Last week was a great week in our classroom! We started off Tuesday with a lesson using a book called Joyful Noise - Poems for Two Voices. These poems were all about insects and were written using different perspectives...we had a lot of wonderful, rich discussions about perspectives and then choral read these poems...I then challenged each child to try to write from two different perspectives during Writer's Workshop...I got some AMAZING work!! We continued with the perspectives theme all week...we read some fairy tales from different characters' perspectives and now I have kids writing new fairy tale versions, too...I love that they love to write!! The next day we started an informative writing piece using the "How-To Essay" framework. I modeled the prewriting last week using "How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich"...we had a lot of fun with that! Then they chose a topic they are highly interested in and wrote up the framework for their essay...they will eventually use PIXIE and a moviemaker program to publish this essay for the screen! It should be a really cool project! They wrote rough drafts yesterday while I wasn't here and I'm anxious to look at them.
On Wednesday of last week, the Maryland Historical Society came to visit the third grade magnet classes. They shared a program on what a child's life was like in the late 1800's here in Maryland. The kids got to use tools and toys that those children would have used or played with, and then we compared our lives. They had the homework assignment where they had to decide whether Lucy Bronson would prefer her own time, to our time. (I have so many papers to grade!!) It was a very worthwhile "in house field trip"!
And in Math this week, we focused on decimals, perimeter, and area...all topics the kids have covered this year, but we took it all a step further. They designed their "Dream Homes", calculated the decimal fraction of each room in their house, calculated the area and perimeter for each room, and then wrote an advertisement for the sale of that house. They enjoyed creating, and I was able to review and extend those particular math concepts.
What's up this week? LOTS MORE...but I will wait 'til Friday to write about it all...a couple reminders:
1. Strawberry Festival and our 50th Anniversary Celebration are this Friday!! I will be in the Sponge Throw for two slots, so come out and see if you can hit me!!2. As the Spring is upon us, the hammer comes down more quickly...so you will see more #'s on checklists and some Think Sheets to have to be signed...I don't know how else to let them know that FOURTH QUARTER COUNTS!! :-)
Please email me with any questions. Have a great rest of the week!
