Continued strong work in math.

In math recently we have been working on equivalency.  Our focus has been on understanding that the = means that whatever is on the right side of the = is the same as what is on the left.

We have been exploring this by putting expressions on either side of this symbol, and proving that they are equal.  We also have worked to show that expressions with different operations can be equivalent to one another...

19 - 7 = 6 + 6 

We have also worked with the notion that a statement can be equivalent...

12 - 4 = Dave had a dozen donuts, and on the car ride from Winooski to East Montpelier he ate 4, so now he has 8 donuts.

Today we moved to having students use their power of inquiry to fill in possible answers to the following equivalencies...

This was an enlightening experience as students worked in small groups to create some equivalencies, and we quickly saw that there were many possibilities for each one.

-Dave

Sorry I missed posting on Friday!

All of us were out and about enjoying our hikes and so much so that we missed a blog post!  Sorry about that.  Last week, as well as this we have a few different focus areas in our class.

In all areas we are following a routine for entering a conversation.  While this seems mundane the practice of raising a hand and waiting for recognition is two-fold.  First it allows individual voices to be heard in a conversation, while at the same time allowing others participants in the conversation to really absorb the discussion.  It also controls the pace of a discussion, giving down time for reflective participants to generate their contribution.  We are really gaining strength with this routine, and having some wonderful discussions.

In math we are focused on subtraction.  We are working on finding the differences between numbers both mentally and with pencil and paper.  We are slowly moving toward using the standard american algorithm and notation for subtraction, and working to generate a deep understanding of how these processes show the relation of the numbers involved.

During our writing time we have been generating reasonable amounts of writing, generating empathy in our readers, and crafting strong leads.  We will continue along with these in mind, as well as work on moving from a large block of text that covers a page, to paragraphs that group thoughts and ideas together.

Finally, we will have a field trip on October 19.  We will be travelling to the Barre Opera House to see a production of Jigsaw Jones and the Case of the Class Clown.  During this performance we will be looking for evidence of when the author wants us to pay attention to a list of information, or make a mental movie.

-Dave

First week back!

What an amazing first week back.  I must tell you how fortunate we were to lave Laurie Mekkelsen as our long term sub.  She really got our year off to a great start.  The community in our classroom is evolving strongly.  This group of third-graders really are fantastic and I look forward to the rest of the year with them.
In math this week we worked on subtraction, we are trying to be sure, that all students have a strong and masterful understanding of this operation as we work to get into multiplication.  The discussions we have had so far have yielded results that show me where we will focus over the next few weeks.

We have also come up with some ideas for classroom celebrations.  Within the PBIS framework, class member receive a small wood chip when they are doing what is expected, these wood chips are collected in a small bucket in the classroom, and when this bucket is full we stop and celebrate!  I, personally, love these celebrations as they are celebrations of a week's worth of doing what is expected, being a part of a community, offering small kindnesses (is this a word?) to one another...you get the idea.  The list of ideas we have for these celebrations this year, is full of tag games, and other super active and fun games!  I am looking forward (even more than usual) to filling up our bucket and celebrating.

In the coming weeks I will be delivering some assessments to students in reading and spelling.  These assessments are essential for me to know where to meet students in their learning, as well as to track their progress throughout the year.  These assessments are used for instruction and I generally report out student outcomes on them during our conferences on progress reports.  If, however, you would like to know the outcomes for your student sooner please let me know, and we can set up a quick meeting.

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend, and look forward to tomorrow morning!

Dave

Welcome to a new school year!

This is post is a welcome to all the third graders and their families.  I am looking forward to our year together, and am excited to meet you all.  It is important to note that I will be on parental leave until September 14th, and that until that day Laurie Mekkelsen will be teaching third grade.

I like to use this blog as a means of communication with you all about what is happening.  I will post to it weekly-ish.  In these posts you will find information about what is happening in and around third grade.  If you ever want more information, please let me know and I will get it to you.

Please enjoy this weekend, and we are looking forward to seeing you on Monday!

-Dave

Final post...

...submitting this post from the home office.  All is well here, Alice is settling in, and so is Rose.  I just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful year with your kids, and I hope to see you all around next year.

Also below is a link to a Google album of the Boston Field Trip.  I wish I could have gone, it looks to have been fantastic.


https://goo.gl/photos/QXcjLdB5dvGhTRjGA


Take care,

Dave

Only a few days until our Boston Trip!

So, we have continued working hard and keeping our focus, while, at the same time, feeling the stoke for Boston!  We have been working on decorating some team shirts, and have reviewed and sent home a letter with information about this trip.  If you have yet to see this letter, please check with your student, and if you need another copy just let me know and I will send one home on Friday.

We have also continued working on deepening the understanding of the relationship between multiplication and division.  That culminates today with an exploration with a balance and some cuisenaire rods.  This investigation will help to solidify the notion that whole numbers and collections of component groups.  For example, 3 tens will weigh nearly the same a 6 fives (I say nearly the same because the production standards of these rods is different than it used to be and they are very close to having correct proportional weights, but these weights are not exact).

In other news, I will be leaving for a paternity leave in the next few weeks.  As of now, it looks as if I will be out starting the 23rd of May, but that might change.  The long-term sub we have lined up has been in our room observing this week, and is getting ready to take over the action.  Her name is Anna Paterson, and her mother is one of the teachers who already works with our class!  If you have any questions about this please let me know and I will get the answers for you.



Have a relaxing and restful weekend.

-Dave

Gerry Cheevers and Art-man

An interesting title for this post I know, but we were on a small tangent this morning, and we ended up talking about Gerry Cheevers!  Anyway we has a wonderful week.  We worked on adding leads and conclusions to literary essays, investigated fractions with common and similar denominators, and continued our work with Lego Mindstorms Robots.

In writing we have been working on crafting essays that hinge on a thesis, and aim to prove this thesis to the reader.  This week we worked on crafting leads and conclusions for these.  In leads we worked to introduce the large theme that connects to our thesis, and "funnel" our readers toward the thesis statement. In conclusions we worked on reminding our readers of our thesis statement, humanizing our evidence, and giving our readers a follow up action.

We are also diving into adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators.  Many students are grasping the idea that in order to add fractions denominators need to be the same.  We are modelling this concept with fraction strips (these are just pieces of paper) that we can fold to illustrate different fractions.

Here are some authentic reflections from the week:

This week, we were working more with Mindstorms’ robots. We were trying to get them to find and follow a dark line. I was sick on Wednesday, and I have not done Robots since Monday.

Today has been a awesome morning!  I loved waking up knowing that I would have time to get ready for school!  I also loved that I had fun on the bus ride, that doesn’t always happen!  I can not wait to Green Up today!  I love Greening UP!    

This week the ukers are staining their ukuleles (I’m one of them) and we’re still programing robots. Arlyn won’t be in library when we're doing library, but we’re doing digital passport with a sub.

This week we have been studying the human body and what parts of the body intrest us to study, senses, muscles, bones...etc… I am going to focus on the brain and the eyes, and how they connect. The first step would be what parts of the eye the light passes through, and about those parts. Next there would be how the light passes into the brain and sends the message to the body and the image appears.


As always have a restful and relaxing weekend.

-Dave