Terrific Tuesday

The children began their day in art.

When they returned to the classroom, we began our math rotations.

During the small group instruction, the students used their knowledge of basic facts to construct rectangles with a given area.  I captured this lesson using Educreations and it can be viewed on the third grade web site or here.  With one group we related this to factorization!

At guided practice, working in partners, the students used clues to determine the "chosen number" out of 36 choices.  Partners were expected to discuss each clue and identify what was known and unknown.

Finally, during the technology rotation, the children visited the Internet site, Multiplication BBC, to practice the multiplication basic facts.

For homework, there is an assignment on Edmodo.  The students need to watch the Educreations lesson from the link above.

After math, we quickly reviewed the expectations for the introductory paragraph for the inquiry project.  Then we revisited the use of conjunctions to vary sentences in your writing.

While I met with small groups the children visited a non-fiction article about Africa and created a t-chart listing text features on one side and questions that might be answered in the text on the other.  Then they completed reading group assignments.  After that, the children watched an Educreations lesson with me modeling and explaining how to write the introductory paragraph for the inquiry project.  Finally, they began drafting their own intro paragraph.

Sharks:  We reviewed last night's homework where the students identified the theme of The Chalkbox Kid.  Then we listed support, from the book, for the themes the students named.  After that, I modeled how to write about the theme of the book, using support.  Then the children wrote about the theme, using details from the book, in their RRJ.

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

Cheetahs:  The students reread chapter 11 and identified actions that led to the main event in the chapter.  For HOMEWORK they need to read chapter 12.

Pandas:  The students reread chapter 11 and identified actions that led to the main event in the chapter. For HOMEWORK they need to read chapter 12.

The day ended with science.  The students brainstormed ways to separate the sand, salt and stone mixture.  They identified qualities that made the stone the easiest to separate.  Additionally, the defined dissolve as melting or mixing into a liquid.