Wonderful Wednesday - BTSN

I am looking forward to seeing all of you at Back to School Night this evening.  It begins at 6:30 and there will be two sessions.

We got off to a bit of a late start this morning because I needed to take time to address a few items with the class.  First, our room is quite crowded.  Each table seats 6.  We have 22 students, yet we have 5 tables.  We can get rid of a table and still have a place for two additional students.  The class voted to get rid of a table, which will be done before the end of the week.  Second, with the increased use of technology, there is a great need for computer fluency.  SO, by the end of the week, students will be using a key boarding app, for at least 5-10 minutes a day, during morning work, to improve their typing fluency.  The class seemed to agree with this decision.  Finally,  we talked about the need for me, as the teacher, to plan ahead as best as I can.  This might include posting or sharing documents ahead of time.  It is really important that students do NOT complete assignments before I tell them to.  If it is not posted to the HOMEWORK page in Google Classroom or written in the student planner, the children should not do the work.  PLEASE.  Any questions about that?  Email me or call!

After our discussion we began our math rotations.  In small group we reviewed rounding tot he nearest hundred and ten.  Then we began practicing the partial sum model for solving addition problems.  This is basically using place value to find the sum.

When practicing math with a partner, the students played the math rounding card game and recorded each hand in their math journal, stating the number they created with the playing cards, the benchmark numbers, and the number it would round to.

During the technology portion of math the students used the third grade web site to visit Place Value Puzzler. They then chose to either practice their rounding or place value skills.

After math the students enjoyed lunch and recess.  When they returned to class we had more business to attend to.  First, we moved some student's seats so that we could get rid of the extra table and have more space in the room.  After that we addressed the issue of binders.  I will speak about this further this evening.  But, in short, I do feel badly about this, we will NOT be using binders this year.

As we embark on the journey to a paperless school, the binders have become a hindrance, not a help.  The children were told to take their planner out of their binder and that they could donate any of their materials (pencils, highlighters, glue sticks, etc) to our class stash.  Tonight they will bring their binder home and leave it their.  From now on, they are to bring their planner and plastic home folder (which they received today in class) home each night and return with it to school each morning.

Next I assigned the homework for this evening.  Both tasks are on Google Classroom.  One task is to watch a Learn Zillion lesson about the partial sums strategy for addition.  The other task is to read for 15 minutes and think about the events they read about.  Nothing needs to be posted this evening.

Finally, we were able to turn our attention to literacy.  First, I modeled how to rehears their writing ideas, using the graphic organizer they completed, with a partner, to prepare for writing the rough draft, tomorrow in class.  After that I did a quick mini lesson about sequential events in a story and that they are typically caused by characters actions and/or words.

Then I reviewed today's literacy independent work chart.  Students began with read to self.  They read Boxes for Katje, either using the hardback copy or digital version.  Then they accessed a document, from shared with me, which required them to put listed events, from Boxes for Katje, in order.  After completing this activity the students had to share the new document with me, so that I could assess their work.  This task integrated reading comprehension and a lot of technology skills!!  When they were finished, the children used their graphic organizers for their personal narrative to rehearse their their story with a partner.  Finally, the students were able to read with someone, but I don't think anyone got that far!  :-)

After literacy we selected students to have our first round of classroom jobs.  Then we packed up and went to PE.

I told the class today, we WILL begin reading groups on MONDAY...I hope to be done with informal reading testing by then, but regardless, I want to begin guided reading...so we will!

I look forward to sharing information with all of you tonight!  Thank you for all of your patience and support!!  I truly appreciate it!!!!