Terrific Tuesday

The students began their day in art.

They have been bugging me for a while to get started on their personal academic math goals.  So, while they were in art, I added a page to the third grade web site to post links that will support the children in reaching those goals.  While doing that, I ran across a cool web site called Sum Dog. This site provides many games and activities that support the common core curriculum and allows the teacher to monitor student activity.  So, I quickly set up students accounts.

When the students returned to class, I introduced Sum Dog to them and handed out their account information. Then we began our math rotations.

During the teacher led small group instruction the students cut out and sorted quadrilaterals into three groups; rectangles, squares and rhombuses.   The diagram we used allowed the students to see that some squares are rectangles, some are rhombuses, and others are just plain old squares.

Students worked with partners to discuss, represent, and solve elapsed time word problems during guided practice.

Finally, students explored Sum Dog during the technology rotations.

For HOMEWORK the students will practice their basic facts using the half sheet sent home today and the instructions that were sent home yesterday.

After math, the students worked on their independent tasks for the week and I continued some end of the year, one-on-one, informal reading assessments.

A reminder, this weeks tasks are...

1. Students will write a thank you note to an assigned visitor from Career Day.
2. Students will publish their issue inquiry project using Microsoft Word.
3. Students will watch an Educreations lesson teaching students how to turn heading into researchable questions and then read the text to identify the main ideas in a section of non-fiction.
4. Students will watch a video about using robots on assembly lines. Then they will choose a video about robot usage in automobiles and emergency rooms OR radio astronomy and school buses. Finally, they will describe how using robots as part of an assembly line affects producers, in their social studies journals.
5. Students will watch a Magic School Bus video about decomposition.

Following lunch and outdoor recess, the children continued their independent work and I met with some reading groups.

Dolphins:  The students located words with the /ea/ pattern in their new books.  Then we identified the long e sound as the one this pattern most often uses.  After that, we decoded some words with the/ea/ pattern.  Next the students whisper read their book, as I listened in, to identify what the 2 friends do to make their wishes come true.  For HOMEWORK the children need to reread their book and practice reading their word bag cards.

Cheetahs:  First we discussed what the Oscars are and how moving pictures used to be made (thousands of pictures put together to form one movement).  Then we began reading the chapter, "The Three Little Pigs Win an Oscar".   For HOMEWORK the students need to finish reading the chapter, pages 43-46, and write one thing that made them smile, as they read, on a sticky note.

Pandas:  We continued reading chapter 4 and discussed Tiger's struggle with handling frustration.  For HOMEWORK the children need to finish reading chapter 4, pages 25-27, and identify one thing they read that they want to share.

At the end of the day we reviewed decomposition and organic and inorganic material.  Then we observed and discussed the beginning of the decomposition of the organic material in our jars.