Most are 'getting it' when it comes to fraction basics

We had a fabulous Friday! 

We worked more with fractions. From the looks of the post test that we take online, most understand the basics of fractions. It will get a little harder, but if the basis is strong, then there shouldn't be a problem.

We read some passages and chose facts and opinions from each. There were examples of both in each passage.

We completed our school stories. (Most did.) These are on display in the hall before we send them home. 

We also had some multiplication review. 

If you haven't sent your child's permission slip for the field trip, please send it Monday. If it has been lost, let me know. I will get you another.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Students are enjoying their study of fractions

A great day was had in third grade today.

We we did a fractions challenge game. They seem to be enjoying the fractions.

We read a nonfiction passage and practiced multiple reading skills. We even introduced some new ones.

We enjoyed the fifth grade program. I loved hearing the Beatles' songs!

We reviewed the nines in multiplication.

I told my class they could bring their stuffy they earned for returning the fundraiser packet tomorrow. We will only get them out in my room.

Have a great day.

Third graders find out that learning can be lots of fun

Happy Wednesday! Third grade had fun today!

Since we are doing fractions, we broke out the fraction bars and Hersheys candy bars. They are sectioned in twelfths, so it worked out well. Chocolate makes math work a lot more enjoyable.

We did a fact and opinion activity, as well. Some silent reading was enjoyed, as well. It seems like we are so busy, sometimes we don’t get many opportunities to do some silent reading. But I try to fit it in whenever possible. Yesterday we got to read outside.

We worked on our school stories today. I enjoyed reading them. Their handwriting is improving, as well. Research shoes that improving handwriting also improves their reading skills.

Have a great evening!

Another full day of learning: vocabulary, fact and opinion, fractions, the "tion" ending of words

We had a successful day today.

Book orders went home yesterday and are due the 18th of October. 

We read a story, discussed the vocabulary, and answered only five questions. It was a great story about stepping out of your safety zone.

We also worked more with fact and opinion. 

We worked with fractions today. We discussed the parts of a fraction, the job of each part, and wrote them in words, standard form, and drew pictures to represent the fraction. We had a mini lesson today on the ending "tion." We sounded out the word fraction, so that they could "help me" spell it. When we got to the t, I told them that the last four letters represented different sounds. When I showed them, they were able to come up with a lot of words that end with the "shun" sound, spelled tion.

We are collecting diapers this month, as well as games for our class basket that will be auctioned off at the carnival.

Parent teacher conferences are October 9th and 10th. I am going to try something different. Please send times/days that you cannot meet, and I will work around those. They begin at 3:30 and end at 6:45. Please let me know by note, text, or email. Thank you!

Lots of learning activities fill the day for third graders

We had a busy, busy Monday.

We reviewed place value and comparing numbers. We did some independent work, using a review page. Unfortunately, these pages sometimes include items we haven't covered yet. When this happens, we do those together. 

We also revisited main idea, as well. But we started with a lesson on facts and opinions. This concept seemed to come easy to them. We shall see.  I made two columns and listed examples of facts o n one side, and opinion examples on the other. I didn't give them a heading. But without telling them what I had done, we read them, and they were able to tell me how they were separated. 

We finished with our creative measuring activity in science. We had to use a string to measure pictures of coiled snakes. 

We still need a couple of games for our auction basket. 

Have a great evening!

Students work with irregular plurals

We had a great Friday. 

We worked more with comparing numbers. We did an independent check-up. We also worked with our nines in multiplication. We learned a couple of tricks. There were also some great observations about the nines' facts. Ask your child about them.

We worked more with singular and plural, introducing irregular plurals. For example, the plural form of toy is toys. The plural form of patch is patches. The plural form of child, however, is children. The plural form of woman is women. The whole word changes. That is why they are called irregular. 

We did some much needed reading and discussion time. 

I have two bags of candy for the carnival and three games. Thank you to those of you, who have already donated. If you would rather just make a cash donation, I could pick up items for the basket. I love any excuse to shop!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Third graders work with ordering numbers, talk about main idea, learn about Oklahoma counties

We had a busy day today.

We worked more with ordering numbers. While there are rules to follow for this, I decided we would write our own, and see how they turned out. They were great. I would give two. numbers and they would explain to me how we could figure out which one was more or less, or if they were equal. We added this information to our notebooks.

We read and talked more about main idea and supporting details. We will continue to work on this.

We read about the 77 counties in Oklahoma. We learned how some of them got their name. 

Thank you to those who have sent snacks or games for our "Game Night" basket we will have at the auction at the carnival in October.

Third graders look at how to be good winners and losers when playing games

We had a unique day today.

We worked with place value as a review today.

We also did a social studies lesson in playing games. We first discussed how we need to get along, be good winners and losers, and how we handle conflict. 

We worked with our spelling words today, as well.

We also discussed our story and the parts of a story. 

Have a great evening!

Class works on comparing numbers in math, main idea in reading

We had a great day. I apologize for not posting yesterday. I stayed until after 7, and totally forgot. I was working on certain things and they occupied my thoughts.

We are working on comparing numbers, and adding or subtracting 100;  1000; or 10,0000 to or from a given number. 

We are still working with main idea in reading. We are also continuing to discuss the author's purpose for writing something.

The next three spelling lists are in your child's daily folder. 

I bought a basket for the auction we will have at the carnival. It has a couple of games, a box of snacks, and some soda. I have a game on order that should be here tomorrow.

Have a great evening!

Class starts new math concept today, enjoys floats in the afternoon

We had a busy, busy day today. 

We were able to have our floats in the afternoon, and they were enjoyed! Thank you to all who donated to make this treat possible!

We started a new concept in math today. It is figuring out what is 10 less, 10 more, 100 less, 100 more, 1,000 less, 1,000 more, 10,000 less, and 10,000 more. Some were trying to make it too hard. We got out our place value charts and wrote each number and discussed how usually only one digit it affected. Sometimes two can be affected if there is a 0 or 9 in a digit. 

We will be discussing the main idea and supporting details of a passage again. We have touched upon this, but we will be working more with it. This will be a concept we visit quite often.

We didn't get to make our dot pictures today, as we ran out of time. We will get to them on Monday. Ask your child about the book, The Dot.

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Class studies authors' purpose for writing, place value, number formats, measuring, plurals

We had an extremely busy day today. 

We worked more with an author's purpose for writing today. They seemed to understand pretty well. We also got to read a poem. It was about Paul Revere's Ride, so when we discussed why it was written, it was a bit tricky. It did give some information, but we decided in the end, it was written for entertainment.

We are still working with place value and writing numbers in different forms. We did a review page over what we have been learning today.

In science we talked about measuring. But since we were measuring snakes on a page (Never any real snakes in my room!) we had to find a way to measure them, since a ruler wouldn't work. There was only one that was straight. We used a piece of string to follow the body of a snake, then measured the length we used to cover the snake.

We also worked with adding -s or -es to verbs. I made two columns of words. One had to have only the letter s added while the other needed the letters es added. We looked at the list to try to figure out the rule before reading it. They were pretty good at discovering what the words in each column had in common. 

I have some of tomorrow's supplies. Thank you to everyone who sent items today!

Young authors study three purposes of writing

We worked more with the different forms of numbers. 

We worked on author's purpose today. We learned there are three different reasons an author writes something. 

P: Persuade

I: Inform

E: Entertain

So we drew a slice of pie to put in our. notebooks, then wrote that information so that it would help us remember.

We also reviewed the four different sentence types.

We used our spelling words in sentences that were already written, but with blanks. We had to choose the word that would make the sentence make sense. We also edited a sentence that was written incorrectly.

I have one parent who is bringing a 2 liter bottle of root beer. Please let me know what you can send on Friday. Thank you!

Important information for parents, from Mrs. Christian

 

Third graders work on different forms of number expression

We had a busy, busy day.

We worked on standard, expanded, and written forms in math. For example:

standard form = 5,764

expanded form = 5,000 + 700 + 60 + 4

written form = five thousand, seven hundred sixty-four

We also added to our math notebook.

In reading we read another story and answered questions independently, but we read it together. 

A note came home with your child. Please ask about it if he or she doesn't share it with you.

Please read with your child tonight, using the book he or she brought home

We had a great day today. 

We took our post test over place value, and most did better. I pulled some and we went over place value again.

We also read another short story and discussed what makes a story.

Your child has a read aloud assignment tonight. I sent the book What is the World Made Of? home. Please listen to your child read, take turns, or read it to him, if needed. The book and note should be returned tomorrow.

Matter is what we are studying in science this week.

We are also doing our first writing that will be posted in the hall. We are writing over something we did this summer. 

Please be sure to go through your child's daily folder.

Third graders wrap up week with a busy Friday

We had a busy Friday. 

We did some independent practice over place value today in math. We also reviewed the tens tables.

We worked with sequencing and summarizing. We retold stories by telling the important events in the correct sequence.

We will be studying states of matter next week. We will be having floats on Friday to wind things up. I will be sending home a note, asking for some donations. If you cannot donate, do not feel bad. There will be many opportunities.

Have a great weekend.

Several students improve Isip reading scores

We had another great day.

We had several who improved their Isip score in reading. We worked with sequence and summarization. Ask your child to explain one or both to you.

We worked more with place value. Tomorrow we will do an independent activity to see how well they grasp the concept.

We are discussing the difference between an experiment and an observation in science.

Have a great evening!

No, they didn't take tests all day, but it probably seemed like it -- here's what else they did

In case your child comes home and says he or she took tests all day, we didn't. But it seemed like it. We had to do a couple of pretests in the Alpha Plus curriculum.

We worked with place value in math today. It was interesting, as I wrote it on the board and asked what they knew about place value. Many started saying it had to deal with going somewhere. When I realized they were thinking about places as being somewhere to go, I went with it. Then we discussed the word "values" separately. The discussion took on a life of its own, but was very interesting! They were doing some deep thinking!  

In reading we worked with sequencing and summarizing. We did some silent reading, as well as reading aloud. I love hearing them read. 

We are doing our first experiments this week in science. 

Please keep your eye out for information that will be coming home about upcoming events!

Have a great evening!

Students learn about Oklahoman Will Rogers

We had a busy Friday today. 

We worked more with multiplying by five. They are learning why 5 X 5 = 25, not just memorizing the facts. It is important that they see how it connects to addition.

We read about Will Rogers today. We listened to a book about him that was written by former Governor Frank Keating, and illustrated by a friend of mine, who is also an Oklahoman, Mike Wimmer.

We had some silent reading time. 

Math books were sent home and they may keep them to use for practice. We are using a different curriculum this year. 

Have a great weekend! Assignments are already up on Seesaw. I scheduled them so that they could do them today if they wanted and not have to worry about it on Tuesday.