Wonderful Wednesday

WOW!  Today got off to a wonderful start...I woke up tired and lethargic...just one of those days...and YOUR children turned it around!  They are so sweet and thoughtful...they filled my morning with compliments!  Love these kiddos!

We began our day with our weekly class meeting.  Students began by sharing things for which they are grateful.  These ranged from homes to electricity to family and good friends.  Not one item that was materialistic was mentioned!

Next, we share compliments and thank yous.  As one student noted, more people shared during this time, than ever before!  :-)

After that, I opened the floor to the students to share challenges.  For the most part, the children shared frustrations with people leaving or stepping on personal belongings on the floor.  So we had a short discussion about being aware of your surroundings.  All in all, it was a fabulous start to our day!!

After our meeting we jumped right into math rotations.  The teacher group focused on solving for unknown in division word problems by creating a chart of what is known and unknown.  The guided practice rotation had students watch a Learn Zillions lesson about solving 2 step word problems.  Then they solved a word problem by viewing a guided practice Learn Zillion activity where the students were guided through the required steps to find the answer.  Both of these lessons can be found on the third grade web site.  Finally, the technology rotation had students working on the memorization of the basic multiplication facts by playing the app, on the iPad, called Multiplication.

There is a division worksheet for HOMEWORK.

We began our reading and writing block by viewing an Educreations lesson about the Taking Action paragraph for our inquiry project.  Then we discussed and shared what we had learned from it.

While I meet with small groups the students will work on reading group assignments.  They will also complete the background paragraph and begin the taking action paragraph for the inquiry project.

Sharks:  We practiced read and writing their focus words.  Then we asked questions and made inferences using the photographs in the Urban section on pages 10-13.  After that, we read to find out if our answers were correct.  For HOMEWORK the students need to practice writing their words in a fun way--for this, anything goes...all I care about it that they practice spelling the words correctly.  They can type their words, cut letters our of newspapers, write in markers, write in bubble letters...anything!  They also need to reread pages 10-13.

Following lunch and outdoor recess, the students continued working independently while I met with more groups.

First, I conferenced with a couple of students on their opinion paragraphs.

Dolphins:  We practiced reading and writing our focus words.  Then we asked questions and used photographs to make inferences to answer them.  After that, we read the text to see if our inferences were accurate.  For HOMEWORK the students  need to practice writing their words in a fun way--for this, anything goes...all I care about it that they practice spelling the words correctly. They can type their words, cut letters our of newspapers, write in markers, write in bubble letters...anything!   They also need to reread pages 14-17.

Cheetahs:  The students got a new book, How Paper is Made.  They took a picture walk and identified questions they had and answers to them, based on inferences they could make from the photos in the book.  Then they read the book to see if their inferences were correct.  In group we shared their questions and inferences and found the sections of text that addressed these.  For HOMEWORK they need to reread the book.

Pandas:  The students took a picture walk, on  pages 16-21,  and identified questions they had and answers to them, based on inferences they could make from the photos in the book. Then they read the book to see if their inferences were correct. In group we shared their questions and inferences and found the sections of text that addressed these. For HOMEWORK they need to reread pages 16-21.

We ended the day with students working in their small groups, to create covers for their tires, following the plan they developed yesterday during science.