Word Study
Students will begin individualized word study groups soon. However, I started everyone this week on the same lesson to teach the process. The cycle will typically be a five day rotation as follows:
Day One: I introduce the word feature sort on Smart Board (e.g., this week's sort was short and long a with VC and VCE patterns); students cut and sort words by pattern; they alphabetize their sorts and finally copy them into their word study journal. I also make sure the students know the meaning of all the words. The first few times we do this will take a lot of time, but I have experienced students begin to be able to do this much faster and more efficiently. I circulate and look for common errors (e.g., this week, many students struggled to hear the long a in whale and the short a in hand. I emphasize the vowel sound by having students "stretch" the word aloud and isolate the vowel sound.) Students keep their words in a baggie in their desk.
Day Two: We physically sort the words and copy them again. We also brainstorm additional words that follow the same pattern. This is a great step towards generalizing.
Day Three: We sort the words again and then look for words in our reading that share the sorting features. We will use this to build vocabulary as well.
Day Four: We sort our words a fourth time and then do one of many possible word study activities: draw and label, use in sentences, blind sorts, speed sorts, vocabulary builders, etc.
Day Five: We sort our words one final time and then recycle them. Students take a word study assessment including many words from the five day cycle's sort as well as new words that share the feature to help us ensure students are generalizing instead of just memorizing.
Reading Workshop
Students continue to identify the main idea in a passage. We will do this with our homework passages as well at school. Students will quickly begin to identify the topic sentence and see how it supports their recognition of the main idea/central theme of a passage/selection. This provides a helpful connection to our writing as we begin our narratives and opinion pieces with strong topic sentences using a variety of strategies.
We also looked for the author's message in picture books. This is challenging, especially for "right answer" oriented students. We will look for evidence to support a variety of answers.
We are well into our read aloud, Wonder, and it is providing many opportunities for great classroom discussion on kindness.
Writing Workshop
Students began their first opinion pieces, writing why they would make a great student council representative. Students must write a reason and then support it with an example, e.g., "I am a good speaker. I once had to give a speech at my aunt's wedding." While not everyone wants to run for student council, everyone is doing this exercise. This writing also provides an opportunity for students to recognize their strengths and areas for growth.
Math Workshop
We had a very busy week in math! Students are:
- Writing numbers in standard (e.g., 563), written (e.g., five hundred sixty-three), and expanded notation (e.g., 500 + 60 + 3)
- Rounding to the nearest ten using empty number lines (e.g., 70 73 80 > 73 is 3 away from 70 and 7 away from 80, so it is closer to 70. Students also recognize that the sum of the two distances is always ten) and recognizing we round down if the one's place is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 and we round up if the one's place is 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.
- Naming numbers by place and value (e.g., the 7 in 472 is called 70, seventy, 7 tens, and 70 ones).
- Identifying the biggest or smallest number possible from a set of numerals (e.g., the biggest number that can be made from 7, 4, 0, and 9 is 9,740. This is typically very easy, but the "next biggest" number of 9,704 is usually very hard. Most students will write 7,940. Try this one with a three or four digit number at home.).
- Recognizing and continuing patterns by looking at which place (ones, tens, hundreds, thousands) is changing.
I have noticed many students (and this is typical of the beginning of third grade) are struggling to read an analog clock. I will review this at school, but you may want to look for opportunities to do this at home. A gift of an analog watch is often very motivating. I point out that the word hour is shorter than the word minute and their lengths correspond with their arms' lengths on a clock.
Homework
The class practiced an entire night's homework together. I shared explicit strategies and modeled them. Nearly everyone finished their reading in 20 minutes and their math in 15. We also discussed creating the right environment for homework without distractions. I hope this is helpful at home.
Odds and Ends
You will receive a letter about Schoology next week. Schoology is a secure site in which students, teachers and parents can communicate about class experiences. You can see more about it here: http://upperarlington.finalsite.com/page.cfm?p=650
We had a great time celebrating Windermere Sportsmanship Day participating in team building activities. We finished the day with a speaker who focused on the importance of quality relationships. This was a great introduction to our Windermere Way: Responsible, Respectful and Ready to Learn. Here are a few photos from our activities.
See below for important dates.
Important Dates and Reminders
I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.
September 7 - No School Labor Day
September 23 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
October 9 - Fall Family Night
October 16 - End of First Quarter
October 19 - No School Teacher Grading Day
October 25 - Scarecrow Display Contest
October 26 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
You can sign up for Fall Conferences by clicking on this link:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ac2ea64-fall3
October 29 - UA Trick or Treat Night
November 2 - Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
November 2 through 4 - Fall Conferences
November 3 - No School Election Day/Professional Development
November 9 through 13 - Terra Nova3/InView
November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break
December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break
January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18 - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit
March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day
April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment
May 27 - Last Day of School for Students
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