Students learn about area and perimeter in a very energetic Friday

We had a very energetic Friday before spring break!

We started by skip-counting to make a picture.  

We also worked with area and perimeter.  We sang our song and revisited what we had added to our math notebook.  We built things using centimeter cubes.  We also discussed how area is squared, but perimeter isn't. We did some practice shapes and they had to bring me their paper every time they finished one, so that I could check it.  That way I was able to see if they were having any trouble.

We also worked with author's purpose.  We work on this all year but not as a specific lesson.  We discuss why an author wrote a book or passage.  We discussed the three reasons why a piece is written.  Authors write to persuade, inform, or entertain.

We took our spelling tests today. 

We read nonfiction passages about P.T. Barnum and NASA.  Both were very interesting.  

I gave them another book, Interrupting Chicken.  That one is theirs to keep.  Some borrowed Mr. Popper's Penguins to read over spring break.

Behavior notes came home. I suggested they show them to you and immediately put them back into their backpacks so they didn't lose them!

Have a great spring break!

Students work on fractions, unfamiliar words

We had a great day today!  It is always nice when everyone is here!

We started with another following directions page.  Some had to redo theirs, as they didn't follow all of the directions.  This is so important.  As they get older, and take tests, they will need to be able to read directions on their own, and follow them.

We made several fractions today with our fraction bars.  We discussed, again, how the size of fractions decrease as the denominators increase. After some practice of comparing fractions, we made another observation.  We discovered that if the denominator is the same, you only have to look at the numerator to see if a fraction is the largest one. 

We also worked with a few unfamiliar words.  They were words that the Irish use.  We used our dictionaries and deductive reasoning skills to match definitions to words. 

We played "You Can Be in My Club." This shows how people with something in common are in the "Club." For example, I chose everyone wearing a lanyard, as I was wearing mine.  Then the children have to guess what it is we have in common.  After that we had headings on shamrocks.  They were one word headings.  They then chose the other 2 words from the word bank that belonged with the word already written.

We worked with our spelling words today.  Our test is tomorrow. 

I reminded them they may get on Xtramath and Prodigy at home.  It is not MANDATORY, though. 

I did encourage them to write about their spring break.  They could just write a little each day about what they did, or what they didn't do.  Again, this is not mandatory.  

Teacher's out, but students still have a busy day of learning

As you know by now, I had to be gone today.  My dentist was finally able to get me in after having to cancel when we were quarantined and then the snow!  Unfortunately, she was booked up spring break.  But, my sub was Mrs. Timmons, and I know they were in great hands!  Will Rogers is so lucky to have her. 

We will be talking tomorrow, as some did not do their best work. Most did, but some did not.  

They did some Xtramath after announcements and morning work. Then we did some multi-digit addition review.  Some will be bringing those home to correct. 

They did some research in the library today.

They were given some time to read silently.

They also went to Istation reading today.  

They revisited the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.  I left them a paper of a bean in the ground, and they had to draw and color what their magic bean grew.  Then they had to write about it.

They also got to design a pair of socks.  We didn't get to this last week during Dr. Seuss week.  Some were very creative.  I would even buy them!

I can't wait to see them tomorrow.

Students are coming together as a family of learners

Today was a wonderful day!  We are becoming great young men and women.  I love the way the students are coming together like a school family.  (I am not saying there aren't a few bumps in the road, but for the most part, they are doing a great job!)

We started by making our spelling words with Play-Doh.

Then we did our Xtramath and Istation math practice. If they finished before time was up, they were allowed to go to Prodigy.  Remember, they may go to Xtramath and Prodigy at home.

We worked with idioms today.  Their reading assignment is the book we made today.  

We wrote our spelling words.  Many didn't do well last week.  And I hate that Spelling City is no longer, because that helped them so much!

Have a great evening. 

 

Students learn about free writing

First, let me apologize. I had to leave directly after school Friday, and forgot all about the blog. But we had a fabulous Friday, and our read and feed went well.

Today was another great day!  We started by doing a free write in our writers' notebooks.  The only rule is to keep writing until I ask them to stop.

In math we went over a paper quiz we took last week. They corrected their answers they missed.  Going over what is missed is very important. As I explained to them, it helps us see our mistakes, and more often that not, we won't repeat the same mistake. We also did some multi-digit addition practice.

We handed out our spelling lists. I also handed out the spelling tests from last week.  I think some forgot to study.

In reading we did some silent reading.  We also finished a reading poem, using rhyming word pairs.  Rhyming is very important in reading.  

If you didn't return your child's fundraiser envelope, please do so tomorrow.

Third graders work with nonfiction books

We had a great day in third grade! We were very busy! 

I forgot to mention that we had a new student as of yesterday.  Many in our class knew him from last year. 

We started with some silent reading.  We also read another nonfiction book about penguins today. We love reading about penguins. It was also a great way to revisit nonfiction text features.

We worked some more with prepositions.  We had to sort them from nouns.  

We took a couple of math quizzes today.  One was over the fractions.  The other was one of mixed skills.  I want to see what we need to concentrate on the most.  

Our read and feed is tomorrow. It is also pajama day. 

Third graders work with fractions

We started with some following directions practice for morning work. 

We also did more with fractions.  We made equivalent fractions today. We also did a practice page after exploring equivalent fractions.They seem to enjoy working with fractions.  At first they were a little scared of them.  But once we explore and explain the way they work, they seem to enjoy them.

We also did a preposition review.  We listened to Green Eggs and Ham again.  Then we went to the end where the character decides he likes them and starts saying where he will eat them.  Each sentence has a preposition in it. Then each child made a rhyming pair of sentences using the same pattern.

We also read silently. And there was a new book in the listening center so some of us had time to listen to that.

Congratulations to Ayden!  He tested out of subtraction in Xtramath.com!  Yay!