Quick Update!

BRAZIL

This week we have immersed ourselves in everything Brazil!  We are studying Brazil in social studies, learning to research about Brazil for our new writing unit & examining a map of Brazil for Shared Reading. The room has been decorated to look like the Amazon Rain forest and we have even been listening to rain forest sounds during quiet writing times.  


To kick off the unit, Mrs. Tedesco read us The Great Kapok Tree which taught us about rain forest conservation.  We are also starting to learn about "safe" research tools such as Culture Grams, National Geographic for Kids and World Book Kids.  The children will be learning how to take notes on a topic within Brazil (Ex- food, schools, holidays, etc.)  We will be using Google Docs to collaborate with our nonfiction writing partners.  We are working on connecting with a special friend that lives in Brazil.  Hopefully we will be able to interview this friend and see some real photographs and videos taken in Brazil.  We look forward to the next few weeks and all of the amazing learning that will be happening.  

Please leave us a comment, question or some feedback!  Thank you!  

We have so much to be thankful for!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we want to take the time to thank each & everyone of you!

Thank you for...

- sharing your children with us each day 

- reading to your child at home

- helping your child solve challenging math problems

- following us on Twitter

- all of the kind emails/notes we have received

- your support with trips, parties & special events

- reading & commenting on our class blog

- sending in goodies like pencils, snacks & wipes

- all the cupcakes you have baked

- helping with school projects

-And most of all, thank you for being a partner with us in your child's education!

Genius Hour

What is Genius Hour?

The short answer is... a time loved by all of our kids! Genius hour is happening once a week in our classroom and the kids cannot get enough of it!  It is time where the children are allowed to control their own learning.  They are inspired by their passions and interests.  

We introduced this special time by talking about some "geniuses" we know of.  (Ex- Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Alex Rodriguez, etc.)  We spoke about the qualities that these people have.  We made a long running list of these traits- patience, creativity, intelligence, perseverance...

Our first hands-on Genius Hour experience was inspired by this short video titled Not A Box.  After watching this video we each took an ordinary plastic cup and created our own "Not A Cup".  It is unbelievable what the children were able to design once they unleashed their creativity!

 

Follow us on Twitter (@mongiovimoore) to see more of our upcoming Genius Hour creations! We are looking forward to this new experience!  

We are busy in Room 14!

In Reading Workshop, we have been practicing making inferences. We have used several class read alouds to practice this skill.  Some of them include Boundless Grace and Julius Baby of the World. We studied the main characters and made inferences based on their body language, actions and dialogue.  We have also watched some Disney Pixar Shorts, which include Partly Cloudy and For the Birds.  These are short, entertaining films that really grab the children's attention.  They love watching them and forget they are even practicing a reading skill!  

Our reading groups are in full effect! We have several different kinds of reading groups happening in our classroom....

- independent book clubs

- guided reading groups

- Scholastic Core Clicks computer groups

- strategy groups to practice a specific skill

- the class iPads are rotated daily so that each child can have the opportunity to read or listen to e-books

Reading Workshop is happening everyday in our classroom and is a time where each child is engaged and receives individualized 

attention in some way.  We are so impressed with their reading skills and their love for reading!

       

Grade 3 Rocks!

Quick Update from Team M&M

Computer- This week we experimented with using Google Docs.  The children were so eager to work on a collaborative document with their peers.  Each partnership collaborated to create a story based on a funny picture.  They took turns adding lines to their story.  They were able to work together on this document, even though they were sitting on the other side of the room.  They were able to write a story together without even looking or talking to each other.  It was so fun to see their faces light up with excitement!  

We are looking forward to becoming more familiar with Google Docs and using this for future projects.  We asked the children for suggestions and they came up with quite a few.  Some include writing book reviews, having a digital book discussion and even writing their very own books! 

 

Class update...

Reading- We got right back into the routines of reading workshop.  We started by practicing turning and talking about a book with our partners.  We all got our new reading levels and had a chance to shop for new books.  We also took a look at the purpose of rubrics and practiced using them by rating a chocolate chip cookie. It was useful and delicious!





Writing- Our first writing unit is persuasive writing. We kicked off this unit by thinking about both the pros and cons of several different debatable questions.  The children wrote about if trampolines are dangerous, if kids should be allowed to chew gum in school, if schools should have extra recess and if children should have chores.  They pushed themselves to think about points on both sides of the argument.

Math-  We wrapped up the place value unit.  We played a few place value games, challenged ourselves with a Thinking Cap and had our first lesson with Mr. P.  We also logged onto FASTTMath in order to start strengthening our fact fluency.


Computers- We celebrated Constitution Day by watching a video, reading an article and doing a short activity related to the information we learned.  

It is clear to see that we have had a busy two weeks but have had fun along the way!  Thank you for reading our class blog.  Please take  minute to leave a comment or ask a question.  Your feedback is appreciated by our class!  Thanks!

Welcome to 3rd Grade!

Welcome!

We have had a very fun and busy first few days of 3rd grade in Room 14.  Here are a few of the awesome things that have been going on...

 

All About Me Play-Doh Sculptures:  The children created Play-Doh sculptures that represented something interesting 

about themselves (Ex- hobby, favorite food, family life, etc.).

3rd Grade Candy Goal:  The children thought about what they want to accomplish, both academically and socially this year in 3rd grade. They created a candy goal to ensure "Sweet Success".  

The M&M Game: The children spent some time getting to know the other children at their tables. Each child had their own small bag of M&M's. Depending on the color that was picked out of the bag, they had to share something about themselves. (Ex: Green- tell us about your family/pets.  Red- tell us about your favorite TV show or movie.)

Gallery Walk of Our Favorite Books: The students brought in their favorite book from home. They had the opportunity to look through their friends' books and get some recommendations of new books to read.  We also kicked off Reading Workshop by decorating our book boxes. 

We have had a very fun-filled first few days of school. 

We are looking forward to getting to know the children better and seeing them grow.   Please feel free to post a comment!  Your feedback is appreciated! 

Thank you!

 

Team M&M

 

Getting to Know You!

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