And now...here is Part Two...the Candy Commercials...
December 19, 2013
Candy Bar Commercials Part Two
OK...I have SOOO much to share...but for tonight it will just be the second set of commercials...over the break I will put together a movie of our Entrepreneurs Unit...I have a lot of fantastic pictures. I will also catch you up on all we've been doing. It's been a whirlwind and all of us are ready for a break! I will miss your little people...enjoy your families and your time together...it goes so fast...Merry Everything!!
And now...here is Part Two...the Candy Commercials...
And now...here is Part Two...the Candy Commercials...
December 11, 2013
The Long Awaited Candy Bar Commercials...Part One
I know, I know...I've spoiled you rotten...so you've been wondering...where on Earth are her blog posts? I have no good excuse...just this one...LIFE!! It keeps getting in the way! :-) Now I know you're thinking...but she had two snow days!! You're right...and I have my Christmas trees up and decorated, some closets cleaned out, and most of the laundry done...and if my house was anything like yours, I've dried snow clothes one time TOO many!!
Anyway...I'm hoping this post makes up for my omissions of late...we are doing amazing things every day in the classroom...so sorry I haven't posted about them...can't wait to show you what the kids are up to in our Entrepreneurs unit!! I'm going to have to make a movie of all those pictures. Until then...here is Part One of the long awaited candy bar commercials...the other kids will have their commercials filmed tomorrow or Friday, so stay tuned for more, but until then...enjoy!!
November 28, 2013
What am I thankful for?
...for a pilot program that brings electronic readers into our classroom! It's amazing how much MORE motivated your kids are with a Nook...we really enjoyed our time with them!!
...for having such a great class that earns enough Soaring with Prode stickers to celebrate with cushions and a movie!
...and for twenty-seven amazing students who make my job fun!
Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your families!!
November 17, 2013
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday!
Here is how this past week went down...
Language Arts
This week we finished up our novels in the Nooks...it has been so much fun having electronic readers...both of the stories were so fun to read and discuss. As you know, our main focus during these novels was using text evidence when answering a question...being able to cite the exact spot in the text that proves the answer. This will be a year long theme in our work with fiction. This coming week we will take a little time to talk about our novels' themes...the author's message...and then we will move right back into reading non-fiction to continue our work with main idea and key details. We will also be focusing on the ability to retell and paraphrase what has been read.
This week we will also be focusing on writing our commercials for our candy bars. The candy bar project got a little lost in the Fall Festival, end of quarter "ness", but will resurface Tuesday!
And then finally, we will begin a new formal writing piece...the narrative. This will be a month long series of lessons, graphic organizers, drafts and then eventually, a final product. But first, we must explore the elements of a narrative.
Math
Last week we were working with fractions and problem solving. The kids created Fraction Critters using fraction circle pieces, they worked on finding fractions of an area, and we solved lots of two step word problems. The kids are really becoming expert problem solvers. I love to see messy papers with words underlined and lots of "thinking on paper"...I really want them trying to solve these alone at home...I'd rather a kid come in with a paper and a signature from you meaning he/she tried alone, than for you to help them solve it. I cannot tell who needs what support if it wasn't completed independently.
This week we will be moving into small groups based on a pretest...the plan is to knock out any misconceptions with subtracting large numbers! I will be modeling the algorithm and looking for the students' mastery of it, as well as being able to subtract using other strategies...the more strategies the kids have, the deeper their understanding...the better suited they are for harder math in the future. Of course, for those kids who have the algorithm mastered, they will be applying those skills to word problems and more challenging activities.
Social Studies
Our current social studies unit is Economics. We will be using a video series called, "Econ and Me" (say it fast and you'll get it,) as well as our consumable textbooks to learn about scarcity, opportunity cost, supply, demand, consumption, production, interdependence, and so much more! The kids will apply this new knowledge in a week or two when they become part of a company and create a product to sell to their third grade friends. More to come on this amazing project we call "Entrepreneurs!!"
THINGS TO KNOW:
Hope your weekend was great! I'm looking forward to sitting down with all of you soon and discussing your child's progress in third grade.
Here is how this past week went down...
Language Arts
This week we finished up our novels in the Nooks...it has been so much fun having electronic readers...both of the stories were so fun to read and discuss. As you know, our main focus during these novels was using text evidence when answering a question...being able to cite the exact spot in the text that proves the answer. This will be a year long theme in our work with fiction. This coming week we will take a little time to talk about our novels' themes...the author's message...and then we will move right back into reading non-fiction to continue our work with main idea and key details. We will also be focusing on the ability to retell and paraphrase what has been read.
This week we will also be focusing on writing our commercials for our candy bars. The candy bar project got a little lost in the Fall Festival, end of quarter "ness", but will resurface Tuesday!
And then finally, we will begin a new formal writing piece...the narrative. This will be a month long series of lessons, graphic organizers, drafts and then eventually, a final product. But first, we must explore the elements of a narrative.
Math
Last week we were working with fractions and problem solving. The kids created Fraction Critters using fraction circle pieces, they worked on finding fractions of an area, and we solved lots of two step word problems. The kids are really becoming expert problem solvers. I love to see messy papers with words underlined and lots of "thinking on paper"...I really want them trying to solve these alone at home...I'd rather a kid come in with a paper and a signature from you meaning he/she tried alone, than for you to help them solve it. I cannot tell who needs what support if it wasn't completed independently.
This week we will be moving into small groups based on a pretest...the plan is to knock out any misconceptions with subtracting large numbers! I will be modeling the algorithm and looking for the students' mastery of it, as well as being able to subtract using other strategies...the more strategies the kids have, the deeper their understanding...the better suited they are for harder math in the future. Of course, for those kids who have the algorithm mastered, they will be applying those skills to word problems and more challenging activities.
Social Studies
Our current social studies unit is Economics. We will be using a video series called, "Econ and Me" (say it fast and you'll get it,) as well as our consumable textbooks to learn about scarcity, opportunity cost, supply, demand, consumption, production, interdependence, and so much more! The kids will apply this new knowledge in a week or two when they become part of a company and create a product to sell to their third grade friends. More to come on this amazing project we call "Entrepreneurs!!"
THINGS TO KNOW:
- Your child's science project is due next Monday, November 25th! Rubrics were sent home yesterday to help the kids check their work and strive for an A+!! See your child's Take Home Folder for details!
- Tomorrow is "Kick Off American Education Week" so kids are encouraged to wear sneakers and their UES spirit wear or school colors.
- Friday, November 22nd is a two hour early dismissal. The magnet school day ends at 12:30.
- Next week is a CRAZY schedule!! Monday the kids arrive 4 hours late...so they should get to school at 12:15 (no lunch at school that day). Tuesday is a three and 1/2 hour early dismissal...so school ends at 11 am (lunch at school this day). And on Wednesday the kids have off school!
Hope your weekend was great! I'm looking forward to sitting down with all of you soon and discussing your child's progress in third grade.
November 11, 2013
Sorry for the delay...
We celebrated Kate's birthday this weekend...had four basketball games...I read 27 sets of meaningful sentences...and also did all the other regular stuff like laundry, cleaning, church, etc...hence no post...but a Monday post is better than no post, right?!?!
We have been so busy the past few weeks...here is what we've been up to...
Language Arts
We are almost finished reading two different novels...How to Steal a Dog and Young Fredle. Both of these novels have wonderful themes and are beautifully written. We are having deep discussions within group using text evidence to support our thinking. We have defined difficult vocabulary using both the context and our Nook dictionaries. The students have been asked to answer thought provoking questions using the text to help support their ideas. I tell the kids all the time there are many facets to a Reading Comprehension grade...written answers are just one...participation in discussions (listening and contributing) is an important part as well as their ability to cite evidence when in a discussion. They have to be reminded often that just because they think something about the book, doesn't mean it is true...they must find something in the story that makes them think/feel that way. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your child as a "thinker" during this unit.
We have also been working on writing. We have been doing some research on the brain...I read a book and they took notes...they read an article and highlighted important information, and now they are responding to a writing prompt using that information...take a look...
I have a friend who is a scientist at Johns Hopkins University. She told me that they are doing research on the brain, but they are in a heated argument. Some scientists think that the brain is a muscle and others think that it is an organ. Some scientists think that the brain controls everything we do, and others think that all emotions are controlled by the heart. And then, they are in an argument because some think that the brain is full size at birth and others think that the brain grows as the body grows. As you can see, these scientists are confused! Please use your graphic organizer to write an informative paragraph about the brain. I will take your paragraphs and give them to my friend the scientist…maybe then they can STOP ARGUING!
Remember…an informative paragraph has…
· a topic sentence
· at least three facts that support the topic
· details that make the facts interesting
· a concluding sentence
· strong conventions (capital letters, punctuation, spelling)
I am anxious to read their paragraphs! In LA, the students also continue to work diligently towards publishing stories in Writer's Workshop.
Science
We are finishing up our unit in Science. In the past two weeks we have been exploring Food Chains and Food Webs using many different resources. The kids read from the Sciencesaurus textbook to gather information, they have taken notes while watching a video on Discovery Streaming titled "YOU in the Food Web", and we've had many discussions using our own aquariums as examples. We had to send our live organisms back to the Science Center on Friday...we were sad to see them go...it is so much fun to observe live organisms! We start a new Social Studies unit later this week!
Math
7/7 of our class is studying fractions right now! :-) We are busy identifying parts of a whole, parts of a group, and parts of a number. Recognizing denominators is very important when working on this concept. We also explored adding fractions with like denominators. I was so tickled when someone said, "Mrs. Wills, can we work with adding fractions of unlike denominators?!" Um...yeah!! The kids have built critters using fraction pieces, recorded those fractions, and will applying that skill as they identify which fractions of their candy bars have certain fillings, toppings, etc. The kids have also been participating in lots of "math talk" and problem solving. They have been solving fraction word problems in pairs and independently. We will continue with fractions through this week.
OTHER STUFF...
Conference reminders will come home on Friday...please read BOTH half sheets and return BOTH of them the following Monday, so that I can prepare for our meetings. I am only given 15 minutes to spend with each of you, so I ask that you think about what you'd like to discuss in particular...if we need more than 15 minutes, we can schedule a separate meeting at a different time. Since I am meeting with TWENTY SEVEN different sets of parents, please be understanding when I cut off the discussion at the appropriate time interval...all it takes is ONE late conference to throw off ALL the others!! Thank you ahead of time!
Grandparents Breakfast is this week...Wednesday and Thursday...RSVPs were already due.
Book Fair is here! Your child got an opportunity to preview the Book Fair and create a "wish list"...it is open each day from 2-7:30 pm Mon-Thurs and 2-5:30 on Friday... it is also open during Grandparents Breakfast from 8-9am.
Have a great week...we plan to!
Science
We are finishing up our unit in Science. In the past two weeks we have been exploring Food Chains and Food Webs using many different resources. The kids read from the Sciencesaurus textbook to gather information, they have taken notes while watching a video on Discovery Streaming titled "YOU in the Food Web", and we've had many discussions using our own aquariums as examples. We had to send our live organisms back to the Science Center on Friday...we were sad to see them go...it is so much fun to observe live organisms! We start a new Social Studies unit later this week!
Math
7/7 of our class is studying fractions right now! :-) We are busy identifying parts of a whole, parts of a group, and parts of a number. Recognizing denominators is very important when working on this concept. We also explored adding fractions with like denominators. I was so tickled when someone said, "Mrs. Wills, can we work with adding fractions of unlike denominators?!" Um...yeah!! The kids have built critters using fraction pieces, recorded those fractions, and will applying that skill as they identify which fractions of their candy bars have certain fillings, toppings, etc. The kids have also been participating in lots of "math talk" and problem solving. They have been solving fraction word problems in pairs and independently. We will continue with fractions through this week.
OTHER STUFF...
Conference reminders will come home on Friday...please read BOTH half sheets and return BOTH of them the following Monday, so that I can prepare for our meetings. I am only given 15 minutes to spend with each of you, so I ask that you think about what you'd like to discuss in particular...if we need more than 15 minutes, we can schedule a separate meeting at a different time. Since I am meeting with TWENTY SEVEN different sets of parents, please be understanding when I cut off the discussion at the appropriate time interval...all it takes is ONE late conference to throw off ALL the others!! Thank you ahead of time!
Grandparents Breakfast is this week...Wednesday and Thursday...RSVPs were already due.
Book Fair is here! Your child got an opportunity to preview the Book Fair and create a "wish list"...it is open each day from 2-7:30 pm Mon-Thurs and 2-5:30 on Friday... it is also open during Grandparents Breakfast from 8-9am.
Have a great week...we plan to!
November 3, 2013
Fall 2013
My blog post for the week is not necessarily an "academic post"...but needless to say, when we weren't celebrating Fall we were working our "academic tails" off!
I will update what we've been working on academically next weekend!
TWO REMINDERS:
1. Please call the office to schedule a conference if you haven't done that yet. I will be sending conference reminders home sometime in the next 10 days.
2. Tomorrow your child will bring home a piece of writing...I NEED THE WHOLE PACKET BACK!! I believe that you need to see what they're writing and how they are scored, but I have to keep these pieces...so me sending them home is risky...please help me by reviewing the work with your child tomorrow night and sending it back TUESDAY! Each student that returns it Tuesday will receive THREE tickets...that's how badly I need it returned. Thanks for your help with this!
Click on "Fall 2013" to watch the video.
Enjoy!
October 25, 2013
Posting from down south....
My family and I are in Georgia, right outside Chattanooga, TN...this is where my oldest son, his wife, and my grandson live. We are here for a few days...but have no fear...I will return on Wednesday! I hope you and your family are enjoying your weekend...I sure am!
Over the past two weeks we've had EIGHT jam packed school days...here is a snippet of what we've been up to....
Language Arts...
Our class is the proud owner of a set of Nooks for the next few weeks! It is amazing how excited the kids get about reading when an electronic reader is in their hands! I am running two groups and each group is reading a novel...we are reading How to Steal a Dog and Young Fredle. Each story is full of rigorous vocabulary, underlying themes, and strong plots. This past week our focus was vocabulary. They found words while they read that they weren't quite sure of...then using the surrounding text, they predicted the word's meaning. Using the dictionary feature on the Nook, the kids verified the meanings of these words. We are building strong vocabulary which leads to increased comprehension of the story! Over the next two weeks we will focus on digging deep into the text to find meaning, answering questions using evidence from the text. We will all be sad to see the Nooks go...but we must share!!
I have the final opinion essays with me on my trip and will attempt to grade them while here...or at least on the drive home! This essay was a labor of love that stretched over three weeks. This all started with the reading of a debate..."Should every child receive a trophy?" We all chose a side and then looked for evidence to support BOTH sides. Its important for kids to see that the way they feel isn't always the best side to write about...the best side is the one with the most evidence. After introducing this, the kids read many different debates and chose one they wanted to stand behind. They had to list the YES and NO reasons/details for their particular debate. After this step, I used the "trophy" debate to model every other step. We wrote topic/opinion sentences for trophies...then they wrote their own. We chose strong reasons/details for the side we were supporting about trophies and then they wrote their own. We acknowledged the "other side" of the debate on trophies, and then they acknowledged the other side in their debate. And last, we wrote a conclusion for the trophy essay and they wrote their own conclusion stating the opinion again. All of this was recorded on a graphic organizer. THEN...I wrote a rough draft essay using the graphic organizer about trophies. They had to then write their rough draft. Last, I used a self reflection sheet to revise/edit my rough draft. They in turn, edited and revised their own. Just this week they wrote their final drafts. I am anxious to see their strong opinions come to life in their writing!
Science...
Fiddler crabs and newts and snails, OH MY! We have aquariums in our classrooms with many living organisms! We are studying so many things about their freshwater habitats while learning about the physical features of an organism that help it survive in its environment! This coming week we will shift our focus to food chains, food webs, producers, consumers, decomposers, etc. As you can imagine, the noise level in the room increases quite a bit when we are "doing science" due to their enthusiasm!
The kids have a test on Tuesday where they will have to label each organism listed above plus daphnia...all of the papers they need to study are in their green folders (which I made them all put in their backpacks on Tuesday!!)
Math...
In math we have been working with all things multiplication...and this week we used our knowledge of multiplication and arrays to work with area. But not the area of any old object...your child is designing a brand new candy bar! There are many different skills that go into the creation of this candy bar...but one of them is finding the surface area of the bar itself and then the area of the wrapper that they design to keep their candy bar prototype in. This coming week the kids will be creating a written version of a commercial that we will eventually video to share with all of you! They have taken on the roles of head of their candy company and lead candy bar creator VERY SERIOUSLY...can't wait for you to see the results!! Take a look at the production in action...
We will do a bit of work with fractions at the end of this unit which will be the intro to the fractions unit we will begin in Quarter Two.
REMINDERS...
This coming week we have many fun activities planned...
One is our Pumpkin Math day this Thursday, October 31st. Thank you to all of the parents who have signed up to come in and help...please remember that you must be a "trained volunteer" to work with the kids, so if you haven't completed that training, the link to do so is on the UES website! We will work all morning predicting and verifying measurements of our pumpkins. I have seven parents coming, but only three pumpkins. If you are able to donate a medium sized pumpkin for this Thursday, can you send me an email? I'd really appreciate it!
The next day we have our Fall Festival...on this day the kids can wear costumes, but they do not have to. IF they choose to wear a costume, they should wear them to school...they will be in them all day...the rules for these costumes have been sent out in the UES News...please make sure to read them...its awful to disappoint your child that day when their whole costume is based on a mask and we have to make them take it off because they weren't aware of the rules. http://education.fcps.org/ues/sites/default/files/UES_News/UESNews10-4-13.pdf Visit this link if you have not seen the rules...and please make sure you are on Find Out First...our UES News comes out through that service. If you need help signing up for Find Out First send me an email!!!
Another fun activity planned for Friday is our annual "Walk for the Homeless"...we will do this with our buddy class whom we met earlier this week! We have been paired with Mrs. Beach's 4th grade class and this past Monday the buddies interviewed each other in order to get to know each other a bit better. See below...the kids had a great time!
Well that's it from down south...I will see your kids Wednesday, and hopefully I will see you guys sometime during the week!
Over the past two weeks we've had EIGHT jam packed school days...here is a snippet of what we've been up to....
Language Arts...
Our class is the proud owner of a set of Nooks for the next few weeks! It is amazing how excited the kids get about reading when an electronic reader is in their hands! I am running two groups and each group is reading a novel...we are reading How to Steal a Dog and Young Fredle. Each story is full of rigorous vocabulary, underlying themes, and strong plots. This past week our focus was vocabulary. They found words while they read that they weren't quite sure of...then using the surrounding text, they predicted the word's meaning. Using the dictionary feature on the Nook, the kids verified the meanings of these words. We are building strong vocabulary which leads to increased comprehension of the story! Over the next two weeks we will focus on digging deep into the text to find meaning, answering questions using evidence from the text. We will all be sad to see the Nooks go...but we must share!!
I have the final opinion essays with me on my trip and will attempt to grade them while here...or at least on the drive home! This essay was a labor of love that stretched over three weeks. This all started with the reading of a debate..."Should every child receive a trophy?" We all chose a side and then looked for evidence to support BOTH sides. Its important for kids to see that the way they feel isn't always the best side to write about...the best side is the one with the most evidence. After introducing this, the kids read many different debates and chose one they wanted to stand behind. They had to list the YES and NO reasons/details for their particular debate. After this step, I used the "trophy" debate to model every other step. We wrote topic/opinion sentences for trophies...then they wrote their own. We chose strong reasons/details for the side we were supporting about trophies and then they wrote their own. We acknowledged the "other side" of the debate on trophies, and then they acknowledged the other side in their debate. And last, we wrote a conclusion for the trophy essay and they wrote their own conclusion stating the opinion again. All of this was recorded on a graphic organizer. THEN...I wrote a rough draft essay using the graphic organizer about trophies. They had to then write their rough draft. Last, I used a self reflection sheet to revise/edit my rough draft. They in turn, edited and revised their own. Just this week they wrote their final drafts. I am anxious to see their strong opinions come to life in their writing!
Science...
Fiddler crabs and newts and snails, OH MY! We have aquariums in our classrooms with many living organisms! We are studying so many things about their freshwater habitats while learning about the physical features of an organism that help it survive in its environment! This coming week we will shift our focus to food chains, food webs, producers, consumers, decomposers, etc. As you can imagine, the noise level in the room increases quite a bit when we are "doing science" due to their enthusiasm!
The kids have a test on Tuesday where they will have to label each organism listed above plus daphnia...all of the papers they need to study are in their green folders (which I made them all put in their backpacks on Tuesday!!)
Math...
In math we have been working with all things multiplication...and this week we used our knowledge of multiplication and arrays to work with area. But not the area of any old object...your child is designing a brand new candy bar! There are many different skills that go into the creation of this candy bar...but one of them is finding the surface area of the bar itself and then the area of the wrapper that they design to keep their candy bar prototype in. This coming week the kids will be creating a written version of a commercial that we will eventually video to share with all of you! They have taken on the roles of head of their candy company and lead candy bar creator VERY SERIOUSLY...can't wait for you to see the results!! Take a look at the production in action...
We will do a bit of work with fractions at the end of this unit which will be the intro to the fractions unit we will begin in Quarter Two.
REMINDERS...
This coming week we have many fun activities planned...
One is our Pumpkin Math day this Thursday, October 31st. Thank you to all of the parents who have signed up to come in and help...please remember that you must be a "trained volunteer" to work with the kids, so if you haven't completed that training, the link to do so is on the UES website! We will work all morning predicting and verifying measurements of our pumpkins. I have seven parents coming, but only three pumpkins. If you are able to donate a medium sized pumpkin for this Thursday, can you send me an email? I'd really appreciate it!
The next day we have our Fall Festival...on this day the kids can wear costumes, but they do not have to. IF they choose to wear a costume, they should wear them to school...they will be in them all day...the rules for these costumes have been sent out in the UES News...please make sure to read them...its awful to disappoint your child that day when their whole costume is based on a mask and we have to make them take it off because they weren't aware of the rules. http://education.fcps.org/ues/sites/default/files/UES_News/UESNews10-4-13.pdf Visit this link if you have not seen the rules...and please make sure you are on Find Out First...our UES News comes out through that service. If you need help signing up for Find Out First send me an email!!!
Another fun activity planned for Friday is our annual "Walk for the Homeless"...we will do this with our buddy class whom we met earlier this week! We have been paired with Mrs. Beach's 4th grade class and this past Monday the buddies interviewed each other in order to get to know each other a bit better. See below...the kids had a great time!
Well that's it from down south...I will see your kids Wednesday, and hopefully I will see you guys sometime during the week!
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Happy End of January
I’m learning that this blog doesn’t really fit into my life anymore...any extra time I have is spent working on enhancing instruction...and ...
