Fun in Room 208!

MATH: Students are flying through these multiplication and division facts! This week we are finally learning the last of our multiplication numbers, 7’s and 8’s! We discovered that since we have already learned all of the other multiplications, 7x7, 7x8, and 8x8 are really the only ones left to discover! The class has come up with great strategies for multiplying and dividing. Some of these include using count bys with fingers, making equal shares drawings, and drawing arrays. Students have also come up with a strategy of breaking one number apart and multiplying in 2 steps. For example: if we are trying to find the answer to 8x6, we can break the 8 up into two parts (4 and 4), and solve it by adding 8x4 +8x4. All are great strategies; however, practicing fluency each and every night is extremely important for students! Please quiz your child to help with these fast facts. Multiplication.com is also a great website for them to get some extra practice. Another idea: ask your child about Multiplication War! This game can be used with a deck of cards and the kids love it! In the coming weeks we will continue to work on multiplication and division word problems, understanding square numbers, and solving two step story problems.

READING: I have been so impressed watching students continue to grow as readers in the whole group, small group, and independent setting. The kids are doing a great job making Daily 5 choices and working hard to manage their time and get everything done on their ‘must do’ list. Last week we added one more component to Daily 5, respond to reading. After seeing examples modeled and practicing on their own, students helped develop a rubric for writing a thoughtful reading response. It has been fun reading their responses about the chapter books they are reading independently. As always, we continue to learn new CAFÉ strategies that we practice in the whole group, small group, and independently. This week we are looking at questioning strategies before, during, and after reading. In the coming weeks we will learn more about text and graphic features in fiction and non-fiction books, and have more practice on making inferences within a text.

WRITING: Our class is continuing to focus on personal narrative writing. We talked about how to zoom in on a specific moment (a seed topic) as opposed to writing about a big moment (watermelon topic). After completing their first narratives, students shared with the class. We talked about what we are proud of as writers with this first writing piece. After listening to other students’ narratives, kids focused in on a goal that they wanted to work on for their next piece. As a class the goals chosen were: using descriptive language, writing sentences that flow easily, using bold and detailed words, improving punctuation/conventions, engaging the reader, and developing characters. I was impressed that they came up with these goals all on their own after listening to each other’s writing! Kids signed up for the goal(s) that were most appropriate for them. I can’t wait to teach mini-lessons on each topic and see the improvement each child makes on their next writing piece. Up next: more personal narratives…kids will be writing about ‘silly secrets of third graders’!

SCIENCE: This week we finally started our new science unit, Motion and Matter! To begin, students began investigating magnets and their interaction. Students explored with paper clips and magnets and developed some great questions to explore throughout the unit. A few of the questions included: How many metals can magnets stick to? How do magnets stick on our desk when paper clips are on them? Why do the paper clips stay together after we take them off of the magnet? When you put two magnets together, how come it feels like air is between the magnets and they won’t connect?

Throughout this investigation students will continue to learn about the attraction between magnets and paper clips while thinking about our class focus question: What happens when magnets interact with other magnets and paper clips? Kids will develop a model that explains the interaction between the magnets and the paper clips. Take a look at our classroom photo tab to view kids exploring these interactions! They had a fun time.

SOCIAL STUDIES: While we are exploring in science, the class will take a short break from Social Studies. When we return, kids will learn about the regions in the United States, and compare and contrast 2 regions.

UPCOMING DATES:

Don’t forget to sign up for a conference! Conferences will be held the week of November 3^rd. I’m looking forward to meeting with you all.