Weekly Update

Reading Workshop
After learning about the last 2 fiction genres, Traditional Literature (TL) and Mystery (M), students took a short quiz to see if they could identify a book's genre based on the characteristics of the book and a summary given by the teacher.  Students are always asked to use genre codes when recording books in their reading log.  Students were also introduced to the 3 nonfiction genres: Informational (I), Biography (B) and Autobiography (AB). 

Traditional Literature includes folk tales, legends, tall tales, myths, fables, and fairy tales.

Example of the genre code quiz

For the remaining lessons of our first unit in reading, we will be reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo and using it as a Mentor Text to help teach students specific reading strategies.

Students turn and talk with their reading partner to discuss what is happening in the novel.

Writing Workshop
Our lessons this week focused on helping students make their writing more descriptive.  We used fiction picture books with descriptive language to help students hear what good, descriptive writing sounds like.  These mentor texts were helpful as students attempted to use the 5 senses in their writing while adding stronger verbs and more descriptive adjectives.

We used Owl Moon by Jane Yolen as a mentor text for descriptive language.

Math
This week we continued to work on multiplication and division word problems.  Students need to be able to solve the word problems with a math drawing and an equation.  We also discussed equations with variables, such as 9 x n = 18 so n = 2.  Finally we learned a trick using our hands to help us with our 9 facts for multiplication and division.  Check out the video below from YouTube to understand our 9s trick.

On Friday, a math fact fluency folder came home with your child.  This folder explained how we do multiplication and division fact practice in our classroom and what we expect you to be doing at home.  Students will take quizzes every Tuesday and Thursday in class.  All students will start with 5s multiplications.  You can use the progress chart in the folder to keep track of what level your child is on and what list of facts he or she should be studying each week.  Below are photos of students using fact triangles in class to study their multiplication and division facts.  You can find a set of these fact triangles in the math fact fluency folder that your child can use when practicing at home!

Word Study
We completed our first unit of word study last week.  All students were given 15 words to study and a word sort to complete at home.  The test was given on Friday, and it will be returned on Monday after students highlight the high frequency words that they got correct in their word study folder and rewrite any pattern words that they misspelled.  During the week, students were divided into small groups to practice their assigned patterns by playing word study games and doing activities that helped them study and sort words by their patterns.

Social Studies
We are in the middle of our first social studies unit called "Where in the World is Troy, Michigan?" In this geography unit, students are learning about the location of Troy in relation to its greater surroundings. Essentially, we started in outer space and are zooming in to find the city of Troy. Along the way, students will learn about the 7 continents in the world, the 3 countries on the continent of North America, the 50 states in the U.S.A., the 5 regions of our country, our state, our county, and finally the wonderful city of Troy.

Weekly Update

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 have also begun to review fiction genres.  We discussed the characteristics of realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and science fiction.  Talk partners worked together to read a specific genre and record three characteristics which made their story either realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, or science fiction.

Writing Workshop
Students decorated the outside covers of their writer's notebook and began writing in their notebooks as well.  Our first unit will be writing personal narratives.  We discussed how writers often write personal narratives about special people and places.  Students brainstormed special people and places in their lives and created lists of small moments or memorable experiences associated with those special people and places.

Students show off their personalized Writer's Notebooks!

Math
Our first math unit focuses on multiplication and division.  Students are learning how to solve multiplication and division word problems.  They are writing equations and drawing pictures, arrays, and equal shares drawings to show how they've solved the problems.  Students have learned multiplication and division is related.  Therefore, if they know 5x3=15 then they know 15/5=3.

Science
We have started our first unit in which students will be investigating a very important substance, water. During the first investigation students placed individual drops of water on four different surfaces (wax paper, aluminum foil, paper towel, and white paper).  Through their observations they learned water can be absorbed by some materials and beads up on other materials.  Students also investigated surface tension, which causes water to stick together and try to form into a ball.  They worked in small groups to investigate how many drops of water they could fit on top of a penny.  Students observed the drops of water beginning to form a dome on top of the penny.  They also learned that soap weakens surface tension.

Curriculum Night Room 13 Trailer

Some of you asked if we would put the little movie we showed at the beginning of Curriculum Night on the blog.  Here it is!!

Weekly Update

What a great first week we had in Room 13!  Our team theme was set into motion from the minute students arrived on Tuesday morning!  Students decorated their own baseball cap with their class number and completed a Player Profile sheet to help us learn more about them.

In reading Workshop, students tried out their new book nooks.  Book nooks are special places in the classroom where students can read during the individualized daily reading portion of our workshop.  Their assigned book nook changes each day.

Students also learned how to determine if a book is "easy," "just right," or "challenging."  We used jerseys to compare how wearing an oversized shirt or a shirt that is too small is like reading a book that is too hard or too easy.  As readers, our goal is to find the perfect fit!

Students learned how to record the books they read in their reading log.

Students were assigned "talk partners" with whom they engage in conversations about the books that are read aloud to them.

As a way to brainstorm rules we need in our classroom, students took part in our first "Chalk Talk."  In this activity, each student is given a different color marker.  There is no talking aloud, so students must respond to a question about classroom rules by writing down their thoughts on chart paper.   They also respond to each other's comments on the paper through writing.  It's like having a conversation without talking!

Finally, at the end of the week, students created pennants for our classroom.  The slogans were chosen by the students during a visible thinking activity that we call "Headlines."  

We look forward to meeting all of you at Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 11th at 6:00 pm in Room 13.  In addition to Curriculum Night, all 3rd grade parents are required to attend one of the iPad Parent Orientation sessions at either 5:30 or 6:45 pm.  See you there!

Happy First Day!

Room 13 All-Stars 2014-2015

We had a fantastic first day of school!  We learned a little bit about each student once they completed a "Player Profile" sheet for us.  Students also got to know their classmates a bit through an activity called "Who's Who in Room 13?"  Students walked around the room gathering signatures from friends in the classroom to complete this activity.

It was fun meeting so many new friends today!  We are looking forward to a great school year!

Thank you for donating all of the wonderful school supplies!  We really appreciate it!  At this time, if you have not sent in any school supplies, please just send in a pair of scissors and a one-subject spiral notebook.  We have plenty of other supplies to last us for the school year.

Also, a BIG thank you to everyone who has written a letter about your child.  We have thoroughly enjoyed reading these letters!  If you have not had the opportunity to write one yet, please do so at your earliest convenience.  We love to hear about your child through your insightful and thoughtful letters!

Weekly Update

What a great time we had last week!  In addition to finishing up our poetry books, completing Unit 7 in math and wrapping up our region tour of the West, we also had fun at our Poetry Cafe, our field trip to the Oakland Yard, and Field Day!  Check out the slideshows below to see TONS of photos from each event.

Poetry Cafe:
It was fun to see so many parents and students attend our Poetry Cafe.  The students did an outstanding job reading their poems, and we loved having some parents participate as well.  Double click on the slideshow below if you would like to see full-size photos.  If the slideshow does not work on your computer or phone, click HERE!






Hawaiian Luau at the Oakland Yard:
We took a field trip to the Oakland Yard in Waterford to celebrate the end of our U.S. Region Tour.  We pretended to be in Hawaii, the last stop on the region tour.  A huge thank you goes out to Mrs. Alexander, our room parent, who helped plan fun events for the kids and served yummy treats!  Double click on the slideshow below if you would like to see full-size photos.  If the slideshow does not work on your computer or phone, click HERE!





Field Day:
The annual Hill School Field Day was on Friday.  The students had such a fun time playing games and getting wet!  Double click on the slideshow below if you would like to see full-size photos.  If the slideshow does not work on your computer or phone, click HERE!






All-Star of the Week:
Griffin was our last All-Star of the Week!  He loved sharing his favorite stuffed dinosaur with the class on Monday along with great family pictures that included his 2 brothers.  His favorite book was Pete the Cat, which was read aloud on Tuesday.  His mom joined him in the cafeteria as his lunch buddy on Friday.  What a fun week!

Weekly Update

Reading & Writing Workshop:
Students have been working diligently in their poetry anthologies.  They've spent time copying their final drafts and drawing and coloring illustrations.  We also spent time in the computer lab creating a cover page.  We look forward to sharing the anthologies with you Tuesday evening during our Poetry Cafe!

Math:
We continued to learn more about fractions.  Students are able to identify shaded parts of a whole as a fraction.  They are also able to place fractions on a number line.  As long as the fraction is less than one students don't seem to have a problem placing it on the number line correctly.  However, it is trickier for students to place a fraction greater than one on the number line (see example below).  We also learned how to compare fractions using the greater than, less than, and equal symbols.  If the fractions being compared have the same denominator, the greater fraction is the fraction with the greater numerator.  If the fractions being compared have the same numerator, the greater fraction is the fraction with the lesser denominator.  Finally, students learned equivalent fractions, such as 2/4 = 1/2.  We will wrap up Unit 7 this week and take our final assessment at the end of the week.

Science:
Our measurement unit is coming to an end.  There will be a final assessment at the end of the week.  We practiced measuring weight and capacity last week.  Students measured the weight of items using a balance scale.  They placed an item in one cup of the balance scale and gram pieces in the other cup.  Students also measured the capacity of different containers.  They worked together in groups to estimate how much water they think a container held.  Then they used syringes (measuring 50ml) and beakers (measuring 100ml) to determine an accurate capacity of each container.

All-Star of the Week:
Grace was our fabulous All-Star this week!  She enjoyed a special lunch with her dad on Friday.  Students enjoyed listening to her read aloud chapter one from the first book in the Harry Potter series.  We also had fun listening to Grace share her photos and items from her sharing sack.  Students wrote nice compliments to Grace at the end of the week.