselves that includes what they enjoy about their class, their school and the world! Just a reminder, all photos need to be of the student, of their hard work, or have been taken by the student themselves. This coming week I hope to have them begin personally blogging along with outlining what constructive comments might look like on each others' site.