Hey...it's not Monday yet!!

Hello to my favorite third graders' families! What a great Spring we're having!! So much to tell you...here we go....

Language Arts
We are all about plays right now...we spent most of the week focusing on stage presence and voice...we also started work on sets, backdrops, props, etc....

Our three plays are titled:
"Cinderella Outgrows the Glass Slipper"
"Once Upon a Hundred Years Nap"
"Will the Real Abraham Lincoln Please Stand Up?"

I promise by next week I will pick the date for the presentation of the plays so you can mark your calendars...I'm not quite ready to commit!

In Social Studies we have started the unit Environmental Issues...I can see this class really getting into this unit. We will be reading about and discussing different environmental issues, how they effect our communities, and what we can do to improve these issues. During this unit we will be writing persuasive essays...speaking of essays...no, I have not graded the "how-to essays" yet...but I have finally caught up with all other papers, so they are next! Writing takes a long time to grade...but I am excited to finally read them!!

We started off the week doing some problem solving in Math...questions where the kids can solve them in so many different ways...the questions all had solutions where multiplication was an efficient way to solve...but not everyone uses multiplication...its important for the kids to know there are multiple ways to solve problems, but that there are ways that are most efficient. So, after a four question pretest, I grouped the kids into three different groups...one group started out the week reviewing the algorithm for one digit times three digits multiplication...they eventually joined the second group which sarted out learning the algorithm for two digit times two digit multiplication. And my third group had the multiplication algorithms down pat, and they worked on applying the algorithms. It was a lot to manage, but it was by far a productive week. I still have a few friends that get confused in the one digit times three digit algorithm...this skill is important for next year...if you have trouble with one digit times any number, it is hard to master two factors that are two or more digits...this would be a great practice skill for the summer. I have only a few kids left that really need fact practice...I've talked to them and they know who they are...this is a must for summer!!

We will be continuing our problem solving this week...most of the problems will require a BCR answer...the kids always groan when they have to write BCRs...they hate to explain their thinking...but I will continue to push them until the very last day of school...you can count on that!

We have some cool assemblies this week...tomorrow the kids will be participating in an assembly titled, "Together We're Better" and the idea behind this assembly is sensitivity awareness...a young many with Asperger's Syndrome will talk about the challenges and successes in his life. Then on Wednesday, your kids will get to see the Band/Orchestra Recruitment show...this is an entertaining, fun show that will excite your child about the opportunity to play an instrument in 4th and/or 5th grade...so expect them to come home with a lot of enthusiasm about playing an instrument! Then on Thursday, Mrs. Fike will be visiting our class to share a lesson with the kids...this time we'll have the lesson in the computer lab...the kids are going to love that!!

Maybe we should just agree on Monday posts this Spring?!!?

Sorry AGAIN!! I could go into a long explanation of all EIGHT games I attended this weekend, but I won't bother...last week was wonderful and I want to update you!

I'm going to start with MATH because as I type, your children are taking a decimals quiz! Over the past two weeks we have been working with decimals...after the kids designed their Dream Homes and wrote about them, we completed some work in the textbook and did some problem solving...and yes, this is the second round of decimal work in the Wills' classroom! Upon giving the 4th quarter pretest it was definitely the subject where weaknesses showed up...but it was my job to make sure those kids who already had those concepts had a challenge, too...so we explored multiplying and dividing decimal fractions a bit! Our quiz today signifies the end of decimals in third grade...if your child has trouble with the quiz, it is a good indicator that he/she could use some extra practice over the summer!

Last week we began our unit on Plays in LANGUAGE ARTS! I love this unit and so do the kids. We spent the first few days on the elements of a play and read different plays. Then we voted on three plays we'd like to produce in our class...and I'm thrilled to say they picked three of my FAVORITES! The kids have chosen parts and are now practicing their lines. We're talking about backdrops and costumes and props...and I know they are going to be fantabulous! We will be performing these plays in early June...as we get closer, you'll get an invite! During all of this, I will be conducting reading inventories to assess your child's reading levels at this stage of third grade.

On Wednesday of last week I took the kids to the computer lab and introduced them to Moodle. It is an online classroom and I will be sending information home this week about the online course. It is a different way for kids to reflect on something they've read and respond to each other. It is a very secure site and I read all of their responses. Again, more to come later this week.

We finished final drafts of our "How-To" essays and am excited to read them...I just need about 300 extra hours to get all these papers graded and we'll be good! ;-)

Last, I would just like to thank you and your kids for making me feel so special during Teacher Appreciation Week...the cards, flowers, and gifts were so generous. Thank you...it is my absolute pleasure to work with your kids every day.

PLEASE forgive me...

Springtime is really crazy in the Wills house...truly, I left home Friday at 3:45pm and arrived back home Sunday night at 10:00 pm...then had a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday...and although all of that is true...I still owed you an update on Friday, so here it is...please forgive me...

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!

Our Fun and Busy Week!

So...I just wrote a really long post and lost the whole thing...I'm soooo frustrated...I hope you don't mind, but I'm not going to rewrite it all right now...I'll write again soon...but for today I'll leave you with the latest video....click on the words "Our Fun and Busy Week!"

Enjoy Spring Break!

Our Fun and Busy Week!

The Earth and Space Science Lab

While we were on our field trip on Monday, the teachers at the ESSL shared with the kids that this coming Saturday is OPEN HOUSE...I wanted to make sure you have all the details, so I have added the the Earth and Space Science Lab link to the Science list over on the right. The teachers also shared that there are evening and summer programs in the Planetarium that your kids might be interested in, and all of that information can be found by clicking on the same link. Enjoy!

A WRITING CONTEST!!!!

Need something for your child to do during Spring Break?!

OR.....

Maybe you have a budding author on your hands?

Check out the Writing Contest being held by the Dancing Bear! I would love to see some of my students participate...so let me know if your child submits an entry!!

http://playatthebear.com/

Good luck!

SORRY!!!

Oh my...I had a CRAZY weekend...full of basketball games, baseball games, and a dance competition...to say I was never home is an understatement. So...I never got to blog...my apologies...I hope to make up for it now. Last week we had a wonderful week and we accomplished so much... Language Arts So...where to begin...we are continuing our book clubs using 21 Balloons. The kids are doing great work acting as clarifiers, questioners, predictors, and picture painters...the discussions are rich. I keep telling the kids that they will only get what they want from the discussion...many are very interested to hear others' perspectives and chime in with their own thoughts...it is very fun to listen to! Last week the kids gathered information about paleontologists. This week they wrote a paragraph explaining whether or not they'd like to be a paleontologist. I shared the writing rubric with them ahead of time and they worked hard to produce excellent writing. I'm still grading these, but they will come home sometime late this week. I am so pleased at the work your kids are producing in Writer's Workshop. This is another place that you only get out of it, what you want to get out of it. It is free choice writing, with lessons built in to teach about the writing traits and other important areas of writing. I see SO many kids incorporating what they're learning into their work! I have a few that have a hard time with using the time wisely, but overall, most kids do a fantastic job!! As you know we went to see "Cinderella" last week...what fun! It is amazing to me that it was a high school production...such outstanding acting and musicians...we had a wonderful time! Math We had a lot of fun in math this week. We worked with the "correct" way to count back change. You would be surprised how hard this is for some kids. They can "do the math" so quickly in their heads that they don't really know exactly which coins to hand back and how...so we practiced...and practiced...and practiced. The trick is to teach the kids to count back to the "quarter mark" first and then to the dollar mark, the five dollar mark, and the ten dollar markusing the least amount of coins and bills. For instance, if you hand someone a 20 dollar bill and are paying for something that is $1.37. You would first give the person 3 pennies and say, "one dollar, 40 cents." Then hand them a dime and say, "one dollar, 50 cents (the quarter mark)". Then two quarters and say, "two dollars." Then three dollars and say, "five dollars" and then a five and a ten. Once most of the class got this concept they flew with it. A few had a hard time and could still use some practice!! The kids designed stores and we spent two days shopping from each others' stores and selling...each student was responsible for writing a word problem to go with their store and then I made that into a worksheet so the kids could solve each others' problems. Overall, the kids really enjoyed math last week! Science Well...we are headed into our Populations unit while we finish up the Rock, Soil, and Fossils unit. We already have a living organism in our classroom that we will begin studying tomorrow...daphnia...ever heard of them? They are tiny organisms that you find in ponds. On Wednesday we will get our anoles...and our terrariums are finally looking like habitats! More to come on this Friday! GEMS project.... Yes, your kids were assigned a project last week...it is the way we're sending off the Rock, Soil, and Fossils unit. After they choose a gem, the kids need to research and organize the information; then they need to decide how they want to present the information. They have total control over this decision other than the fact that they need to make sure the important information about the gem is included! Tomorrow I will be sending something home on which the kids can record their resources. I am working very hard to help the kids NOT plagiarize, and most of them really understand how to write it in their own words...however, if I question whether or not it's their words, I need to be able to refer to something. Thank you for helping your child not copy sentences from books. Have them record key words and turn them into their own sentences. I look forward to seeing their finished products!