We finished reading Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt. It was a hit with the class. Students were asked to write a letter about the read aloud in their reader's notebooks. This week, they got back a response to their letter.
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| Caroline is reading my response to her letter! |
We started our new book called 7 X 9 = Trouble by Claudia Mills. Wilson Williams is a third grader who has to learn his multiplication facts. His teacher is giving timed tests! Wilson is struggling to learn his facts and on the weekend he gets to bring home the class guinea pig, he also has to bring home a note about more at home practice! The worst part is that his younger brother Kipper seems to better at skip counting than he is!
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| Will Wilson learn all his facts and get an ice cream cone? |
MATH
Speaking of multiplication... we are hard at work learning our facts as well. We spent a few days working on the DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY. The distributive property allows us to break apart one of our factors into friendlier numbers to multiply. Take a look!
12 X 7 is a tough problem. So we learned that we can break apart one of our factors to help us solve. We know how to multiply by 10 so we can break the (12) into 10 and 2.
12 X 7
10 X 7 = 70
2 X 7 = 14
70 + 14 = 84... so 12 X 7 = 84!
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| The Distributive Doctor OPERATES on arrays! Math Journal Work!
Other things we are doing during MATH WORKSHOP
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M - math fluency practice
A - at your seat (work)
T - teacher's choice or teacher's table
H - hands on
Some of our HANDS ON activities have included dice games to practice facts. This week students played Multiplication Bump
(X 3) to practice their 3's tables. Another day we rolled a die to find a second factor for our fact families.
At the TEACHER TABLE, students were working on writing their own multiplication story problems.
AT THEIR SEATS, students worked on workbook pages using the distributive property.
For MATH FLUENCY, students were working on facts we have reviewed such as 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10's.
Each week, we also do some REVIEW work as a morning work activity. Some of the concepts we have covered are:
- rounding to the nearest 10, 100, and dollar
- addition and subtraction with regrouping
- place value
- reading graphs
- telling time
- identifying shapes
PILGRIMS
We have been learning A LOT about the pilgrims. We enjoyed our visit in our classroom with Mistress Priscilla Alden. She shared the story of her trip to the NEW WORLD. She didn't want to come across the ocean, but her father decided and she had no say. She really had NO SAY, as she wasn't allowed to share her opinions, unless she was asked!
We also went to PLIMOTH PLANTATION on October 6th.
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| ...learning about Native customs |
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| ... getting to see a wetu |
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| The view from the top of the hill! |
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| Plimoth "role players" act as interpreters of actual pilgrims. |
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| ...a back yard garden |
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| On board the Mayflower II |
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| Below deck... We all wondered how 102 people could fit? |
We have been reading, discussing, and answering questions about the text If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern. We have learned about reasons the pilgrims left England, the voyage across the ocean, and the difficulty of arriving in Massachusetts in December. Students are working on answering short answer questions and writing a COMPLETE sentence to answer a question. I have shown them what I call the RECIPE for answering a question in a complete sentence. See what I mean.
Say the question asks, "Why was it important that the pilgrims stayed together in the New World?"
Look at the words in the question...
Why was it important that the pilgrims stayed together in the New World?
The answer can be formed using all those words!
It was important that the pilgrims stay together in the New World for safety.
We can use words in the sentence to help us FORM the complete sentence... and the BEST part is ... ALL THOSE WORDS ARE ALREADY SPELLED CORRECTLY!
I will be sharing this work with you at our conferences to show their understanding of answering sentences completely.
This week coming up is going to be BUSY!
Take a look!
On Wednesday we will be heading out to the VICTORY GARDEN to harvest crops for our upcoming feast at Rocky Woods. Remember to send your child in old shoes!
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| One of my former classes hard at work! (And Mrs. Swirbalus!) |
On Thursday we have our vision and hearing tests with Mrs. Scheimer.
On Friday, we have our Pilgrim Activity Day! In the morning, students in our class and Mrs. Sheehan's class will be rotating through 6 stations working on items for our feast on October 25th at Rocky Woods. Please make sure your child is on time for school that morning, as we have a lot to accomplish. We will be baking, sewing, braiding, stringing necklaces, and painting napkins. ALL students will need a WHITE HANDKERCHIEF for Friday.
Final Notes:
- Many students have been forgetting planners, homework, or snacks. Perhaps a backpack check each morning would be helpful.
- Conference sign ups went out this week via SIGN UP GENIUS.
- We are still looking for more volunteers for Rocky Woods. Check out the sign up that was sent to you! You don't want to miss this day!
- Please be sure to read the H.U.G. sheet on Monday. Many students did not know about our late pick up from our field trip or that they need a handkerchief for next week. All that information can be found on our H.U.G. sheet.
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