Prove It!

We are working on concepts of AREA and perimeter in math.  

One problem asked:

• Sharon knows the perimeter of a quadrilateral. She knows three side lengths of the quadrilateral.  She says she can find the unknown side length by subtracting.  Is she right?  Justify your answer using words, drawing, pictures, or numbers.  

Here are some of the students discussing and "justifying" their answers.  

They could be heard saying things like... 

"Do you see WHY that works?" 

"We have to show HOW we know."

"Quadrilaterals don't have to have four equal sides." 

Final Draft Time...

The class is busy (and SO excited) to be working on FINAL DRAFTS of our nonfiction writing pieces.  I set aside 25 minutes today, which they informed me was WAY TOO SHORT.  I promised them 45 minutes tomorrow!  The writers are doing a great job.  

Finch is working on her Terrific Trails chapter!  

Chase, Emma, and Mehr are hard at work. 

Emma organizes pictures for her chapter. 

Mary and Timmy are working on final drafts of their sport books! 

PLAY TIME...

The students rehearsed their lines, made props, and today put on their plays in class.  They were very cute!  There were two plays, The Sword in the Stone (A King Arthur's legend) and The Boy Who Cried Wolf (an Asesop's fable).  We discussed fluency, performing for an audience, stage directions, and audience behavior.  Tomorrow we will write about our performances in our reader's notebooks.  

Check out the "characters" in action....

The Sword in the Stone

King Uther and Queen Igraine speak with Merlin. 

The narrators fill us in on the plot! 

The Bishop of Canterbury waits for news.

Sir William and Lady Elayne doubt the truth of the sword's rightful owner.

King Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and is hailed by all! 

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Mayor McNayor! 

Bert's mom, Mrs. Varga, defends her son! 

Sheldon the sheep

Sherman and Sheldon talk with Bert and urge
him not to cry "wolf" again! 

Look what arrived in the mail today...

In the fall our class wrote to Victoria's dad who is stationed with the U.S. Navy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Today we received a large box in the mail.  Mr. Gonzalez sent each of the students a letter in response to the ones he received.  He included badges from the United States Naval Academy for each child.

According to my letter, he and his "entire office got a chance to read the letters and they certainly made everyone's day".   He went on to enclose a beautiful shell (at Victoria's insistence) for me from a dive in the area.  It will hold a place of honor on my desk.

This was a Veterans' Day opportunity for our class and Mr. Gonzalez.  While we might have entertained his and his colleagues, he should know that the class was very excited to receive responses in this way.  (Many thanks to Stacey Gonzalez for this wonderful suggestion on Medfield Day!)

I am attaching a picture of the class with their letters and badges.

I truly hope this makes us all realize that Veteran's Day should never be just ONE day.   The brave men and women who protect and serve our country (and write 20 letters to 3rd graders) should be honored each and every day.

The class show their letters and badges! 

A beautiful shell from a dive in Cuba.  

Thank you! 

Final Projects from our VERY Special Agents!

The Friday before vacation, our Special Agents gathered together one last time to share their hard work and all that they had learned.  Each Special Agent in a group was an "expert" on their topic and shared their project with the other members of the group.  Games were played, fact cards were perused, posters were read and much information was shared.  It was a grand finale!

We took some pictures of the grand event and shared them in the Padlet below. Just click!

The Grand Finale!

Today, the students in Room 102 were bitten...

by the ACTING BUG!  

Since we have had SNOW every week and it seems like we are here a day, and then off a day, I am behind in my lessons.  I had planned on doing Readers' Theater this week as a bit of fun and fluency practice prior to vacation.  We didn't get started until today! So.... today we looked at a play and how to read it.  We focused on characters, setting, stage directions, and how a play gives clues for how lines should be read.  They LOVED it.  When I let them have a turn with the script, they were fighting over parts.  Boys read as girls and girls read boys' parts.  I am sharing a few pictures of the "actors" below.  They will be assigned roles after vacation and we will perform 2 plays in class.  After seeing them in action today, I am certain we have some future thespians in our midst.  

Clearly Richie does NOT have stage fright!  He loves the limelight! 

The groups read from a play called "Cinder Elly Plays Ball".
It is a modern day Cinderella story.

Axel was adamant he wanted to be the step mother, aptly named Meena!  

The Federal Bureau of Fact Gathering Agents... are hard at work!

Using their notes and field guides, the agents have begun work on their final projects to share their information.  Groups decided on a format for sharing their knowledge.  Groups made games boards, shape posters, facts cards, matching games, and more.

The T-rex group works on informational game boards.
Don't get eaten by a T-rex or you will have to go back to START! 

The Sea Jellies group made shape posters with facts! 

One Penguin group made a matching card game with penguin facts.

The Washington Monument group made posters about the monument! 

Another Penguin group wrote out facts cards to put a ring!

Ben works on a game board about planets.