Learning Buddies on Halloween

We had more fun with our Learning Buddies today! First, Mrs. Claus read us a fun story about "The Old Lady Who Swallowed..." Followed by a jack 'o lantern glyph. Ask your third grader about the directions they needed to follow.

Click here to see pictures.

Vocabulary Parade

Today we went on a parade around the building to show off our awesome vocabulary costumes! We impressed many people with our knowledge of language!

Click here to see for yourselves. 

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! :o)

Vocabulary Parade!

Please remember - tomorrow is our annual Vocabulary Parade! We can't wait to see what vocabulary words our third grade word wizards will represent. If your third grader is still looking for ideas, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to check out some ideas from students in other schools.

Home Again!

Wow! Crazy weather yesterday. Hope you are all safe and dry. If you have power, your child can use the extra time to catch up on Spelling City or Xtra Math. I updated Spelling City last night, so all kids who had completed assignments have new ones.

Hope to see everyone tomorrow! :o)

P.S. Did you know there is an app for Spelling City for your ipad or iphone? Just go to the home page for Spelling City. At the top of the page is an link that says "Want Our App?" Click on the link and directions are on the following page.

Magic Squares

Room 221 mathematicians learned about magic squares in the first lessons of Chapter 3. A magic square is a 3 x 3 grid where the digits in each column, row and diagonal all add up to the same sum. The special sum for the above magic square is 15.

Third graders practiced using efficient addition strategies to complete magic squares. For example, when mathematicians are adding three numbers, they can find combinations of ten. For example in the center row, I would add 3 and 7 to make 10. Then, it is easy to add the 5 to 10. The sum of course, is 15. Similarly, third grade mathematicians can use sums they know, to solve sums they don't. For example, if third graders know that 7 + 7 = 14, they should also know that 6 + 7 = 13.

Third grade mathematicians also practiced finding missing addends when they knew the special sum of the square. For example, if we know that the special sum of the above grid is 15, but the last row is blank. We can add up the first column, 8 + 3 to make 11. Knowing that the special sum is 15, I can figure out that the last square in the first column is 4.

Ask your third grader to show you how they solve magic squares! Ask them what the special sum is for this magic square:

Tardiness

Well, this post may not have ideal timing. I know that the weather conditions and power outages may make things tricky tomorrow. So, disregard this message for tomorrow, but please take into consideration for all future school days... :o)

Tardiness has been a real issue for many students in Room 221. Children have been getting to the classroom well after 2:35 each day. I am asking that your child arrive at school at 8:20 each day.

Third graders have many responsibilities in the morning. These include recording in their assignment notebook, reading and responding to the morning message and completing any unfinished work they might have. In addition, I often meet with individuals and small groups before Morning Meeting to reteach or challenge children.

Please help your child arrive at school at 8:20 whenever possible.

Thank you for your consideration.

:o)Melanie

Homophones

We added to our Word Wall today! 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 Friday. 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 children's work.

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

We learned two new sets today:

know - to understand something completely

no - a negative response to a question

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write - to put pen to paper

right - the opposite of left; an answer that is correct

Weekly Math

This weekend you may notice an extra homework assignment in your child's folder. We have begun assigning Weekly Math. Weekly Math will be assigned each Friday and should be returned no later than the following Friday. The problems are review of the content we have studied in math so far this year. Children should complete both sides of the page.

Please note that this homework is in addition to the usual math packet. Third grade mathematicians are still expected to complete at least four pages of the packet each week. The packet allows students to practice material taught that week.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for your continued support. 

Bike Rodeo

This week we had the Bike Rodeo! Each group went to a different station. At one station, a volunteer checked our helmets and showed us how to check them ourselves. There was also a station about hand signals we can use while riding. Another station was about road signs. We learned what each sign means. At the last station, we rode on a biking course. While we were riding, Mr. Rufo held up a colored ball behind us.  We had to look back and yell out the color of the ball. Now we know how to ride our bikes safely.

                           Room 221 Writers


Click here to see photographs from our Bike Rodeo. A big thank you to Mr. Brenheiser for organizing this wonderful event and all of the volunteers for teaching us!

Internet Safety

Mrs. Martell taught us about being safe on the internet. Room 221 learners created posters with slogans to teach others what they learned. 

Click here to check out their posters. 

Homophones

Homophones are sets of words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings.Yesterday, we read the book "Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones" by Gene Barretta. It is filled with fun sentences that include pairs of homophones. For example, the first page says,

"Dear Deer,
        I now live at the zoo. Wait until you hear what goes on over here."

                     Love, Aunt Ant

We brainstormed lots more sets of homophones. Ask your child to share a different set of homophones with you!

Throughout third grade, we will be learning new sets of homophones. Each time we learn a new set, we will add them to our Word Wall. Once a set of homophones is posted, third grade writers will be expected to spell them correctly. Stay tuned for new homophones!

Science Center Visit

Mrs. Rizzutto from the Science Center came to Room 221 with some extra special guests this morning. She brought a gecko, a bearded dragon and two doves. The children enthusiastically did scientific observations of one bird and one reptile. The children shared what they noticed and Mrs. Katz charted the information on a table. They specifically looked at different parts of the animals: head, legs, feet, eyes, ear, movement,etc...  We will use the table to compare characteristics of reptiles, birds and finally dinosaurs to see why scientists think they are linked through evolution. It will lead to many interesting discoveries I'm sure!

Columbus Day

Most of you are probably aware of the year 1492. The year Columbus sailed the ocean blue on the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. The voyage when Columbus "discovered" America.

You may not have heard the story from the Native American point of view. This morning I read "Encounter" by, Jane Yolen to the class - a piece of historical fiction that tells the Columbus story from the voice of a young Taino (Native American) boy. From that point of view, Columbus came to the Americas and "discovered" a land that had been inhabited for thousands of years. He claimed that inhabited land for Spain.

After reading the story, third graders were very thoughtful. They said, "You can't discover something that already belonged to someone else!" This in fact is true. Columbus did not truly "discover" America. From another point of view however, Columbus did introduce the New World to Europeans. Certainly a kind of discovery.

Talk to your child about Columbus. Talk about the story that you learned originally and how your thoughts may have changed. Talk about how stories change depending upon the point of view.

Happy Talking!

Multiplication

This week in math we learned about multiplication. One strategy we used is to make a map with horizontal and vertical lines. The lines make a grid with intersections.  If there are four vertical lines and five horizontal lines on the map, you can multiply horizontal by vertical to find the number of intersections. The number of intersections is the product. On the four x five map there would be 20 intersections.


                     by  Room 221 Writers

Patricia Polacco

Room 221 readers have been enjoying books by Patricia Polacco. Ms. Polacco is a wonderful author and illustrator. Many of her stories are inspired by her own life. This makes her a wonderful author for us to learn from because we will be writing stories inspired by our own lives!

We have enjoyed several of her stories so far. Ask your child about:

Patricia Polacco has a wonderful website to explore. Click here to check it out. 

Fossils

Have you ever imagined yourself as a paleontologist? Digging up dinosaur bones from deep beneath the ground? Most of your children have. They are very excited as we begin our dinosaur unit. Yesterday many fossils (and replicas) were spread throughout the room. The children acted as true scientists as they drew observational sketches and took notes about what they drew. At the end of the session, we held a scientific meeting. The scientists shared their findings and made theories about what they noticed.

Today we learned that there are three types of fossils: mineralized fossils, trace fossils and preserved fossils. Ask your third grader to explain how each one is created. 

Alphabetical Order

Third graders have practiced putting words in alphabetical order. They were introduced to the concept in Media. They worked together to alphabetize themselves by last name. This morning we reviewed the concept with a Morning Meeting activity. They each wrote their own word and alphabetized themselves by that word.

You can practice at home too! This skill will help children look for books in the library and look for words in the dictionary.