Life in 1624...

Third grade classes were visited on Wednesday by "interpreters" from Plimoth Plantation to see what life was like for the people we call the pilgrims.  Students heard about their reasons for leaving England and their move to Holland. We learned about the deal they make with the English businessmen to obtain another ship for their journey. One of their ships, the Speedwell, was leaky and could not make the voyage. Cold, seasick, and crowded, the 102 passengers traveled for 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Mayflower. The didn't go to their original destination of Hudson's River in New Amsterdam as they were behind schedule. Instead the reached the shores of what we call Cape Cod and found an area to their liking with fresh streams and a shallow harbor. Check out the pictures of our classmates in clothing from 1624. Our visitor, Elizabeth Howland, showed us the proper way to greet one another. 

Inquiring Minds Wanted to Know...

A padlet is an app that lets you share your thoughts created on many different devices to one place. Today we discussed what we THINK we know about the pilgrims and then we brainstormed what we wanted to learn. 

News from Room 102 ... 9/27/15

We are still waiting for our first full week of school.  Luckily, it arrives this week!  We have been very busy in class.  Here is some of what we have been working on in Room 102! 

We worked on division last week! Division works the opposite way of multiplication and starts with a group of things that need to be divided into groups.  We played several games last week that worked on multiplication fluency practice.  We have games called "Toss and Talk" that require students to play with partners and talk about their thinking.  At the same time, they are solving problems such as What is... 4 groups of 5 or 3 X 4? Math homework has been coming back in and students are doing great work.  You will notice that I am sending home things to be corrected when students have not followed the directions. This program is new for all of us this year.  I am hoping to start good math practices by making sure students are reading directions carefully and answering ALL parts of the question.  Assessments we will be using, whether it be MCAS or PARCC, are moving toward answering problems with more than one step and problems with more than one answer. Hang in there!  As we continue to practice, it will become easier and more automatic.  In the meantime, please remind your child to read the directions and the problems carefully.  

We did our first 2 letters in cursive!  

In social studies, we are reading and learning about the Native American tribe, the Wampanoags.  We have seen how their lives followed the seasons, in the way they dressed, where they lived, animals they hunted, and their chores.  They also had a strong relationship with the land and nature. They believed that the land should be respected. They thanked the animals they killed and gave thanks for the food they planted.  We went on a "virtual field trip" of the Wampanoag homesite and are looking forward to visiting it at Plimoth Plantation in a few weeks. 

In reading, we are building up to start The Daily Five.  The Daily Five has students working on five different choices during our

reading time:  reading to self, reading to someone else, word work, listening to reading, and writing.  We have been working on the routines for all five and will start to put them all together this week. 

In writing workshop, we are starting our personal narratives.  The people, places, and events that students brainstormed are our jumping point for getting started.  Upcoming mini lessons will work on using dialogue in our writing, adding interesting details, and getting to the heart of our story.  

Stay tuned... for MORE LEARNING!  

Also don't forget to check out my twitter page for daily updates of our #180daysofawesome!

Artifact Sharing

Sharing artifact bags at the beginning of the school year is fun, but a little scary.  

As we start to teach social studies, we discuss that you can learn about history in many ways.  You can ask an expert, research a topic, read a book, visit a museum, or study artifacts.  Students were asked to collect 4-5 items from home to help us learn more about them.

Today, on our 6th day of school, students stood in front of their peers and shared some "artifacts" that helped us learn more about them.  It was a little lesson on public speaking.  We reviewed speaking to your audience, talking in a clear voice, and courteously asking questions and commenting on presentations. 

Interestingly, we have several:

• rock collectors
• hockey, soccer, and baseball lovers
• dancers
• readers
• Lego lovers
• animal enthusiasts 

Check us out!  

What's Going on in Room 102 in Grade 3?

Well... back to school usually makes me think "fall".  But, boy are we in "summer" mode.  

We are doing our best to beat the heat.  Our class is off to a great start.  We have been spending a lot of time on structure and routines.  Where do things get handed in?  How do we walk in line? Where do I put my math workbook?  When is lunch?

We have read many great books to start the year.  Some of them are my favs.   Officer Buckle and Gloria

The  Old Woman Who Named Things

We also started a class read aloud called Muggie Maggie.   Maggie Schultz is a third grader who DOESN'T want to learn cursive writing!  But will she?

During our independent reading time we are trying to build our reading stamina or reading "muscles". We are discussing and working on strategies like choosing "Just Right" books, checking for understanding, and backing up and rereading when things don't make sense.  

We are completing some spelling assessments.  We started some grammar review today and discussed common and proper nouns. We are taking breaks to get water and sharpening pencils repeatedly to stand in front of the fan!  

We started with our NEW math program today.  It includes some technology pieces as well. The students were excited to jump right into learning multiplication on Day 4! We discussed multiplication as an operation that gives the total number when you join EQUAL groups.  We practiced writing addition and multiplication equations to solve real world problems. 

 Hey!  Check me out! 

 I am one smart symbol.  

3 X 8.... "I say 3 times eight OR 3 groups of 8"

I can be written as an addition equation 8 + 8 + 8 = 24 or 
a multiplication equation 3 X 8 = 24.  


Homework also has started. We are doing lessons on filling in planners and a lot of review of morning routines.  

We also started learning about history as we read the first lesson in Massachusetts, Our Home.  We found that you can learn about history in many ways. You can look at artifacts, read a book, research or "Google it!" as the third graders shared, and we can visit a museum or ask an expert. 

Students were asked today to prepare in their own artifact bags so we can learn more about them and their personal history.  


Keep checking back on the classroom blog to find out what else we are doing and learning. You can also follow me on Twitter @ewatsonroom102

I hope to see you next week at our PIN Night!  

Great first day...

Despite the heat, we had a very successful first day of third grade today. We started a bulletin board entitled #180daysofawesome!

We will tweet out each day's post! Be on the lookout on Twitter at @ewatsonroom102

Today's post was about ... all of the new school supplies! There is nothing quite like a new box of crayons. Here's to 179 more awesome days!

Our classroom door says "Kicking off a Great Year in Grade 3!". Our activities today involved a tour of our "stadium", meeting our "teammates" and interviewing the "coach".  

This team is off to a great start! 

Summer!

I love summer!  It gives me a chance to recharge my school battery (so to speak) and to spend quality time with my family.  

We have had a terrific summer.  I did log many hours on lacrosse fields!  Too many actually, but I also tried to spend just as much time at the beach!  

We drove to Maryland and to Lake Placid, New York this summer for lacrosse tournaments.  Did you know... Lake Placid was the home of the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980?

This is my family and some friends staying late and having dinner on the beach!

Luckily, we didn't see any of THESE!

I read MANY books over the summer.  Here are a few I read.

I read this book because my daughter, Caroline, had to 
read it for school!

I read this book for school because it is a second edition and I wanted to see how different it was from the first one.

I read this book because Mrs. Sheehan gave it to me to try.
I really liked it!  

I spent time with my nieces and nephew this summer too!  

This is my niece, Nyla.  She just ate an ice cream from the ice cream truck at the beach!

This is my dog, Finnegan. He loves summer, too!  He really enjoys playing catch, but he NEVER wants to give the ball back to me to throw it again! 

the Finnster!

I made Mr. Watson come to school with me to do some measuring for some new bookshelves!  I have a HUGE classroom library and I need more shelves.  

I also went to the movies this summer, met up with some friends, and cleaned my basement. That wasn't fun, but it sure is clean now! I hope you are having a terrific summer!  

This is Tim, Caroline, and I (with Mr. Watson taking the picture) out for dinner on the Cape.