Weekly Update

Science
We have begun our Structures of Life unit.  In our first investigation students went on a seed search while taking a closer look at a variety of fruits.  Students were introduced to the term property.  Students were asked to identify properties of the various seeds, including size, shape, color, texture, smell, and other features.  Each group took a closer look at seeds inside of an apple, orange, globe grape, Chinese bittermelon, ugli fruit, and kiwi.  Several students were brave enough to taste the bittermelon and ugli fruit.

In the next investigation, groups worked together to set up their mini-sprouters.  The mini-sprouters were created from a plastic container and coffee filter.  Students have placed bean, pea, popcorn, and sunflower seeds in their mini-sprouters and have been watering them.  Several seeds have begun to grow and develop!  We also set up a class sprouter, which has many growing seeds as well.  A few special guests visited the classroom to water all of the beans on Friday (check out their pictures below) :-)  

The final investigation was meant to be a two-day investigation.  Groups worked together on day one to measure the weight of five dry lima bean seeds.  Then they soaked the beans in water.  On day two, students were supposed to weigh their soaked bean seeds and carefully open the beans to examine the structures found inside.  Students will be introduced to the seed coat, cotyledons, and embryo.  Because of the cold days, we still have not completed day two of this investigation.  The scientists in the room will find out if this investigation works out or not next week.

All-Star of the Week
The luckiest All-Star of the year ended up with 4 snow/cold days!!  Raghav's original All-Star week was cut short due to the snow days Monday, February 2nd and 3rd.  Therefore, we decided to give him a second short week--Wednesday, February 18-20.  However, his second short week became super short with only one day!  We still need to write compliment notes to this lucky boy!
Raghav was able to share his wonderful pictures of him and his family and his sharing sack.  He also read aloud a short story from a book from home.  The class enjoyed hearing how curious Raghav was as a small child from his parent letter.  Raghav enjoyed a special lunch with his mom and dad as well!  Raghav has been a great help with the iPads this year...he is quite technology savvy!  We're happy to have him as part of our All-Star team!

Weekly Update

Research Workshop
Students are plugging along with their research.  Last week students began gathering the notes that they took on each subtopic and putting them into short paragraphs using a graphic organizer like the one in the photo below.  Students' notes were often taken in fact fragments, which needed to be rewritten in complete sentences when converting the information into paragraphs.  The rough draft paragraphs that you see below will be edited and rewritten in students' final report booklets next week.

Students working hard on their research!

A student's notes about different holidays in England.

Example of the notes converted into short paragraphs.

Math
Last week we focused on multi-digit subtraction.  Once again, students learned to create a proof drawing first so that they were able to understand the concept of "ungrouping."  (We strongly encourage you to watch the You Tube clip of a teacher modeling proof drawings if you haven't already done so!  We posted it in last week's update.)  We spent lots of time practicing the traditional method of ungrouping from right to left and then practiced subtracting across zeros at the end of the week.  Below you will find pictures of students displaying their subtraction proof drawings.

Students also completed a special Valentine's Day math activity on their iPads.  All students were given a box of conversation hearts that they used to create a bar graph.   After taking a photo of their bar graphs, students inserted the photo into Educreations and wrote three questions and answers to go with their graph.

Social Studies
After we finished up our tour of the Southeast Region, students took all of the souvenirs that they collected along the way and created scrapbook pages in their region tour binder.  Students glued the souvenirs onto the pages and labeled each souvenir.  Remember, the Southeast test will be given on Thursday!  Your child should be using the study guide that was sent home last Wednesday to prepare for the test!

Valentine's Day
Although there are no "official" Valentine's Day parties at Hill, we still took time on Friday to celebrate the holiday with a card exchange.  We were SO impressed with the creative boxes students made at home and brought to school!

All-Star of the Week

What a great week we had celebrating our All-Star, Emma C.!  She loved sharing special things from her sharing sack and telling the class about the family photos that she brought in. The class especially loved seeing recent photos from her Disney World vacation!  Perhaps the most exciting part of the week was the slideshow that her parents created for parent letter day.  The class loved seeing tons of pictures of Emma throughout her life along with a video clip of her laughing hysterically at her dog when she was just a baby.  What fun!

Weekly Update

Research Workshop:

Students continued taking notes this week based on subtopics that they chose for each of their 6 main research topics.  Lessons this weeks focused on helping students choose important vs. interesting facts as well as using text features such as captions, maps, graphs, and charts to collect more information for each subtopic.

Here is an example of a student's subtopic web along with the notes for each subtopic below.

Math:

We are plugging along in Unit 4.  At the beginning of the week, students learned/reviewed how to round numbers to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100.  At the end of the week, students learned 3 methods for multi-digit addition and also learned how to make proof drawings.  After students solved the addition problems using one of the numerical methods, they were required to prove their answer through a proof drawing.  Below are pictures of the three numerical methods for multidigit addition and an example of a proof drawing.

Example of a Proof Drawing

Below is a video that demonstrates the 3 addition methods we teach in 3rd Grade Math Expressions, along with some modeling of how to create a "proof drawing."  This is a new concept for both parents and students, so watching his video will help you be able to assist your children more effectively with homework assignments. (Go to 2:25 to skip ahead to the "proof drawings.")

  

Social Studies:

We are near the end of our Southeast Region tour!  After visiting the Everglades and the JFK Space Center, we visited Orlando, Florida and had a special Disney Day.  Students brought in any souvenirs they had from the parks or Disney things that they had at home.  We then opened a "Disney Museum" in our classroom.  Students displayed their Disney memorabilia at their tables, and students walked around to check out what their classmates brought to school.   We even watched a "behind the scenes" informational movie about the parks.

Students browsing the Disney Museum!

More Social Studies!

After visiting the coal mines of Appalachia, an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, Natchez, Mississippi, and Montgomery, Alabama, we made our final tour stops in Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana.  In both Memphis and New Orleans, we learned about some of the most popular musical styles in the Southeast.  Students played a "Name that Musical Style" game during which they had to identify Dixieland Jazz, Delta Blues, Cajun music, and Bluegrass music based on the instruments they heard in the songs.

We also visited New Orleans and had a little Mardi Gras celebration in our classroom!  Not only did students learn about the fun of Mardi Gras, but they also learned about the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and how New Orleans is still in the process of rebuilding their great city years after the storm.

All-Star of the Week

Abby was our awesome Room 13 All-Star last week!  She loved sharing her special diary and a neat "All About Me" book in which she writes things about herself and her life.  She also shared wonderful photos that helped us learn more about her family.  Abby was lucky enough to have both her grandma and her mom write very thoughtful parent letters that helped us learn more about Abby's interests and hear great examples of her kindness toward others.  Her favorite day was when she had some special guests join her as her lunch buddies!