Hi:
Mrs. Mayer here, reporting on what has been happening in math. This past week, we discovered a great way to measure the circumference of round objects and the link between diameter and radius. We also learned about pi and found out that it has a direct correlation to the diameter of a circular object, no matter what size it is! We also read a great book called The Greedy Triangle and began classifying the three different types of triangles: equilateral, scalene, and isosceles. On Friday, we went outside and used sidewalk chalk (yes, we had Dr. Mueller's permission) to create and decorate multiple sided polygons.
In the next week, we will use blocks to create and explore new shapes, find different types of lines in our world, and create a study guide for a geometry assessment.
Have a great week!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Homework: Week of Feb. 28 - March 4
1. Read each night
2. Go to the Published Writing Blog and respond to your reading partner's writing post and one other person. That is two posts in all. However, feel free to do more.
3. The kids will be bringing home a "study guide" later in the week for a geometry assessment that will be taking place either Friday or early next week.
2. Go to the Published Writing Blog and respond to your reading partner's writing post and one other person. That is two posts in all. However, feel free to do more.
3. The kids will be bringing home a "study guide" later in the week for a geometry assessment that will be taking place either Friday or early next week.
Weekly Forecast for Feb. 28 - March 4
Here are the preliminary plans for the coming week...
Reading - A look at poetry
Writing - Letter writing/ What do we write, Importance of conventions
Science - Rocks and minerals/ Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
Math - Geometry/ Slides, flips, and turns/ Review
Reading - A look at poetry
Writing - Letter writing/ What do we write, Importance of conventions
Science - Rocks and minerals/ Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
Math - Geometry/ Slides, flips, and turns/ Review
Friday, February 25, 2011
Revolutionary War
We've wrapped up the bulk of our look at the Revolutionary War. Over the course of the past few weeks we interviewed people at home about what they knew about the RW, read NF books, read picture books, referenced the textbook, accessed a third grade history newspaper, acted out a key SC battle on the playground, wrote verses for a song about the war from different perspectives, and created our own picture book telling the story of all that happened during the Patriots quest to become free from England.Whew!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Using Book Face
We are using the Book Face website to interact with one another as readers and writers to share our thinking, concerns, and ideas. There are a few other classrooms in Lexington sharing this site with us. It is a private site shared only by third and fourth grade students and a handful of teachers.
The kids can access this site at home by:
1. Clicking on the Book Face link at the top right of this page.
2. Logging in using the e-mail address I created for them. They have NO ACCESS to this actual e-mail acount. It was created only to provide them a log-in.
3. They know their password. It is also located on the sheet of paper they have taped to the inside of their Take Home folder.
This site is used for discussing books, reading strategies, etc. The kids can add a profile photo or "friend" another reader on the site but these are not parts of the site we are exploring at school. Again, because the site is only accessible to three or four classes of elementary kids here in the Columbia area there is no harm in playing around with these things but it will never be something that is expected or assigned.
The kids are sharing this site with you this week as part of their homework. Take time to see what it is all about and ways that we might use it.
The kids can access this site at home by:
1. Clicking on the Book Face link at the top right of this page.
2. Logging in using the e-mail address I created for them. They have NO ACCESS to this actual e-mail acount. It was created only to provide them a log-in.
3. They know their password. It is also located on the sheet of paper they have taped to the inside of their Take Home folder.
This site is used for discussing books, reading strategies, etc. The kids can add a profile photo or "friend" another reader on the site but these are not parts of the site we are exploring at school. Again, because the site is only accessible to three or four classes of elementary kids here in the Columbia area there is no harm in playing around with these things but it will never be something that is expected or assigned.
The kids are sharing this site with you this week as part of their homework. Take time to see what it is all about and ways that we might use it.
Adding Pieces to the Published Writing Blog
The kids worked this morning to add their published pieces to the Published Writing Blog. You'll see the link for this at the top right corner of this page. Some of the kids could not publish because their pieces were typed at home and because these pieces were longer they wanted to cut-and-paste it from their home computers. To do this they will need to:
1. Go to the Published Writing Blog
2. Click on "Sign In" at the top corner
3. Use the e-mail address: hassclass@gmail.com
4. The kids know the password. This is not the same password as their Book Face log-in. Rather, it's the password we all share for this blog.
5. Once they are in they click "New Post." They can then paste their piece in. They are supposed to put their name after the title and then click "Publish" when they are all done.
The kids should only publish pieces to the blog that they have selected to draft, conference, and revise/edit. This is a place to work that demonstrates their very best as a third grade writer. Let me know if you need any help.
Thanks.
1. Go to the Published Writing Blog
2. Click on "Sign In" at the top corner
3. Use the e-mail address: hassclass@gmail.com
4. The kids know the password. This is not the same password as their Book Face log-in. Rather, it's the password we all share for this blog.
5. Once they are in they click "New Post." They can then paste their piece in. They are supposed to put their name after the title and then click "Publish" when they are all done.
The kids should only publish pieces to the blog that they have selected to draft, conference, and revise/edit. This is a place to work that demonstrates their very best as a third grade writer. Let me know if you need any help.
Thanks.
Monday, February 21, 2011
What's Going on the Week of February 21 - 25
Here is a forecast for what we envision for the week:
Reading - Reflecting on our reading and responding to others/ Beginning poetry
Writing - Letter writing
Math - Circumference, Types of triangles
Social Studies - Revolutionary War
Reading - Reflecting on our reading and responding to others/ Beginning poetry
Writing - Letter writing
Math - Circumference, Types of triangles
Social Studies - Revolutionary War
Homework: Febraury 21 - 25
1. Read each night.
2. Bring in three stamped envelopes that are addressed to someone you would like to write a letter to. These are due on Friday.
3. On Tuesday or Wednesday you will log onto Book Face at home and show your parents what we're doing with readers in Lexington. You'll also make a response to someone in the class.
2. Bring in three stamped envelopes that are addressed to someone you would like to write a letter to. These are due on Friday.
3. On Tuesday or Wednesday you will log onto Book Face at home and show your parents what we're doing with readers in Lexington. You'll also make a response to someone in the class.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Video, Electronic, and On-Line Games
An article in the Huffington Post, "Video Games: An Hour A Day Is the Key to Success in Life," by Jan McGonigal, was quite intriguing, and some of her data are pretty striking:
• 183 million in the U.S. play on-line games for at least an hour a day (97% of boys under 18 and 94% of girls under 18).
• The average person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21. This equals the time spent in middle and high school.
• Get this: 5 million people in the U.S are spending more than 40 hours a week playing games!
McGonigal says “games do a better job than ordinary life of provoking our most powerful positive emotions -- like curiosity, optimism, pride, and a desire to join forces with others to achieve something extraordinary. Games also, increasingly, are a particularly effective way to bond with our friends and family -- strengthening our real-life and online social networks in ways that no other kind of social interaction can."
What do you think?
• 183 million in the U.S. play on-line games for at least an hour a day (97% of boys under 18 and 94% of girls under 18).
• The average person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21. This equals the time spent in middle and high school.
• Get this: 5 million people in the U.S are spending more than 40 hours a week playing games!
McGonigal says “games do a better job than ordinary life of provoking our most powerful positive emotions -- like curiosity, optimism, pride, and a desire to join forces with others to achieve something extraordinary. Games also, increasingly, are a particularly effective way to bond with our friends and family -- strengthening our real-life and online social networks in ways that no other kind of social interaction can."
What do you think?
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Current News
The kids are "disengaged, lazy whiners."
That's what Pennsylvanie high school teacher Natalie Munroe wrote about her students on an internet blog she kept for family and friends.
But it got even worse.
She went on to to write that "[They] are out of control...They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."
Amazingly, it went on to get worse, still.
She listed some comments that she'd love to put on her student's report cards. These included: "I hear the trash company is hiring"; "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son"; and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?"
She has since been suspended from her teaching duties. I shared a news article about this situation with the kids this morning. They were, as you would expect, shocked and a bit outraged.
"Maybe the kids are bored because of her," Jillian suggested. "You have to be interesting."
This, by the way, is very true.
"You can't talk about kids that way," argued Brandon.
"Yeah," said Patton. "That's really insulting."
"High schoolers are sometimes...well, they don't listen," suggested Atira. "She looks interesting and fun in the picture but they're all talking. She has the right to share this but not be all insulting."
"I don't know," I said. "Do you think sharing this helped to solve a problem or just make it worse?"
We have used this and other current news articles this year to see many examples of how people choose to deal with problems and concerns. We've talked a good bit about the fact that having the power to make choices comes with a great deal of responsibility. Along the way we've seen letters to the editor, countries asking for help from others, people picketing, and others acting out in violence. There's a lot to be found in the news.
The saddest part of this whole story was that many people support Natalie Munroe for what she has done on her blog. They argue that it's about time someone call these students out. They are certain that a tough love approach is just what the kids need. Even if it means calling them "disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy lazy, LOAFERS" and then walking back into class and acting as though she had the kids' best interest at heart.
We also talked about the 1,000+ votes that were not counted in the election last November, a possible ban on texting while driving, and the quickly approaching start of the college baseball season. If you see any really great stories in the news be sure to share them with your kids. Better yet, send your kids in ready to share them with us all.
That's what Pennsylvanie high school teacher Natalie Munroe wrote about her students on an internet blog she kept for family and friends.
But it got even worse.
She went on to to write that "[They] are out of control...They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."
Amazingly, it went on to get worse, still.
She listed some comments that she'd love to put on her student's report cards. These included: "I hear the trash company is hiring"; "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son"; and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?"
She has since been suspended from her teaching duties. I shared a news article about this situation with the kids this morning. They were, as you would expect, shocked and a bit outraged.
"Maybe the kids are bored because of her," Jillian suggested. "You have to be interesting."
This, by the way, is very true.
"You can't talk about kids that way," argued Brandon.
"Yeah," said Patton. "That's really insulting."
"High schoolers are sometimes...well, they don't listen," suggested Atira. "She looks interesting and fun in the picture but they're all talking. She has the right to share this but not be all insulting."
"Yeah," said Skyler. "She could have not said it in a bad way."
"I don't know," I said. "Do you think sharing this helped to solve a problem or just make it worse?"
Skyler later asked a great question, "Why would she even teach them and then insult them?"
"We were discussing that too," said Jenna. "Why is she even a teacher if she feels like that?"
We have used this and other current news articles this year to see many examples of how people choose to deal with problems and concerns. We've talked a good bit about the fact that having the power to make choices comes with a great deal of responsibility. Along the way we've seen letters to the editor, countries asking for help from others, people picketing, and others acting out in violence. There's a lot to be found in the news.
The saddest part of this whole story was that many people support Natalie Munroe for what she has done on her blog. They argue that it's about time someone call these students out. They are certain that a tough love approach is just what the kids need. Even if it means calling them "disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy lazy, LOAFERS" and then walking back into class and acting as though she had the kids' best interest at heart.
We also talked about the 1,000+ votes that were not counted in the election last November, a possible ban on texting while driving, and the quickly approaching start of the college baseball season. If you see any really great stories in the news be sure to share them with your kids. Better yet, send your kids in ready to share them with us all.
Friday, February 11, 2011
What's Going on the Week of Feb. 14 - 18
We begin each week with a plan for what we anticipate exploring. Sometimes we veer off this course due to important and interesting questions that arise or needs that are observed and noted. For that reason we'll call this a forecast:
Reading - Music of Dolphins, Book Clubs, Protagonist/Antagonist
Math - Circles, Lines, Line Segments, and Rays
Social Studies - Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Key SC Battles
Writing - Revising, Publishing, Mini-Lessons on Noted Areas of Need (paragraphing, etc)
Reading - Music of Dolphins, Book Clubs, Protagonist/Antagonist
Math - Circles, Lines, Line Segments, and Rays
Social Studies - Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Key SC Battles
Writing - Revising, Publishing, Mini-Lessons on Noted Areas of Need (paragraphing, etc)
Homework: February 14 - 18
1. Read each and every night!!! This is truly the most important thing you could do for your child - provide them with the books, time, and space to read.
2. The kids are selecting three drafts from their writing notebooks to turn in to me. They have been writing for the past three or four weeks and these drafts, while rough, should demonstrate some real work. After they turn them in to me on Tuesday I am going to send them home on Wednesday so that you can look over them too. I'll ask that you and your child talk about these drafts together and compose a "two pluses and a wish" together. I'd like the kids to have these back in on Friday.
That's all for right now. If we add anything we'll update this post and e-mail you all to let you know of the change.
2. The kids are selecting three drafts from their writing notebooks to turn in to me. They have been writing for the past three or four weeks and these drafts, while rough, should demonstrate some real work. After they turn them in to me on Tuesday I am going to send them home on Wednesday so that you can look over them too. I'll ask that you and your child talk about these drafts together and compose a "two pluses and a wish" together. I'd like the kids to have these back in on Friday.
That's all for right now. If we add anything we'll update this post and e-mail you all to let you know of the change.
Book Clubs
We are close to finishing up our literature study of Karen Hesse's novel The Music of Dolphins. Throughout this book we've looked closely at the differences between the characters as well as how they have changed throughout the story. This allowed us to think about the terms: protagonist and antagonist. At first many of us thought that the antagonist had to be bad or evil in some way. However, we found that antagonists don't have to be ornery at all. They just have to work in opposition to the protagonist.
The Music of Dolphins really demonstrates this point well. Mila, the young girl who was taken from her dolphin family in the sea, wants to leave this human world and return to what she knows and loves. However, Dr. Beck wants to study her to learn how dolphins talk. Dr. Beck is very professional, and perhaps a bit cold, but not bad in any real sense of the word.
The kids are now moving out into book clubs. Today they browsed a collection of nine books and chose the one that they were interested in reading and discussing with a small group of classmates. As they read their books they'll take what they learned about characters and protagonists/antagonists and use this to fuel their book club discussions. It should be fun.
Here are the books they selected...
Shiloh - Atira, Jillian, Daniel, and Mrs. Mayer
The Chocolate Touch - Harlie, Roman, Reese, Colby, and Jack
The Twits - Kayla, Calin, and Joseph
Flush - Jenna, Skyler, Kirby, and Derah
Sheep - Brandon, Hannah, Maxwell, and Patton
Chocolate Fever - Madison and Rose
The kids worked today to decide as a group what pages they wanted to read each day. They will begin reading on Tuesday and just about all of the reading will take place IN school. They should continue reading their own books at home each night.
The Music of Dolphins really demonstrates this point well. Mila, the young girl who was taken from her dolphin family in the sea, wants to leave this human world and return to what she knows and loves. However, Dr. Beck wants to study her to learn how dolphins talk. Dr. Beck is very professional, and perhaps a bit cold, but not bad in any real sense of the word.
The kids are now moving out into book clubs. Today they browsed a collection of nine books and chose the one that they were interested in reading and discussing with a small group of classmates. As they read their books they'll take what they learned about characters and protagonists/antagonists and use this to fuel their book club discussions. It should be fun.
Here are the books they selected...
Shiloh - Atira, Jillian, Daniel, and Mrs. Mayer
The Chocolate Touch - Harlie, Roman, Reese, Colby, and Jack
The Twits - Kayla, Calin, and Joseph
Flush - Jenna, Skyler, Kirby, and Derah
Sheep - Brandon, Hannah, Maxwell, and Patton
Chocolate Fever - Madison and Rose
The kids worked today to decide as a group what pages they wanted to read each day. They will begin reading on Tuesday and just about all of the reading will take place IN school. They should continue reading their own books at home each night.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Geometry is in the schoolhouse!
This is Mrs. Mayer here, reporting on our first week of Geometry exploration!
We started talking about Geometry on Tuesday, February 8. We began by defining the three main parts of an angle: two lines called arms with a common endpoint called a vertex. Colby and Reese were kind enough to come up in front of the class and help me demonstrate the concept of angles using their elbows as the vertex and their arms as the ARMS! Next we noticed as a class that an angle could change in size when Colby extended his arm out and brought it back in toward his head. Excitement was in the air as we left the classroom and went on an angle hunt around the school. The students sketched different types of angles that they found in their environment.
On Wednesday we remembered back to other times and subject areas where we had used classification systems to break information down into smaller categories. The students worked in groups to sketch their angles onto small cards and find ways to separate them. There were a lot of suggestions, but we decided that the best way was to look at their size. As a class, we found four groups and I helped them to name them: acute, obtuse, right, and straight angles.
Today we read a great book that Daniel shared with us. It is titled Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland. The kids really enjoyed hearing about the journey of Sir Radius and discovered that his medallion was actually a tool used to measure angles (protractor). They also found out that there were a lot of puns in the story and we stopped many times during the read aloud to link back to our new knowledge about angles.
**Homework sheets were given out today and even though it says that they are due Friday they are actually not due back until Monday, February 10, 2010. It should be fun and will allow the students the opportunity to continue seeing angles in their world.
Tomorrow... our exploration continues to circles!
We started talking about Geometry on Tuesday, February 8. We began by defining the three main parts of an angle: two lines called arms with a common endpoint called a vertex. Colby and Reese were kind enough to come up in front of the class and help me demonstrate the concept of angles using their elbows as the vertex and their arms as the ARMS! Next we noticed as a class that an angle could change in size when Colby extended his arm out and brought it back in toward his head. Excitement was in the air as we left the classroom and went on an angle hunt around the school. The students sketched different types of angles that they found in their environment.
On Wednesday we remembered back to other times and subject areas where we had used classification systems to break information down into smaller categories. The students worked in groups to sketch their angles onto small cards and find ways to separate them. There were a lot of suggestions, but we decided that the best way was to look at their size. As a class, we found four groups and I helped them to name them: acute, obtuse, right, and straight angles.
Today we read a great book that Daniel shared with us. It is titled Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland. The kids really enjoyed hearing about the journey of Sir Radius and discovered that his medallion was actually a tool used to measure angles (protractor). They also found out that there were a lot of puns in the story and we stopped many times during the read aloud to link back to our new knowledge about angles.
**Homework sheets were given out today and even though it says that they are due Friday they are actually not due back until Monday, February 10, 2010. It should be fun and will allow the students the opportunity to continue seeing angles in their world.
Tomorrow... our exploration continues to circles!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Homework: February 7 - 11, 2011
1. Read each night.
2. Create a special Freindship Day letter for a classmate. We drew names in class and the kids know who they are creating the letter for. I've asked them to make it special by writing appreciations and kind thoughts that are as specific to their person as possible.
I'm offering materials (colored paper) to anyone who would like to take it home for use. They many also feel free to use clip art, stickers, markers, etc. This Friendship Day letter should be lengthy (most of a page), attractive, free of errors, and demonstrate a great deal of effort. This is due back this Friday.
3. A sheet will be coming home on Thursday. The kids will need to sketch and label a few different types of angles that they find in their home. This will require no more than five or ten minutes and will be due back on Monday.
DUE DATES:
Monday, 2/14 Math Angle Sheet
Friday, 2/11 Friendship Day Letter
2. Create a special Freindship Day letter for a classmate. We drew names in class and the kids know who they are creating the letter for. I've asked them to make it special by writing appreciations and kind thoughts that are as specific to their person as possible.
I'm offering materials (colored paper) to anyone who would like to take it home for use. They many also feel free to use clip art, stickers, markers, etc. This Friendship Day letter should be lengthy (most of a page), attractive, free of errors, and demonstrate a great deal of effort. This is due back this Friday.
3. A sheet will be coming home on Thursday. The kids will need to sketch and label a few different types of angles that they find in their home. This will require no more than five or ten minutes and will be due back on Monday.
DUE DATES:
Monday, 2/14 Math Angle Sheet
Friday, 2/11 Friendship Day Letter
Friday, February 4, 2011
Friendship Day Plans for February 14, 2011
The kids will be writing a special Friendship Day letter to a classmate this week. Next Monday they will share their letter with the class and hand deliver it to their special recipient.
The letters the kids create this week will be much more personal than the many Star Wars, Spongebob Square Pants, and Hannah Montana Valentines found on store shelves. However, if your child loves these character cards and REALLY wants to pass them out they may certainly do so. Just do not feel as though they have to.
We will celebrate the sharing of our cards with muffins and juice from 2:15 - 2:45.
The letters the kids create this week will be much more personal than the many Star Wars, Spongebob Square Pants, and Hannah Montana Valentines found on store shelves. However, if your child loves these character cards and REALLY wants to pass them out they may certainly do so. Just do not feel as though they have to.
We will celebrate the sharing of our cards with muffins and juice from 2:15 - 2:45.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Revolutionary War
We've begun a study of the Revolutionary War. We started by sharing all that we already knew. This wasn't a whole lot. Ah, the opportunity to share something together that is brand new!
This week we've focused on generating questions that we feel are important. The kids were more than ready for this. They threw out a whole host of ideas:
Who fought in the war?
Who won? How did they win?
When did it start? End?
How many people fought?
How many people died?
Why were they fighting?
Who started it?
What types of soldiers did they have?
How did it end?
Where was the war?
Were there any other wars during this one?
What weapons did they use?
Was anyone involved in the war but not fighting?
Were there any women in the war?
We're trying to find as many resources as we can in our classroom to find the answers to these great questions. We're using non-fiction library books, picture books, textbooks, internet, videos, and Social Studies newspapers. Of course, we're also using the oral histories that everyone is bringing in from their interviews at home.
We'll begin to look at each of these resources and think about the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of each. We'll look for what parts of the story are always present, which are sometimes present, and which are almost never present. There's much to do!
This week we've focused on generating questions that we feel are important. The kids were more than ready for this. They threw out a whole host of ideas:
Who fought in the war?
Who won? How did they win?
When did it start? End?
How many people fought?
How many people died?
Why were they fighting?
Who started it?
What types of soldiers did they have?
How did it end?
Where was the war?
Were there any other wars during this one?
What weapons did they use?
Was anyone involved in the war but not fighting?
Were there any women in the war?
We're trying to find as many resources as we can in our classroom to find the answers to these great questions. We're using non-fiction library books, picture books, textbooks, internet, videos, and Social Studies newspapers. Of course, we're also using the oral histories that everyone is bringing in from their interviews at home.
We'll begin to look at each of these resources and think about the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of each. We'll look for what parts of the story are always present, which are sometimes present, and which are almost never present. There's much to do!
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