March Madness in Third Grade!

As you know, Parent-Teacher Conferences are here and so are two half days for students.  Of course, this has caused a shift in our schedule.  But we are masters at making it work here in third grade!

Here's the rundown of what's going on this week:

Reading Workshop:

Our Book Clubs are going along just great!  In third grade, we talk about how we can't just rest on our greatness.  We should always try and take it up a notch!  Our Book Clubs are no exception to this rule.  Students have been guided to lead Book Club meetings on their own.  This responsibility has two essential components.

The first is freedom to choose what to discuss about the text. Since we have spent a considerable amount of time practicing our reading response jobs (Discussion Director, Word Wizard, Connector, and Literary Luminary), students are ready to chose what parts of the book they want to discuss with the group without the restrictions of the "job".  For example, when students come to an unknown word or a part of the book that they have a strong connection with, they no longer have to set it aside because they are not the Word Wizard or the Connector.  They are free to flag what interests them with a sticky and bring it to their next meeting.  This allows for an authentic responses to reading.

The second part is leading the book club discussions without me.  I started doing this last year, and I found that students really enjoyed the freedom and responsibility and the really rose to the challenge.  Students will discuss their findings, decide what the next reading assignment and meeting date will be, and grade themselves and each other on their contribution to the discussion.  Here is the form and rubric that I created for them:

Book Club Meeting Agenda: 

1.    Meeting will begin with deciding who the Discussion Director will be and then with a group summary of the reading assignment.

2.    Next, we will go through and discuss each person’s findings as a group.  This should take a considerable amount of time as it is a discussion, not just a share time.

3.    The group will then decide the next reading assignment and meeting date.

4.    Each member of the group will grade each other and themselves using the Book Club Meeting Rubric.

Names	Participation	Knowledge of Book	Group Respect	Preparedness

	1	2	3	4
Participation	Student didn’t or rarely participated.	Participates some of the time during the book discussions and seems to have little grasp of content of the book (characters, events, behaviors...).	Student participated several times throughout the discussion and seems to have a firm grasp of the content of the book (characters, events, behaviors…).	Student was a leader in the discussion by questioning others and encouraging them to share more.  Student had a firm grasp of the content of the book (characters, events, behaviors…).
Knowledge of Book	Student showed little or no knowledge of the book.  Student didn’t contribute any thoughts about the book.	Student showed some knowledge of the book and contributed some thoughts about the book.	Student showed appropriate knowledge of the book and contributed many thoughts about the book and events.	Student showed a deep knowledge of the book and provided meaningful and thorough explanations of the events.
Group Respect	Student was off task, and didn’t show respect to other members of the group.	Student had difficulty staying on task and being respectful.	Student was on task the majority of the time and was respectful.	Student was on task at all times and was respectful.
Preparedness	Student showed no opinion of the book.  Sticky notes didn’t really add much to the discussion.	Student discussed little or vague opinions about the book.  Sticky notes added some to the discussion	Student discussed some detailed opinions about the book and their sticky notes were thoughtful and meaningful to the discussion	Student discussed several opinions from the book and used evidence from the story to back up opinions.

The use of the rubric not only helps the student know what to look for in others, but it helps them realize what they need to be bringing to the group as well.  We started this today and it was fantastic!  Although they are on their own, I am always eavesdropping!  I was very impressed to see them step up to the challenge and really take this responsibility seriously!

Writing Workshop-Biography Combo:

With are alternative schedule this week, our Writing Workshop has been converted to our Biography poster finish up, which includes a paragraph writing component.  Students have really learned so much through this study!  I would like to have a presentation where students dress up as the person they studied and share their findings.  Maybe next week?  Our next writing focus will be Poetry and our next theme will be Geology.  Both will be introduced at the end of this week.

Math:

We will be finishing our unit on Geometry this week and moving on to Multiplication and Division.  Even though we are already multiplication masters in our class, this upcoming unit will expand on our already amazing skills!

Thank you for reading.  We'll be chatting soon!  

Lastly, our Stephan Gammell inspired portraits were MIND BLOWING!  You'll see them in the hall above our cubbies, but here is a little taste: If you're reading via email. you'll have to go to the blog to see the pictures!  

Quick Overview of This Week:

This week we will be wrapping up our TCAP testing with math TCAPs on Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:00-10:30.  Our class has had an amazing attitude and has worked so hard on these assessments.  To add a little novelty, we will be having P.J. Day on Tuesday and Hat Day on Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday is our last Nordic Ski for P.E. day.  We will be walking to the Nordic Center from the school at 12:40 and leaving the Nordic Center at 2:50ish.  Please feel free to join us!  We have so much fun out there on the trails!

Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming!  Tuesday March 25th and Wednesday March 26th will both be early release days in order to provide time for conferences.  I will be sending more information early this week.

Reading Workshop:  We are really enjoying our Book Clubs and Junior Great Books.  Students are really learning how to participate in meaningful discussions about literature.  We will continue with our assignments and meetings this week.

Writers Workshop:  Students will be finishing their realistic fiction final drafts and covers this week.  We are hoping to have a Published Party to share these incredibly crafted stories.  More information to come.

Math:  Much of our math time has been dedicated to TCAP math practice and the TCAPs themselves will consume much time this week.  We are learning a lot and will continue plugging away on our geometry unit.  We will be learning to measure angles this week and delve into symmetry and congruence.

Theme:  We will continue our study on Biographies this week.  Students will focus on writing an informative paragraph and work on their posters.

Side Notes:  Since TCAPs have a tendency to zap our minds, rearrange our schedules, and cancel our specials, I've been trying to incorporate some art into our schedule to rejuvenate and re-inspire us.  We learned about artist Henri Matisse and created a "Painting with Scissors" piece inspired by his work.  They are on display in the hall by the gym and music room.  This week, I've decided to look at children's book illustrator Stephen Gammell's unique style to create a new piece.  Here is a bit of his work:

I love the whimsical way that he uses water color.  I'm really excited about this week's project!  I'll post pictures of our creations next week.

Thank you for reading!

March Winds Will Blow All My Troubles Away

My post title is a lyric from one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs and fits this past weekend perfectly! What a windy Saturday huh?  I almost got blown out of the lift line more than once, but it was so worth it!  It was an incredible day on the hill!

As the winds blow, the good times continue to roll here in third grade!  Here's what we'll be up to this week:

Math:

We have started our exploration of geometry and will continue on this week.  Last week we focused on lines, rays, and line segments.  We also learned about parallel lines and intersecting lines.  This week, we will learn about angles and turns and move into triangles, quadrangles, and polygons.  There is lots of vocabulary in this unit and they will be readdressed throughout the year and again in fourth grade.

Reading:

We have been loving our Junior Great Books and will move on to the third story in our book, The Fisherman and His Wife.  The moral of this Brothers Grimm fairytale is that greediness and the thirst for more can never be quenched and that it will ultimately lead to nothing.  Pretty heavy stuff, but a very important lesson in today's instant gratification world.  This story really leads to great conversations about being happy with what you have and taking time to be grateful for the little things in life that we might take for granted.  I love Junior Great Books!

Book clubs are going great! Students will continue to plug away on their readings and assignments.

Writing:

We have finished our rough drafts and are moving through the revision and editing process.  These realistic fiction stories are fantastic.  Students have learned to experiment with leads inspired by published authors, add body movements and facial expressions to dialogue to paint a picture for the reader, and how to write a satisfying conclusion that reflects on what the main character learns in the story.

Grammar:

Last week we focused on apostrophes and contractions.  This week it's all about pronouns.  Since we have Junior Great Books as a homework assignment, all grammar practice will be done in school as morning work.

Spelling:

New groups have been created and will start tomorrow.  I could use some help as I have only one parent volunteer and four groups.  We work on spelling on Mondays from 10:00-10:30.  Please with send me an email messig@gunnisonschools.net if you're interested in helping or you can just pop in!

Theme:

We will begin our Biography unit this week.  Students will be able to pick a famous person to study from the huge selection of biography books in our classroom.  This unit is a great way for students to learn to navigate informational texts and synthesize and summarize their findings.  Students will craft a informational paragraph, complete a biography report poster, and present their report.  More on this later.

TCAPs:

We are TCAP free this week!  Testing will resume next week and the following week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00-10:30.  Next week will be writing and the following week will be math.

Lastly, we start Nordic Ski for P.E. on this Tuesday!  We will be walking over from the school at 12:40 and be leaving the Nordic Center a little before 3:00.  What a great way to celebrate Mardi Gras!

Happy March!

-Melissa

Refreshed and Ready to Roll!

I hope you all had a fun-filled February break!  We had a great start to our week and I am looking forward to continued awesomeness!

We started our day talking about why we make the choices that we make.  We discussed what motivates us to do our homework, help out our classmates, and to do our best work.  This led to a great discussion about The Six Levels of Thinking which is based off of Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development.  For more explanation of the levels, please click on the link below the photo.  The link will take you to the Prezi presentation I created to facilitate the discussion.

Six Levels of Thinking Presentation

We discussed each level of thinking and the characteristics of a Level 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 thinker.  This expanded to a  discussion characters in our read aloud and what level thinker we thought they were and why.  We rounded out the discussion with thinking about what level each of us are currently at, and what level we would strive to work toward.  In our class, we have talked a lot about being leaders in our own lives and having a choice about what kind of person we want to be.  We will continue to discuss these levels and how we can work toward being the best we can be.

Our discussion of level 6 thinkers lead us perfectly into a discussion of Martin Luther King Jr. and the fact that February is Black History Month.  This week, we acknowledge Black History Month by learning about poet Maya Angelou and using her poem Life Doesn't Frighten Me as our fluency poem.

Students participated in our first session of Book Clubs today.  All students will now be apart of a small-group book club in our class.  Book Clubs will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays each week.  During these meetings, we will discuss our literature and our assignments.  I absolutely love seeing students huddled in groups excitedly discussing literature!  During the beginning of this process, students are taught not only how to complete their book club assignments effectively, but how to communicate and actively listen to their peers in book club discussions.  These skills are explicitly taught so students know exactly what is expected of them.  I will be sending home more information about book clubs this week.

Speaking of discussing literature,  Junior Great Books are underway!  Students will be bringing home their second reading this Wednesday along with an assignment.  Due to TCAPs, we will be moving our discussion from the original 9:40-10:40 time to 10:50-11:20 on Thursday.  Feel free to join us if you'd like!

In writing, we are just getting into the heart of our realistic fiction pieces.  I am so impressed with our students' writing so far.  They have done a marvelous job pulling techniques taught in our mini lessons and from what we've noticed from published authors and implementing them into their own writing.  We will be finishing up our rough drafts this week and start moving through the writing process next week.

Math:  What did the acorn say when it grew up?  Geometry.  Get it?  Gee, I'm a tree?  Okay.  I won't quit my day job.  But that is what we'll be studying in math this week, geometry.  For many, this is a nice break from computation (although we still will have a small amount of daily practice).  Students will begin with lines, rays, and line segments, parallel and intersecting lines, and move into angles and turns by the end of the week.

As you may have heard, we will be starting TCAPs this week on Wednesday and Thursday 9:00-10:30.  Please see the note I sent home for more info.

Before this blog turns into a novel, I will wrap it up with a few dates to remember.  Please know that I will send home more information about all of these events, this is just a heads up.

Next Tuesday, we begin our Nordic Ski Program.  Our class will go on Tuesday afternoons for three weeks from 12:30-3:00.  We will be walking to and from the Nordic Center and skis, poles, and boots will be provided.  So we will be participating on March 4, 11, and 18.

Writing TCAPs will be Tuesday March 11 and Wednesday March 12 from 9:00-10:30 and Math TCAPs will be Tuesday March 18 and Wednesday March 19 from 9:00-10:30.  

Lastly, since it is the middle of the year, I decided to cancel spelling this week in order to reassess. Spelling will resume next week.

Thanks so much for reading.  As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

-Melissa

Valentine's Day & Powder & Break! Oh my!

February break is just a week away!  I am amazed at how fast this year is flying by!  Here's what we'll be up to this week in Melissa's class:

Reading Workshop:  

We've been working on reading responses through our literature circle jobs.  Literature circles (or book clubs) will begin after break, but we decided to practice the jobs (Connector, Illustrator, Discussion Director, Word Wizard, and Literary Luminary) with our self-selected texts.  This week, we will expand on our learning with the introduction of Junior Great Books.  We will read one story from JGB each Tuesday in class.  Students will read the story again at home Tuesday night and will have a written homework assignment starting after break.  On Wednesday, students will participate in a discussion where they will share their insights and interpretations. This is called Shared Inquiry.  Shared Inquiry is a way that students can achieve a thorough understanding through discussion.  Books will come home this Tuesday along with a note with further explanation.

Writing Workshop:  The time has finally come for fiction writing, realistic fiction that is!  This is challenging work and it is not taken lightly.  We have been studying published realistic fiction to see how the pros do it.  We have learned so much from our class read aloud Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

This book is not only shaping the way we think about realistic fiction, it is changing the way we see the world and ourselves in it.  Pretty powerful stuff huh?  Our explorations didn't stop there.  We also delved into many realistic fiction books by one of our favorite authors, Patricia Polacco.

Here's some things we learned:

We have worked hard to take what we've learned and apply it in our own writing.  Last week, we created believable characters with interesting problems.  This week we will begin to draft our pieces starting with amazing leads!

Math:  We are plugging away on our unit on fractions and decimals.  This unit can be challenging, but we have been enjoying the idea of breaking chocolate bars into tenths and hundredths!  We will continue work with decimals this week as we wrap up this unit.  After break, we will be moving on to geometry.  

This week we have our last ski day on Thursday and of course Valentine's Day on Friday.  I have included Valentine's Day information with this week's homework plan.  Progress reports will be coming home on Tuesday!  

As always, thank you for reading and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Melissa

Short and Sweet

Four days on, four days off, and four days on again!

I hope that you all enjoyed your four day weekend!  Teachers had very productive days in our classrooms on both Friday and Monday. We were able to spend time on report cards and lesson plans for the next coming weeks.

This week in Melissa's class is short and sweet as was last week.  Here's what we'll be up to:

Reading Workshop:  Students will spend this short week with the comprehension strategy of connecting.  There are three types of connections that can be made while reading.  There are personal connections, connections with other books and connections with things in the outside world.  When students make a conscious association with something that they have personally experienced, read or heard about, it becomes easier for them to relate to the text and to understand what is happening.  Connecting with the text will most likely lead to greater interest in the text as well.

Writing Workshop:  Recently students were introduced to the Six Traits of Writing.  The traits include Ideas, Organization, Sentence Fluency, Voice, Word Choice, and Conventions.  We had great fun creating posters and presenting each trait to the class.  We have also been practicing each trait through focused paragraphed writing.  This week we will wrap up our Six Trait focus, but we will refer back to it consistently throughout our next unit; Realistic Fiction.

Here are our posters.  They are also hanging above our cubbies since it's kind of hard to appreciate them in these teeny tiny pictures!

Math:  We just wrapped up our unit on the basics of multiplication and division and we are now moving on to place value in whole numbers and decimals.  We will be extending on previous lessons on the base-ten place value system to whole numbers through millions and to decimals through thousandths.  In third grade, we like to really emphasize the "ths" in decimals as it helps us remember that if there is a "ths" it means that it's a decimal.  Plus, it makes us laugh to remind each other to "say it don't spray it!"

Science:  We just began exploring the states of matter.  Last week, we learned what matter was and what the three states of matter are; solid, liquid and gas.  We sorted everyday objects into appropriate states based on their properties.  This week we will expand on our learning by discussing mass and volume.

Ski program has been fantastic and I'm looking forward to another incredible day on the hill on Thursday!

Thanks for reading!