Diary of a...?

      

     Most of us are very familiar with these fun books!  We've read them before and have even watched them on Morley Library's Tumblebooks.

     Well, our class took another opportunity to practice our writing skills (focus: journal writing) while learning about science!  Since we currently have our own, resident creepy crawlies, we began writing our own room 407 version:

 

Diary of a Pill Bug!

     The students began their own diaries from the perspective of their pill bugs.  Stay tuned as we take this through the rough draft, editing, and publishing processes!

Here is one of our pill bugs.  Notice that our seeds are beginning to sprout in our terrariums too.  Exciting! 

Science & Writing: Our "How To" Posters

     Last week, we took some time to practice the skill of writing a "How To" poster.  In order to complete this assignment well, we needed to be able to write clearly, detailed, and in a sequential order.  Since we had just made terrariums in science, what better way to practice this writing skill that to cross curriculum and write about this recent project?

     We began by making rough drafts individually.  Then we broke into our science teams and got to work.  Check it out:

February is Black History Month

Click on the link below for more information about the accomplishments of some African Americans....

   Time For Kids: Black History Month

Guest Blogger: Monique

      As part of our multiplication unit, we have been talking about arrays.  We've colored them on graph paper, created them with cubes, and cut out/labeled array flash cards.  An array is simply a way to "see" multiplication.  Our goal is for them to understand multiplication conceptually and memorize the facts from there.

After cutting out and labeling their array cards, students had to quiz themselves on which they knew and which
combinations they were still working on.  We love when they are aware of their own learning!

     

Examples of multiplication in array form

Monique writes:

"We are practicing arrays with tiny pieces of papers.  We did this to understand multiplication facts. We learned a lot about multiplication and arrays. I chose this because it was very fun!"

Thanks, Monique!  Keep up the good work as we head into our next big THINKING:

DIVISION!   

Maple Think Pair Share

Dear Third Grade Parents and Friends,

Check out this video!

Effort level 4 is is the kind of "Third Grade Thinking" we expect to see every day in room 407.

Hope you are having a great snow day, are rested, and ready to learn!

Mrs. H :)

PS- DON'T FORGET TO READ!!

Making Inferences: No, David!

     For the past few weeks, we have been working on the reading skills of making inferences and drawing conclusions.   By using clues from a text combined with information we already know (schema), we are able to comprehend beyond what is directly written.  We do this all the time when we read a book, but don't always realize we do.   To further reinforce this idea, we read a book with which most of the students are very familiar:

     Then we broke it down page by page and talked about all the inferences we could make from the words and picture clues:

This was a fun activity.  Be sure to ask your children about some of the other inference games and lessons we've done!  

     

Presidents' Day

Just a reminder- no school on Monday, February 18th in observance of Presidents' Day.

Here's a fun website to explore if you want to learn more about the presidents and other interesting facts:

http://www.usconsulate.org.hk/pas/kids/pd.htm

Have a great weekend and don't forget to read!