AUP

Yesterday, Mrs. Martell came to our classroom to teach us about being safe on our computers. In order for children to continue using computers in our school, they need to return an Acceptable User Policy form. Please discuss this form with your third grader and return it as soon as possible.

In addition, Mrs. Martell came in the classroom today to teach the class about cyberbullying. Ask your third grade how cyberbullying is different from bullying "face to face." 

Tardiness

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 reading and responding to the morning message, doing their classroom job 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

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:

Bike Rodeo

I assume your third graders have told you all about the Bike Rodeo! The kids were lucky enough to learn about bicycle safety, including hand signals. They also had their helmets adjusted and learned about maintaining their bicycles. Finally, third grade bicyclists demonstrated their skill on the obstacle course. They did a wonderful job! A big shout out to Mr. Brenhiser and the wonderful parent volunteers for making this wonderful event happen.

Generic Ministries

Generic Ministries visited Eliot School today. Generic Ministries is an organization that provides clothing, food and other necessities to people who are poor or homeless in Boston. In fact, Eliot third graders have supported Generic Ministries once each month by donating socks that are distributed by the organization. Other grades in our school make sandwiches, decorate lunch bags, donate chapstick and toothpaste.

The gentlemen from Generic Ministries shared some of their experiences delivering to the homeless community. They ended their visit by showing us the van they drive into Boston. The van is filled with clothing, blankets and toiletries to be shared with those in need.

To help third graders understand why we support Generic Ministries, we talked about homelessness today. Third graders learned:

*People who are homeless typically don't have enough money to pay for housing.

*People who are homeless typically don't have enough money to pay for food, clothing and other      essentials.

*People who are homeless are not bad. (I explained to the children that most people are good. Just like most people who have a place to live are good. But, as children, we don't talk to strangers - homeless or otherwise.)


As a follow up to our conversation, we read "Fly Away Home" by Eve Bunting, a story of a little boy and his dad who are homeless and live in an airport.

Children may have some questions or concerns based on their experience today. Please let me know if I can assist in any way.

Homework Help

Homework is due today! Math packets, Xtra Math Logs and Reading Logs should all be turned in this morning. Please remind your child to take their homework out of their folder and place it in the homework tray. (Passing in homework is part of the homework... :o)

In honor of the day, click here to see an article Scholastic posted that may be helpful to parents when it's time to settle down to get the homework done.

Enjoy the weekend!

Vocabulary Costume

Third grade vocabulary wizards enjoyed hearing the story of Miss Allaineus by Debra Frazier. The third grade is working together on a fun project based on the book. We will celebrate Halloween with a Vocabulary Parade just like Sage's!

Be sure to check out the notice that was sent home yesterday describing a project that is due, Thursday, October 31. Each child is being challenged to create a costume that shows the meaning of an interesting vocabulary word.

Click here to see photographs of last year's costumes.

Click here to see some vocabulary word ideas from Debra Frazier's website.

Nano Brothers!

The kids had a blast learning from "The Amazing Nano Brothers" this afternoon. Two jugglers taught us a lot about the world in nano-scale. Ask your child how big a nanometer is. Ask them what they learned about atoms and molecules. We will use what we learned in the show when we study electricity later in the year.

Thanks to the PTC for funding this wonderful performance!

If your child really enjoyed the show, you may want to attend another performance that is a fundraiser. It will be held at the Newman School on Saturday, November 2 at 4:30.

Writer's Notebooks

Yesterday was one of my favorite days in third grade! Room 221 writers received their writer's notebooks! I love watching the children's writer's notebooks fill up. It's such a window into their personalities.

We learned two strategies for generating topics for our personal narratives (stories about our lives). You can try them too:

Think of a person who is important to you. It's best to think of a person you spend lots of time with. A person with whom you have created lots of memories. Visualize that person. Let the memories pour into your mind. Write a list of memories. 

My person is  Aunt Denise. She and I are very close in age and we've done many things together over the years. When I visualize Denise these are some of the story topics that come to mind:

Turkish Twist
Burning the popcorn
Lost on the rowboat
Stuck on the paddleboat
Cooking lobster
Demi passing

The kids listed some memories and then I pulled them back to the rug to learn the next strategy:

Think of a place that is important to you. Think of a place where you spend lots of time. A place where you have created lots of memories. Visualize that place. Let the memories pour into your mind. Write a list of memories. 

My place is a campground. I don't actually have one campground in mind. I have gone camping many times in my life so I have lots of memories at campground around New England. When I visualize campgrounds these are some of the story topics that come to mind: 

tent falling
year of the mosquitoes
bonfire
Cowabunga!
canoe race with an anchor

The kids also listed memories of a place. Ask your child about the person/place they chose to remember. I bet you will generate an even larger list together!

Soon we will work to develop these strategies into small moments, focused stories of our lives. I can't wait to read them! 

Intersections

As you may have read in the parent letter for Chapter 2 in Think Math, Room 221 is learning about multiplication. Think Math teaches multiplication in a way that is new to me, so I thought it might also be new to you. 

The third graders are taught to look at the number of vertical lines, the number of horizontal lines and the intersections that happen when the lines meet. The vertical lines represent one factor, the horizontal lines represent the second factor and the intersections represent the product.

For example, if you take 3 vertical lines and line them up with 2 horizontal lines, you will make 6 intersections. 

| | | (3 vertical lines) __ __ (2 vertical lines) 

For the intersections, please see the image above.

The matching multiplication sentence will be:

3 x 2 = 6 - factor x factor = product 

Ask your mathematician how many intersections there would be if you had 5 vertical lines and 4 horizontal lines!

Xtra Math

As you know, Xtra Math is a vital part of helping your third grader memorize essential math facts. I appreciate the effort you have taken to be sure your third grader accesses Xtra Math from home three times each week.

Unfortunately, we've encountered a "blip." Many children are using Xtra Math while attached to their second grade account. Therefore, it is not showing up on our third grade account. I will send home "Log In" notices today or tomorrow. If your child's account is okay, I will write you a note. If there is no note on your letter, could you please try logging in again? It is very important that you click "Enroll" and enter your child's third grade "Enrollment Code." ***Even if your child has been enrolled in Xtra Math in the past. This will ensure that the Xtra Math they do at school matches what they do at home. In addition, it will ensure me access to see their progress.

Thanks for your help!

New Dictionaries!

Thank you so much to the Needham Rotary Club! This afternoon each student received his/her very own dictionary - inscribed with their name. The looks on the children's faces were priceless. Each child was truly excited. I hope they shared them with you right away. We love words! :o)

Rock Dominoes

Hopefully you have heard that Room 221 scientists are studying rocks and minerals! We have been learning to look closely at rocks and use precise words to describe their characteristics. Yesterday we learned some fancy vocabulary words that describe rocks. Your third grade scientist can tell you that we can describe a rock's luster. Luster tells you how shiny a rock is. Third grade scientists can also tell you that we can describe a rock's texture. Texture describe how a rock fees.

We ended the lesson playing a game of Rock Dominoes. I held up a rock. Third grade scientists had to choose a rock that had the same property as the first rock. For example, they might start with a rock that was pointy. If a child had a different rock that was also pointy, they could put it next to the first rock. They would have to explain that both rocks share the property "pointy." We continued the game with each rock. Children could choose a similar property or choose a different similarity.

You can even play this game at home! :o)

I Am From... Poems

Proud poets in 221 have been working on  "I am from..." poems. These poems give children the chance to share who they are. We all have different experiences, memories, and traditions that make us who we are. Each person's is different. It can depend on our culture, our religion, the color of our skin, where we grew up, or just the personalities of our family members. Ask your child about their poem. Ask them to share about their experience trying to think of what to share. You can even share your own special memories from your own childhood. Maybe even challenge yourself to write a poem.

First, we brainstormed what might go in our own poems. I shared with the children the kinds of things that might go in my poem. We thought about: items found around our homes, items found in our yards, items found in the neighborhoods, names of special relatives, sayings, or names of special foods and dishes. Yesterday, we added details to many of their original ideas. We learned how to describe and how to be more specific. Finally, today we turned our brainstorms into poems. Tomorrow we will focus on line breaks and how the poems sound. Soon they will be hung on the wall. We'll also post them to the internet for all to enjoy!

Assignment Notebooks

Hopefully you have noticed your third grader's assignment notebook. Using an assignment notebook is a big jump in terms of their responsibility. Each day, children should fill out their assignment notebook with that day's assignment and due dates. (It will be posted on the smartboard for them to copy.) When they return home in the afternoon, they should open to the correct page (it will be marked with a sticky note so it's easy to keep track). They should read their assignment notebook before completing any homework. 

It is also important for third graders to be responsible about returning the assignment notebook each day. Third graders should put their assignment notebook in their backpack immediately after completing their homework. At the same time, they should put their homework back in their folder and their folder in their backpack. That way, the next morning they will be ready to go! 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding the assignment notebook.