November News

 

 

Language Arts

 

Students have been engaged in a unit which centers on nonfiction. First students learned about the various nonfiction features. They distinguished between visual and text features in nonfiction pieces.  The students discussed the importance of these features when reading informational text and how it helps them understand what they are reading. 

 

 

 

Some examples of visual features are the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some examples of text features are shown below:

 

 

 

 

Once students developed a firm understanding of these nonfiction features, students have started to discuss how to find the main idea in a paragraph. They have learned main idea can be explicit and implicit and they must use all the details in a paragraph to determine the main idea.

 

                                        

 

Mathematics

 

In math students have just completed the Grocery Stamp unit which introduces multiplication as repeated addition. Students used groupings of stamps to determine the total. They could skip count, used repeated addition or use multiplication to find their answer.

 

                                 

 

Below are samples of strategies that students used.

 

 

                            

 

In addition to this, students used an open number line to determine the products of numbers on the number line by using doubling and tripling.

 

                                       

 

Social Studies

 

In social studies, students have learned a plethora of information about the Wampanoag Native Americans. Students have engaged in role playing which has enlightened them to understand the way of living of these people. They wrote stories about their Native American characters depicting their character's traits, their family, and their job in the family. The class also participated in discussing the pros and cons of Squanto helping the Pilgrims. They weighed their reasons and determined they should help the Pilgrims.

 

                                                    

        Stay tuned for more learning!!!!

October News

 

 

Language Arts

 

The students have learned that characters in a story have various character traits in addition to feelings. They were able to distinguish between a character's feelings and traits.

 

As students listened to read-alouds, they were able to determine a character trait which a character displayed and provided evidence from the story to support that trait.

 

                                        

 

 

                                                       

Following this, students discussed how the character changed from the beginning to the end of the story. Then students applied this new found knowledge to stories they were reading in their small guided reading groups.

 

Once students had developed a firm understanding of these principles, students then discussed point of view in a story. They learned the difference between first and third person point of view.

After reading The Pain and The Great One, they were able to write a journal entry from each character's point of view.

 

 

 

Using the knowledge from the character unit, students wrote personal narratives incorporating these concepts into a writing piece. Below are a few samples of student's work.

 

                                  The Soccer Game

                                     By: Aashritha 

“You are goalie!” said my coach pointing to me. I knew I was in big trouble. I have never been goalie before! Before the game, I was nervous. So nervous that I was already sweating! My teeth were chattering. My legs were trembling. The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the net. I was very unhappy about my position. Reason number one: it is the hardest position. Reason number two: I was a bad goalie. I felt like jumping in the air and flying off to Pluto until the Fall Soccer season was O-V-E-R. OVER!!!!! I guess I should have been paying attention to the game rather than daydreaming because then- THUD! The ball found my head, as usual! I could feel myself falling. It felt like slow motion. The last thing I saw was the ball racing toward me. Finally, I hit the ground. I laid there for a while. When I woke up, I heard my parents, my team, and my coach cheering for me. I did feel like I accomplished something, but I still didn’t know why they were cheering for me. “We won!” yelled one of my teammates. That’s when I realized: I did  accomplish something! I helped my team win! I felt warm on the inside but cold on the outside. I felt cold because it was a cold day! My coach, team, and parents were happy that we won the game. “You did a good job!” said my coach. I helped my team win by blocking the ball. I didn’t think I could do it but I did. I learned that you can do anything if you put your mind to it!

 

Personal Narrative

By Ethan

I was at an indoor archery place. My grandfather was taking me for a lesson. I was scared to go in. My grandfather said, “It was ok.” I was still scared. I thought to myself, “What if the instructor was mean?” I didn’t want to go but I did. The instructor was nice. He was easy to understand. I went to practice archery a lot. I felt comfortable because it was fun. I wanted to go every day but my grandfather said, “I wouldn’t be able to go every day.” He said, “You might be able to go Friday but not every day.” Then I stopped going. My dad said I couldn’t go for a while. I felt bored because archery was exciting. I said, “Dad, can you take me to archery?” He said, “Maybe.” Later that night my mom, dad and I went out to eat. I totally forgot I asked my dad to take me to archery. After we went to eat I thought we were going home. My mom and dad surprised me by taking me to the archery place. As we arrived I said, “Where are we?” They did not answer. Then I yelled, “Yah! Thank you so much.” My dad and I practiced shooting. I felt happy. My mom was bored sitting there. I felt bad for her. I asked, “Do you want to shoot?” She said, “No.” “Are you sure?” I asked, “It’s a lot of fun.” She said, “I am sure.” She did not want to. My dad was really good at archery. I decided to do archery because my dad did archery as a kid. Since it was only my third time I think I did good at it. As I continued to shoot my arm got tired. I started not to do good. The bow was heavy. My arm wasn’t as good because it was getting hard to hold the bow. We got there are 8 p.m. and now it was 9 p.m. We had been there a long time. I said to my dad, “My arm is getting tired.” Dad asked, “Do you want to go?” I said, “I did not want to go.” I am thrilled that my dad took me to the archery place. We did not go home. I said to my mom, “We can go home if you want to.” She said, “We can stay.” I shot some more. I was so excited because I hit the bullseye on the target. I was proud of myself. I forgot my arm was tired. My dad shot an arrow right next to mine. I said, “You almost split my arrow.” My dad answered, “Yes, I almost did.” Inside myself I said, “I did good when I shot.” I felt so proud of myself. I thought that was the best shot I ever did. My dad said, “What a good shot you made!” After we were done with that we went home. My mom and dad were proud of me for doing so good at archery. I was happy because I got to do something that my dad was good at and spent time with him.

 

Mathematics

Students have just completed their first unit in math. They practice adding and subtracting of three digits. They discussed strategies for solving word problems with three digits.  They learned to identify the important numbers and words in a problem as well as look at the question posed in the problem to determine what operation to use when solving the problem.  Strategies students used for addition involved number strings, breaking the number down into smaller parts and using a number line. For subtraction students used number lines as a way to solve problems.

 

                        

 

Below is partial sums:                         

                          

Number Line

                        

Social Studies

After their field trip to Wood Memorial Library, students are undertaking their study of Wampanoag Native Americans. They have formed families and will determine their role in the family. Once they have established this, they will apply what they have read about the Wampanoag way of life to a writing piece. They will choose a Native American name and tell about their character trait. They will relate information about their family and how they survived.

 

 

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

2015-2016 Room 17 Blog

 

 

Students are starting to settle into the routines and procedures of third grade.  The first month of school involved adjusting to a new classroom with new classmates.  The class discussed the four agreements and the importance of following them in order to develop a positive learning environment.

 

                       

 

Language Arts

 

Students are undertaking the first Language Arts' unit.  This unit involves learning about characters' feelings, character traits, how a character changes, and a character's point of view.

 

Students are listening to stories in whole class lessons and discussing these concepts as well as reading books independently. Then the students are applying what they have learned in whole class lessons to their own texts. Each aspect of the character unit is introduced slowly. 

 

The class has learned that characters have various feelings. Students brainstormed a list of feeling words and, in addition, were introduced to new vocabulary feeling words. Below is a list of words they have discussed.

 

 

 

 

The students are reading closely to provide evidence to support the kinds of feelings a character has in the story.  As students read, they are learning to notice a character's actions and thoughts which prove how the character is feeling. Here is a video of the book, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, that projects a character's feelings.

 

 

 

 

Students will transfer their learning about a character's feelings to write a personal narrative about an experience they had in which they had strong feelings. 

 

 

Here is a sample of a personal narrative entitled,

 

                      Keep an Eye on the Sky!

 

             

                        

I was in gym class when my teacher suggested we go outside and play softball. As we made our way out to the field, my stomach slowly turned into a giant knot of fear. Softball is just not my game. I have a knack for always getting hit in the head by the ball. It doesn’t matter where I’m standing. The ball just seems to find me. My teammates gave me a glove and put me way out in left field. I didn’t complain. I just wanted to make sure I knew when gym class ended so I wouldn’t be left behind. Nothing happened the first three innings. Well, things happened but not in my little part of the softball field. I started daydreaming. The next thing I knew, I heard the sound of a ball whizzing through the air. I put up my glove to protect my head, and an amazing thing happened. I caught the ball in my glove! Not only did I catch the ball, but I helped my team to win. I was a hero to my classmates for the rest of the day. And I learned something. I may not always see the flying balls that come my way, but I can always take a chance and try to catch one.

 

As you can see the writer describes an experience that happened to him or her. The writer describes his or her feelings about the situation. The writer describes the events in the order in which they happened. The writer ends with how their experience impacted others as well as him or her.

 

Mathematics

 

Students started our first math unit which involves using a l,000 chart.  Students used their understanding of sticker notation to visualize making l,000 with sheets.  They realized there are l0 strips in a sheet which is equivalent to l00 and 10 sheets equal l,000. They were able to understand 34 (10s) equal 340.

 

                                         

       

                     There are 10 strips in one sheet and 100 stickers in a sheet.

 

 

 

                                       

From this point students decided to collect l,000 leaves.  Every day the students counted leaves they collected outside.  They grouped the leaves into piles of l0.  Then they counted by tens to figure out how many hundreds they had.  The students were given a l,000 number grid.  Each day the students added on their l,000 chart to figure out how far they were from l,000.

 

                                        

 

 

As students venture into third grade, their experiences and learning will be revealed on this blog!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May News

 

 

Language Arts

 

                 

 

 

 

                                                  

 

Students will start this unit comparing and contrasting poetry with narrative and informational texts. Once students have discussed this, students will identify the characteristics of poetry.  Following this, students will distinguish that poems express feelings. Students will read many poems and identify the mood of the poems.

 

Baseball Stress

 

Oh, no!

I’m up at bat!

I think,

What if I get embarrassed!

Will I hit a grand slam?

 

The crowd is cheering,

It’s the end of the 9^th inning,

What am I going to do?

There’s only 30 seconds left!

Here goes the pitch,

Now I feel persistent,

 

I hit the ball,

A grand slam!

 

I run like the wind,

I feel like the road runner.

 

The outfielders can’t find the ball.

We won!

13-10, Stars ahead by 3!

I did it!

The crowd comes on the field.

Now we’re off to

A victory party!

 

 

Shadows

 

Shadows

Shadows creeping

In my closet

Under my bed

Shadows watching…

Watching every move I make

Watching…

From behind the bookcase

And in the dusty dresser drawers

Shadows looking around the corner

Upon the stairway

Behind the rocking chair that creaks when it rocks

Shadows staring

Staring through me

From next to the sofa

And staring through the keyhole in the attic door

Shadows seeing

Seeing everything

Seeing that I am scared

Seeing that I hurry to get into the sunlight

Shadows following

Following me

Dancing up the walls

Chasing me across the ceiling

Never leaving…

Shadows.

 

 

 

Students will learn that a poem contains stanzas and lines rather than paragraphs and sentences.  Students will understand that the stanzas in a poem connect to one another.  Stanzas are sequenced and enhance the meaning of the poem.

 

 

Students will partake in writing a free verse poem after examining the components of a free verse poem. Then students will learn how to convert a narrative piece into a free verse poem.

 

I had to go the hospital in the middle of the night for them to check my breathing. I was so scared, and so was everyone else. But none of us said anything. We just sat there waiting for help. 

 

I had to go to the hospital                       Hospital

in the middle of the night                        at midnight

for them to check my breathing.           having breathing problems.

I was so scared,                                        Scared to death.

and so was everyone else.                       Everyone else too.

But none of us said anything.                 Silence!

We all sat waiting for help.                     Patience and helpless

 Students will then compose a shape poem.

Mathematics

The next math unit for the class is graphing and measurement.

Students will learn about pictographs and bar graphs. After they are presented with data, students will create their own graphs.

                                             

 

                                          

                                               

 

 

 

Science

 

                                        

 

 

Students will learn about the life cycle of the Brassica plant.  Students will learn the parts of a seed.  Then they will plant a seed and observe the changes which will take place over a period of six weeks. Students will illustrate, explain in writing, measure and graph the growth of their plant.

 

                                       

 

The class still has so much more learning to do!

 

 

                                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 

                               

Language Arts

The class finished their opinion writing pieces just before vacation. Here is a small sampling of the fine work the students did on this.

Dinosaurs

By Advaith Satish

 There is so much to explore in the time of dinosaurs! We could go to the time of dinosaurs to see how they acted, behaved, and looked. If we went to the time of dinosaurs, we could see which animals lived with the dinosaurs other than the animals we know. Of course, if I went to the time of dinosaurs, I would see why the dinosaurs died out.

I would want to go to the time of dinosaurs to see how the dinosaurs acted, behaved, and looked. I could find out how and why meat-eaters ate plant-eaters most of the time. To discover how the dinosaurs looked, we would have to use our imagination, and the fossils we have discovered. If somebody traveled back in time to the age of dinosaurs, we can see how they truly looked. If we know how they looked, we can see what animals today came from the dinosaurs. I would also really like to see how parents treat their babies. Did they congratulate them when something good happened? Or were they really strict, mean and screaming at them all the time? Or were they both? Scientists would like this because, if they knew both how the dinosaurs behaved and what animals today were descended from the dinosaurs, they might learn a bit more about the animals today.

If I was to go to the time of the dinosaurs, I would see which animals lived with the dinosaurs. Were they like the animals today? Do they behave like the dinosaurs? Right now, all we know is that lizards, birds, turtles, and crocodiles lived with the dinosaurs. But were they like the animals today? Scientists think that the animals were very over-sized, but we don’t know much more than that. Scientists think that birds came from dinosaurs! They think that because, they have found many dinosaur fossils that include the feathers or/and wings of birds. By going back into the time of dinosaurs, I could identify the birds that lived back then. If I were to study the actions of these animals, then it might explain why all the dinosaurs died out, and other animals, like lizards, still lived. If we knew the answer to this, it would lead us one step closer to discovering how the dinosaurs died.

I want to go to the time of dinosaurs because, I could see why the dinosaurs died out. Was it because of a comet? Climatic changes? Earthquakes, tornadoes, and storms? Or all? Some scientists think the dinosaurs died because of climate changes. They think that the temperature might have gotten too cold or hot. There might have been earthquakes and major storms. But then why did the dinosaurs die out and other animals, like lizards, live on? Other scientists agree with the asteroid theory. This happened when an asteroid crashed into the earth. This caused a big cloud of dust, smoke, and ash to form in the air, which blocked the sunlight. Plants couldn’t grow so the plant-eaters couldn’t eat so they died too! With no plant-eaters, meat-eaters didn’t have food so they died. Scientists are still trying to solve this mystery of what killed the dinosaurs. They have more proof that the asteroid theory is true. They think they have found the spot where the asteroid landed! They found a huge crater in the Gulf of Mexico. The crater is 120 miles wide and ½ a mile below sea level! This crater is definitely caused by asteroids. Maybe even the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs! (If there was one.)

Are you convinced that going back in time to the time of dinosaurs is important? In my opinion, it is very important. I hope you think so too! We could see how they acted, behaved, and looked. We could see what animals they lived with. We could even see how they died! I hope that you are really convinced now.

Explore the Arctic

By Linna Gao

 

Do you  love polar bears? Then you should help them. I want to go to the Arctic to help animals from becoming extinct so all of the animals can live. It is important to go to the Arctic to stop global warming and keep the Arctic from melting. We could find new animals to study so everyone can know about them.

I  want to go to the Arctic to stop pollution and global warming. People in the world are using too much oil. If there is an oil spill people can`t stop it from going into the ocean and the oil kills the animals and destroys their environment. People build a lot of factories. The factories make the pollution in the air. It warms the air so it melts the polar caps and causes global warming.

I want to go to help the animals from becoming extinct. The ice on the ocean is melting and the polar bears use the ice for platforms.They need to swim from ice floe to ice floe. Without ice they get so tired that they drown. The polar bears use the platforms to hunt seals. Since the ice is melting the polar bears can`t  stand on the ice to hunt seals anymore. There is less ice so the polar bears can`t hunt.  

I want to go to the Arctic to study new animals. If we can find new animals in the Arctic we might find out ways to keep them from being extinct. If we found a new animal we can study it and find out if we can use them to treat diseases. We can study the new animal and see if their ancestors lived a long time ago and how did they survived different changes in their environment.

These are the reasons why I want to go to the Arctic. Would you like to go with me? You can help them from becoming extinct. It is important for us to stop global warming. You can study the animals and learn how interesting they are! I hope you want to go to the Arctic.

 

 

Dinosaurs
 

                                                                By Zachary Gombotz

Would you like to go back into the time of the dinosaurs? These are my reasons why I want to visit the land of the dinosaurs. People could see what the dinosaur’s life was like. There might be ways to find out why they became extinct. Wouldn’t you like to know what the dinosaurs looked like?           

I want to go back in time to see what dinosaur’s life was like.  People could see if dinosaurs ate food, such as meat, fish, or if they ate plants. We could study and find out how dinosaurs lived with other kinds of dinosaurs. People could find out about the groups of dinosaurs, like meat and plant eaters. Maybe there were other species of dinosaurs?   
                                                                                                                                                                                        I want to go back in the time of the dinosaurs to see what the dinosaurs looked like. We could see what the color the dinosaurs were, such as red and green. They might have used camouflage to protect themselves from other dinosaurs or if they wanted to attack other dinosaurs. They might have protected themselves from their predators in ways we did not know. People could see how tall or small they were. People could see the dinosaurs living in the Triassic, Cretaceous, or Jurassic Period .                                                                                                                                                          

I want to go back in the time of the dinosaurs to see the way they became extinct. People could see if they became extinct because they got hit by an asteroid or if they sunk in the water. We could find out if the theory of changing climate was the reason the dinosaurs became extinct. Could a volcano have erupted causing the dinosaurs to die?                                                                                                                                                                                       

These are my reasons why I want to go back into the time of the dinosaurs. I hope you would want to see how they became extinct. We could discover what their life was like. You could find out what they looked like.  

Science

Students are in the process of studying rocks and minerals.  They learned there are three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.  They also have discovered how these rocks are formed.

                        

 

Once these concepts were introduced, students started learning about minerals.  They are performing various scientific tests to learn the different properties of minerals.

 

                                 

 

In addition to discovering the properties of minerals, students have found out minerals are used in our everyday environment.      

                            

Mathematics

Students are working on multi-digit addition and subtraction in this unit. They are learning many strategies to add and subtract. 

For addition, students might use partial sums, take the number apart, or add on one number in parts. Below is an example of one of the aforementioned strategies.

425 + 288 =

400 + 200 = 600

20 + 80     = 100

5 + 8         =   13

                _______

                   713

 

For subtraction, they might break the number apart or add up from one number to the ending number.

650 - 596 = 54

596 + 4 = 600

600 + 50 = 650

50 + 4 = 54

Students have learned there are different types of subtraction problems. There are comparison, missing part or removal types of subtraction problems. They were able to write these various types of problems in class. Here are some examples of these types of problems.  The students, however, wrote problems with three digits.

                    

 

                                 

 

There is so much more to do in third grade!

                              

 

 

 

March is here!

Language Arts

Students are continuing this nonfiction unit with exploring point of view.  Students will read stories and identify the author's point of view.  Then they will discern their point of view.  Students will support their point of view with evidence from the story.

                           

Students will read The Great Kapok Tree and decide on the main character's point of view and then other character's perspectives in the story.  Finally students will be asked their opinion.

                                          


                                     
                                       

Social Studies

Students are studying the exploration of Christopher Columbus.  They have read various excerpts from books and articles to gather facts about this explorer.  Students are also noticing that different texts contain conflicting information and/or more information than other texts.

                             

Students will write a journal entry as if they were Christopher Columbus.  Then students will read the book, Encounter, and identify the point of view of the Taino Native Americans.  Students will discuss their perspective with regard to the information they have read.


                            

Mathematics

Students have started a new unit in math entitled Muffles Truffles.  In this unit students will work on multiplication and division with arrays.  They will stretch beyond the basic facts to larger numbers. Students will work with partners as they enter the world of Muffles Truffles and his delicious truffles by arranging boxes in various mathematical configurations.