Since the first week of school the students have been writing personal narratives. We have been focusing on small moments written with great detail. Many mentor texts have been utilized to help us with our writing. We explored in great detail the opening lines ( the hook) and the closing lines of many authors. What is the difference between a writer and a reporter? A reporter just reports the facts. A writer brings you to the setting and awakens your senses. For example, in Come On, Rain written by Karen Hesse the author writes: "Mamma lifts a listless vine and sighs. " Three weeks and not a drop," she says, sagging over her parched plants." A reporter may have said it had not rained in a long time.
Our Third Graders Become the Teacher
Below you can see the students teaching each other math vocabulary terms. What is the Zero Property of Multiplication? What is the Identity Property of Multiplication? What is the Commutative Property of Multiplication? Yes, we are all about learning multiplication and division. So if you have any extra time please practice the multiplication facts with your child.
Reading is a major part of the elementary curriculum and we will be doing a lot of reading. Below are some of the things the children are learning.
Please remind your child to read every night for twenty minutes as this is part of their homework. This nightly practice will enable them to reach their AR goal for the first trimester.
Just the facts Jack!!!
What's going on in math class?
The students in Mrs. Capozzoli's math class have been working on learning strategies to compute their multiplication facts. They now know multiple strategies for computing all multiplication facts! With the knowledge of multiple strategies, the students need to begin committing these facts to memory. You can really help by flashing multiplication facts at home. They are all ready and in need of practice. What strategies have they learned? They can add because multiplication is a short cut for addition. Skip counting for example: 3,6,9,12 etc..is a very useful strategy. They have been taught songs: the four facts are to " Old McDonald", the six facts are to" Mary had a Little Lamb", the seven facts are to "Happy Birthday". The doubling strategy for computing the fours, sixes, and eights. The nine facts have been taught by recognizing the natural patterns in the nines.
Some of my students have been able to move beyond the facts and compute more advanced multiplication equations.
Some of my students have been able to move beyond the facts and compute more advanced multiplication equations.
The picture above is helpful to the students when making an array. For example: 9 x 4 = 36
The 9 stands for rows that are horizontal and the 4 stands for columns that are vertical.
Expository Writing
The students have been busy transitioning from Narrative Writing to Expository Writing. The first piece of writing was on How to Blow a Bubble. Yes, the lesson perked up when I gave each person a stick of gum. They broke into partnership where they had to tell their partner how to blow a bubble. The partner would do exactly what they were told to do. They were quick to see when they were missing important details. This is the beginning of a stretch of writing that will culminate in a small information book written by your child.
Nonfiction Reading
While we work on expository writing we will also be reading nonfiction books. We have begun our new study into the world of nonfiction. Here we will learn amazing facts about the world we live in. Our mentor text for this study is Gorillas by Lori Mcmanus. We will use this book to unlock the secrets of how to grasp main ideas and text structures. Your child will be reading many nonfiction books on their individual reading level.
We are writing books!
Yes, we have become authors. Each student has written an information book on their favorite animal or one that they want to learn more about. The requirements of each book included a title page, glossary, table of contents, four chapters, and pictures. During this study, the students learned how to take notes by using a graphic organizer with boxes and bullets. This organizer helped them to organize their writing into main ideas and details. It was a powerful learning experience and lots of fun. Their writing binders are filling up! We will read our books to kindergarten when we return from holiday. Pictures will come soon.
Geography
Here we are kicking off our study of the world's geography. This study will include the following skills: globes, grids, compass roses, keys & symbols, land & water forms, U.S. states & regions, and continents. We are excited to explore the world and see where some of the animals we are writing books about come from. We have been able to find great videos, maps, books, and hands on materials. Pictures will come soon.
Writing
When we are reading books that compare and contrast we are also writing comparison and contrast essays. We have begun the process of learning how to write a compare and contrast essay. It first began with reading books and just noticing the compare and contrast of the subject matter. It was fun to read the compare and contrast between the crocodile and the alligator. After reading many other things we began to notice the vocabulary an author uses when he or she compares and contrasts. We did a word sort to really take a good look at those words knowing this would help us in our own writing. See picture below:
Next, we read a mentor article comparing and contrasting elementary school to middle school. We took notice and notes of the components of this type of essay. We made steps to follow on a large chart paper of what a well written essay would look like. See picture below: Now the students are ready to try one on their own. They have lots of ideas and we will share soon.
The students are doing an amazing job in writing. We can't wait to show them off on our outside bulletin board. Our writing binders are growing and we are planning a spring tea! Yes, an old fashioned tea with china, teapots, tea sandwiches, and cookies. This will be a great time for the kids to share all the different types of writing they have been working on. So stayed tuned as we plan this fun day.
Our Social Filter
This week, our School Counselor, Mrs. Rubin came in and did an activity with the entire 3rd grade class. She introduced the concept of a “Social Filter” – the students raised their hands and gave ideas of what they thought it meant and how it related to everyday life. Then, she read the students a book titled, “I Can’t Believe You Said That!” by, Julia Cook. This book explains the importance of using a social filter everyday – it helps everyone from saying or doing things that are hurtful, embarrassing, or damaging in social relationships. The book follows RJ, a little boy that says whatever comes to his mind, without using his social filter first and using words that are still truthful, but very un- kind. The students really enjoyed the story and gave some great examples of ways they can use their social filter. One perfect example was when Mrs. Rubin asked the students this question: What would you say if a classmate came to you and asked you what you thought about their painting and you didn’t like it? How can you state the truth without hurting their feelings? One student raised their hand high and said “You could tell them how unique it is and that they worked really hard on it!” – such an awesome example! It was so great to see the students’ enthusiasm about this topic and they all agreed that everyone, students and adults, need to practice using their social filter everyday.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Our class just finished the novel Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. The purpose of this class read was to study character development. This study focused on how readers get to know characters by studying them deeply, first observing, and then coming up with hunches or ideas, and then investigating patterns that reveal deeper character traits and motivations. The readers use those theories to make predictions as they follow the character on his journey across the story. The students were taught about the journeys that characters follow as a predictable story mountain. Finally the third graders will compare and contrast characters across books, examining their traits, motivations, and the way they respond to problems.
Pictures of the Third Graders during Reading Workshop
Moving West
We have just begun our Moving West Unit with Mrs. Newman's class. To build some background knowledge we have been learning through Visual Literacy which is reading images. This is going to be an exciting unit so stay in touch with Weebly as we discover the Wild Wild West!
The students are so excited to learn about the history of the 1800's
This week we have been working on a time line. You can see some of it below. The students have been working with action figures to help this period come alive through battle reenactments.
Traveling the Oregon Trail With Mrs. Gehri.
Mrs. Gehri shared her scrapbook with our third graders from when she traveled the Oregon Trail. The children were spellbound to see pictures and hear about her adventure. Our students are currently researching this period of time and working on creating a class book!
Each student completed a poster board with the following information: A title, five interesting facts, a written paragraph, and two visuals. The posters were taken to first grade where we partnered up and shared our research on Westward Expansion.
Remember our Tea Party ( a celebration of writing & readng) is set for May 17th at 9:30!
What a fun morning! Thank you for helping us celebrate our reading and writing this year.
Having fun with shapes in Math. Ask your child to explain the task at each center.
It was such a pleasure to work with your child this year. For those of you not returning, please know that I will miss you! For those of you returning, I already can't wait until fall. Please have a wonderful, relaxing, and safe summer.
Mrs. Capozzoli
Mrs. Capozzoli