Wrapping Up Folk Tales

Thanks to Mrs. Lagace for helping us learn about the seven different kinds of folktales! There are Ladder Tales, Beast Stories, Noodlehead Stories, Pourquoi Tales, Trickster Stories, Fairy Tales and Tall Tales. After reading a tale, the children discussed the characteristics of that particular tale. In writing, the children would individually respond to the question, "Write an explanation of how you decided what kind of Folk Tale you read. Use details from the story and the definition chart to explain your answer." Throughout the unit children practiced including information from the definition as well as examples from the text to make their answers thorough.

Today we will write about our favorite Folk Tales. Ask your child this weekend which they enjoyed the most! :o)

Fact and Opinion

As we read and write non-fiction texts, (we are still plugging away at our feature articles) it's important for children to know the difference between facts and opinions.

A fact can be proven or checked. For example, "The necklace has 13 stones on it," is a fact because the number of stones can be checked by counting.

An opinion can have different answers from different people. It can not be checked or proven. For example, "The necklace is beautiful," can not be checked. I might think it's beautiful, somebody else might think it's horrid. One person's answer can not be proven true.

Challenge your child to distinguish between facts and opinions while you're eating breakfast together tomorrow morning! It can be fun! :o)

Mixed Numbers

Last Thursday, the children were presented with a problem. They were given 7 (paper) brownies and asked how they might share them with 4 people. My favorite part of the task is the different ways children solved it. We ended up with "3" answers.

1. 7/4

2. 1 + 1/2 + 1/4

3. 1 3/4

As you may have guessed, these answers are actually the same - they are all equivalent to 1 3/4. This will help guide us into our exploration of equivalent fractions later in the week.

Today, we explored mixed numbers. A mixed number is a whole (or many wholes) and then a fraction more. 2 1/2, 3 4/5, 1 7/10 are all mixed numbers. The children will continue to problem solve different ways to share brownies with different numbers of people. They are sure to end up with more mixed numbers.

You can use this language when you find fractions at home!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for the healthy and delicious snacks that are being sent in. It's a real treat for the kids (makes MCAS a lot easier to "swallow" :o) and they give their brain a good boost before they get down to work.

We began with the practice test today. The official test will begin on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Please wish your children luck, but remind them just to do their best and work hard. They will be great!

Fractions - Fair Shares

Our class has begun a new unit on fractions, called Fair Shares. Your child will be using fractions to make "fair shares" of things like paper "brownies" and pattern-block "cookies." By working with these materials, your child will learn about how "wholes" come apart into fractions and how fractions fit together as wholes. We'll talk about which of two shares is larger and which fractions are really the same (for example, 1/3 is the same as 2/6).

Here are some ways that you can help at home:

*When your family is sharing food, talk about "fair shares" and help your child name fractions. If you want to split the pizza among five people, how can you split it fairly? How much does each person get?

*Cooking is another great way to learn about fractions. How can we measure 3/4 cup? Look together at how the fractions appear on a measuring cup. Doubling recipes, or cutting them in half, can help your child understand how to make new numbers with fractions.

The purpose of this unit is for students to visualize and compare fractions, to find different combinations of fractions that make a whole, to learn which common fractions are equivalent, and to begin to use fractions to solve problems like this one:

Six people at a party shared all the cookies evenly. Each person ate 1 and 1/3 cookies. How many cookies did they eat?

We love fraction action! :o)Melanie

Fluency

We have started a new mini-unit on fluency. Fluency is crucial because it helps children to read with stronger comprehension. For the most part, children in third grade read smoothly. They no longer sound like robots sounding out every word. It's also important however that their reading has proper intonation. This morning we learned how to use the punctuation to help us.

We learned:

At a period - Your voice should pause, but it should also go down. The lowness indicates that the thought has come to a close. (The children could hear the "periods" even as a I was speaking.)

At a comma - Your voice should pause, but not go down. You should "hear" that the sentence is going to continue.

At a question mark - Your voice should pause, but it should also go up. It should sound like you are asking a question when speaking.

Effective readers sound like they are talking. You can practice with your child at home! :o)

Wish List

If you happen to be at Staples or Office Max and there's money burning a hole in your pocket :o) we could use some magnetic tape and overhead sheets (made for the overhead projector) that are safe to go through the copy machine. Thanks in advance! :o)M

Jacqueline Davies Visits

Room 221 had a wonderful treat yesterday! Poet/author Jacqueline Davies came and shared her love of poetry with us. She opened up her nature journals so we could see her process. The children were able to try out her techniques. She supplied them with beautiful things to draw - daffodils, cyclamen, an aloe plant, pussy willows, pine cones, even crickets! As the children drew, they added words describing what they saw. Ms. Davies challenged them to use adjectives and includes comparisons like 'the arms of the plant reached out like the legs of an octopus.'

We'll be finishing our creations today. We'll have them displayed soon, so come in and have a peek. We know you'll be impressed!

Special thanks to the PTC Creative Arts Committee for making this possible. :o)

Reminder - Family Astronomy Night

The Countdown has Begun!
Family Astronomy Night is just days away.


The Evening’s Adventures will include:

✩ Real Moon Rocks
✩ NASA space suits for you to try on (BRING YOUR CAMERAS!)
✩ Chats with astronomers
✩ STARLAB, a portable planetarium
✩ Workshops on a galaxy of topics

Psst: If you own your own telescope, bring it along!

Launch Details:

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 (Rain or Shine)
5:30pm to 8:00 pm
The Needham Science Center, Newman School
1155 Central Avenue
Free!


Important Parking Information
Event parking at the Newman School will be restricted to those with a Vehicle Parking Permit. Parking Permits are free and will be available starting Monday, February 25, 2008 at each elementary school and the Needham Science Center.


See you there!
Your friends at the Needham Science Center.

Homework

The children have been assigned dinosaur projects! These projects are to be completed at home and are due Monday, March 17. They have four choices so that children can complete a project that they are interested in successfully. There is a generic T.O.W. that children should complete after they have finished their project. This will help them meet all project expectations. The T.O.W. should be passed in with the project on March 17.

There will be limited written homework during the project time.

Children should continue to:

Study spelling
Study math facts

And also:

Complete weekly math
Complete work reflection

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.