Terrific Tuesday!

Brrr....it is cold outside, but rest assured, it is toasty in our classroom!

The day began in art.

When the students returned to the classroom we began math rotations.

Students working with me used Geoboards to identify an area as a unit fraction (a whole) and then create equal parts and name the fractions each represent.

During guided practice the students used Cuisenairre rods to complete a practice activity where they answered questions relating equal parts to the unit fractions.

Finally, students viewed a Learn Zillion lesson about representing fractions in different ways and completed the guided practice in their RRJ.


For HOMEWORK the students have a worksheet, similar to the one they did during guided practice in class, to complete using the Cuisenaire Environment web site.

After math, the students worked on independent reading group assignments, publishing the first three paragraphs of the inquiry project and gathering information about Cairo, Timbuktu or Zimbabwe, for a travel brochure.  I met with small groups.

Pandas:  We met and I did a mini lesson about identifying cause and effect in text.  The students took notes in their RRJ.  Notes included the cause is the "why" and the effect is the "what happens".  Additionally, the students listed the following key words; because, so, therefore, as a result, consequently, and since.  Before sending them back to their seats, I used each of the key words in an example of a cause and effect.  Finally, the children revisited the article, "What Makes Popcorn Pop?" and identified two examples of cause and effect in their RRJ.

Cheetahs:  The children revisited the article, "What Makes Popcorn Pop?" and identified two examples of cause and effect in their RRJ.  We also met briefly to add key words for cause and effect (because, so, therefore, as a result, consequently, and since) to yesterday's notes and practice using them in sentences.

Following lunch and indoor recess Mrs. Howard visited to do a lesson about being trustworthy.  The end result was the students working together to create an acrostic poem, using the word trustworthy, on the Ipad.

The day ended with a science lesson.  The students were put into groups and assigned a topic, either a type of communicable disease, non-communicable disease, or a parasite.  They researched their subject using resources on the third grade web site and began creating a way to present the information to the rest of the class.  We will continue this lesson tomorrow.

There is NO reading homework this evening.  However, it is always beneficial for students to read for 15-20 minutes!