Word of the Week!

Each day a member of the Room 221 community is the "Word Wizard." The Word Wizard collects new words that he/she hears when the class is in a lesson, listening to a story, or having a discussion. At the end of the day, many of the words are shared. They are then put in our word jar.

Every week the class will vote on one word to highlight. This word will be placed in large letters on the wall for all children to see. We will challenge ourselves to use the highlighted words whenever possible. This will make the words part of our standard vocabulary.

I plan to post on the blog each time we choose new words so you can try using the words at home!I will post the third grade definitions that we came up with.


This week's word is:
flabbergasted: shocked, incredibly surprised

Memorial Day Assembly

Tomorrow is our annual Memorial Day assembly. Our school community will share some patriotic songs and thoughts, followed by a performance from The Needham Retired Men's Glee Club. Please encourage your child to wear red, white and blue!

Cool Problem Solving Game

Trying to recover from the Bruins' loss... Found this website in the process. Check it out! It requires number sense and logical thinking. It's lots of fun. :o)

Techsploration

Thanks to the PTC for bringing back Techsploration! Third grade scientists to explorer deeper into the world of electricity. Ask your child the following:

What is electricity? (Hint: The flow of ______________.)

What do you need for electricity to flow? (Hint: It's shaped like a circle, and it must
be "closed" or "complete.")

How do we measure electricity?

What do we create when we pass a magnet through a coil of wire? (Hint: Remember George:o)

Please remind your children that they are encouraged to experiment with electricity using small batteries, however they may only do so with adult permission. In addition, they should NEVER use plugs or wall sockets to experiment. This is very dangerous!!!!!

Click here to see pictures from this wonderful presentation.

Fiction Writing

Thank you so much to Mrs. Anne Nydam for visiting third grade this afternoon! If you don't know, Mrs. Nydam is a published author and illustrator. You can check out her work at her website http://www.nydamprints.com/.

221 writers are getting ready to begin a unit focused on writing fiction. Mrs. Nydam shared many of the strategies and techniques she uses as a writer of fiction. Here's some of what our third grade writers learned:

*Every story needs a problem and solution
*Write stories like the ones you like to read
*Show don't tell - Don't say 'big,' describe how it's big
*Notice and pay attention to everything. Record or save the ideas you find most interesting
*Name your characters
*Put yourself in the character's place
*Never forget the small characters
*Notice problems in your own life. You might use one for a story

Third grade writers will be coming home with a small writer's notebook today. Each night (Monday-Thursday) they should write at least 2 entries. I am not expecting paragraphs, but at least 2 sentences for each entry. There are no right or wrong entries, as long as they are appropriate to third grade.

Entries might include:
*Interesting facts
*Descriptions of interesting people, animals or things
*Problems that happen to you, or somebody else
*Sights, sounds, smells, etc...
*Anything children notice that they find interesting

I expect the writer's notebook to come back to school each day.

Happy writing!

Extra Help - Sorry for the short notice

I will continue to hold extra help sessions on Tuesday mornings (7:50-8:20)and Thursday afternoons (2:35-3:05). In order to best meet the needs of each child I will be choosing a focus for each session. This week we will review problems with area and perimeter. If your child needs or would like some extra practice in this area they are welcome to attend either or both days.

I am happy to see as many children who are interested. I only ask that you notify me to let me know that your child is coming.

Extra Help

Keep forgetting to post. I will not be offering extra math help this afternoon. Our regular schedule will resume next week. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Math MCAS

As many of you know, the Math MCAS is tomorrow and Friday. We had a brief practice test this afternoon. It was fairly short and simply gives the children an exposure to the experience.

The actual test will be administered tomorrow, May 19 and Friday, May 20 at
9:00am. The test is created to take about 60 minutes. Some children will be done sooner, and others will take longer. The test is untimed, so the children can take as long as they need.

I am asking all students to be in bed by 8:00 tonight and tomorrow night. Please help your children follow this guideline. In addition, all children should eat a healthy breakfast before coming to school each test day.

The children will be invited to eat a light snack when they get to school. After all children have completed the test, they will also be able to eat an "extra" snack and relax for a short time. The children will also get extra recess each test morning in order to run off any extra steam.


Most importantly, I do not want your children to feel stressed about MCAS. It is important that they know we believe they will do well. Please encourage them to work hard and do their best. However, also remind them that no matter how they do on MCAS, we know they are smart children!

Thanks for your cooperation. Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Word Wall

We (finally) added to our Word Wall again this week! Our Word Wall consists of homophones that are commonly misspelled. A homophone is a word that sounds like another word, but has a different meaning and is spelled differently.

I updated a paper copy that was sent home. Keep it where your child does homework for easy reference. Once a homophone is on the Word Wall, I expect it to be spelled correctly in each child's work.

*You can also find a copy on our classroom website.

We learned two new sets:

hi - Hello

high - A top level or a great distance to the top

***********************************

where - A question to describe a location

wear - When you put on clothing

Electricity

Third grade scientists are having such fun as they explore electricity. They have made a motor run using just two wires and a battery. Ask your scientist how they got the motor to spin in the opposite direction...

Lighting a small bulb using only a battery and two copper wires was tricky. All students were able to make the bulb light, and the process helped us realize that the light bulb and the battery have "critical contact points." These are points that must be connected in order to create a complete circuit.

The very bottom of the light bulb, (we call that the base terminal) must be touching (directly or through metal wire) the metal part of the top or base of the battery. This must be connected (directly or through metal wire) to the opposite end of the battery. The wire must be connecting with the metal side terminal.

Why is everything attached using so much metal? Your third grade scientists will let you know after our "Conductors and Insulators" lesson next week!

LInear Measurement

Last week we practiced measuring things to the nearest inch, to the nearest 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch. It is tricky to identify those small lines that indicate fractions of an inch. But we reviewed our knowledge of fractions which helped us to understand. It's also important for third grade mathematicians to remember to line their measuring tool up carefully with the edge of what they're measuring. As our unit continues we will investigate and practice with other units of measure.

The more experience with measurement that children get at school and at home, the better. Encourage your child to estimate and measure distances. Typical questions that might come up at home include these:

How far is it across our kitchen table - and can we really reach that far?
How many children can sit comfortably on our couch? How many adults?
Will that extra bookcase really fit in the kids' bedroom?

These are good questions, and they're also very practical ones! Measurement questions come up a lot in our home lives, and it's exciting for children to be involved with real-world issues.

Here's how you can help during this unit:

Listen to your child's strategies for measuring.

Involve your child in your own measurement activities - hobbies like sewing or carpentry are a natural for this.

Work together on the measurement activities your child brings home.

Happy measuring!

Word of the Week!

Each day a member of the Room 221 community is the "Word Wizard." The Word Wizard collects new words that he/she hears when the class is in a lesson, listening to a story, or having a discussion. At the end of the day, many of the words are shared. They are then put in our word jar.

Every week the class will vote on one word to highlight. This word will be placed in large letters on the wall for all children to see. We will challenge ourselves to use the highlighted words whenever possible. This will make the words part of our standard vocabulary.

I plan to post on the blog each time we choose new words so you can try using the words at home!I will post the third grade definitions that we came up with.


This week's word is:
athletic: Someone who is good at sports

Challenge #10: Art

*This genre flourished amongh 17th century Dutch painters; the term originated in the Dutch language as " "and.""
*This art often adorned ancient Egyptian tombs, and Paul Cezanne made it famous with his Apples and Peaches.
*These paintings give the artist freedom in the arrangement of the design elements within a composition.
*It is a work of art depicting inanimate objects such as pottery, flowers or fruit arranged in a pleasing way.

Extra Help

I will continue to hold extra help sessions on Tuesday mornings (7:50-8:20)and Thursday afternoons (2:35-3:05). In order to best meet the needs of each child I will be choosing a focus for each session. This week we will review problems with elapsed time. If your child needs or would like some extra practice in this area they are welcome to attend either or both days.

I am happy to see as many children who are interested. I only ask that you notify me to let me know that your child is coming.

Poppy

This week we've been reading a book called "Poppy" by Avi. Our class thinks the book is good and suspenseful. We read it almost every day at the end of the day.

The main characters are Poppy, a female deer mouse, Mr. Ocax, an owl and Ereth, a porcupine. Half of Poppy's humongous family wants to move to New House to get more food. Mr. Ocax doesn't like the mice. He tries to control them. He won't let them go to New House. We think that Mr. Ocax is hiding something. Mr. Ocax told the mice that he protects them from porcupines, but Mr. Ocax is really the one who is afraid of porcupines. Poppy is going to New House to find out why Mr. Ocax won't let them live there. On her way, she meets Ereth. Ereth lets her into his log.

Written by,

Room 221

Static Electricity Stations

Third grade scientists continued on their quest to understand electricity! We began with a simpler form of electricity - static electricity! Children rotated from station to station - investigating, exploring and wondering.

In Station 1: Popping Paper, scientists put a plastic container over small paper circles. They rubbed the plastic container with their hand and with wool cloth. Ask your third grader what happened! Be sure to ask them why.

In Station 2: Jumping Peanuts, scientists rubbed a plastic card with wool cloth. Once they built up enough friction, they held the card next to styrofoam peanuts. Ask your third grader what happened! Be sure to ask them why.

In Station 3: Attractive Comb, scientists rubbed a plastic comb with two different types of cloth. Once they built up enough friction, they held the comb near small paper circles. Ask your third grader what happened! Be sure to ask them why.

In Station 4: Static Tube Pick-Up, scientists rubbed a "static tube" with wool cloth or their bare hand. (The static tube is a clear plastic tube with small pieces of styrofoam inside.) Once they built up enough friction, they held the static tube up to styrofoam pieces, small pieces of yarn and aluminum strips. Ask your third grader what happened! Be sure to ask them why.

In Station 5: Dancing Styrofoam, scientists rubbed a "static tube" with cloth or their bare hand. Ask your third grader what happened to the styrofoam inside the tube! Be sure to ask them why.

Third grade scientists were encouraged to ask questions and create theories as they explored. Members of each group were encouraged to share information with one another. Third grade scientists in Room 221 are going to learn so much about electricity this year! :o)

Atoms

Did you learn about atoms in third grade? Probably not. (I know I didn't!) Your children are! Last week, third grade scientists learned that the world around us is made up of matter. Today we dug deeper and learned that matter is made up of atoms. Atoms are incredibly small. In fact, the period at the end of this sentence is made up of billions of atoms.

Above you can see the model of an atom. Challenge your third grade scientist with these questions about it:

What is the center of an atom is called? (The nucleus)
What is inside the nucleus? (Protons and neutrons)
What is moving around the outside of the nucleus. (Electrons)
Describe the charge of electrons and protons. (Electrons have a negative charge. Protons have a positive charge.)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post describing our investigations into static electricity!

Current Events

This morning the Room 221 community had a brief conversation about the death of Osama Bin Laden. I chose to discuss it as a class because I heard several conversations happening amongst the children. I didn't want conversations to swing out of control with misinformation, or with information that might frighten some children. I think that such conversations are difficult to have with young children because there is so much content that is not yet appropriate for them to hear. I am also aware that families have different feelings about what should and should not be shared with their children. Therefore, I kept the conversation simple and brief. Most children knew that Bin Laden had been killed. Most children knew that he was connected to September 11. I asked the children not to have further conversations at school unless it was with an adult. I encouraged them to share any questions they had with a trusted adult at home or with a teacher.

As always, please let me know if you have any comments or concerned.

:o)Melanie

Extra Help

I will continue to hold extra help sessions on Tuesday mornings (7:50-8:20)and Thursday afternoons (2:35-3:05). In order to best meet the needs of each child I will be choosing a focus for each session. This week we will review problems with algebra. If your child needs or would like some extra practice in this area they are welcome to attend either or both days.

I am happy to see as many children who are interested. I only ask that you notify me to let me know that your child is coming.

Challenge #9: Nature - Answer

*It first took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska.
*It was the brainchild of Julius S. Morgan who was Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture.
*All 50 states celebrate the day, and it is also celebrated in Australia, Japan, Israel, Korea and India.
*It is a special day dedicated to tree planting and the awareness of the importance of trees.
*More than 1,000,000 trees were planted during the first celebration.

Answer: Arbor Day