Class Update!

A Peek Into Room 14:

Reading:  February is Love to Read Month.  As a class, we are participating in the ConnectED Bingo Challenge that was created by Mr. Sinanis and other administrators across the country. Some of the reading challenges that we have taken on include reading with buddies from another class and writing a poem based off of a wonder.  We are looking forward to writing book reviews and recording mock interviews between characters in our books. Some of the children have even independently taken on the challenge and are working on a bingo board at home.  This has been a fun way to integrate technology and foster a love for reading!  Thank you Mr. Sinanis for sharing your work with us!   

      

Math- We just finished up the bar modeling unit and are diving right into learning about fractions. We are looking forward to using fraction bars, making fraction kites, playing fraction games and integrating some fun apps/websites.  The children will learn how to plot fractions on a number line, order fractions from least to greatest and find equivalent fractions.  Thank you for sending back Edition A of the Math In Focus textbook.  Edition B has been sent home to help with the upcoming units.  

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Winter Break!  

A Peek Inside Room 14

Reading: We have started our class novel, which is Beezus and Ramona.  To get excited about reading this book we watched the book trailer and an interview with Beverly Clearly. Throughout reading the novel we have been stopping to monitor for meaning and practice several different skills such as making inferences, cause & effect and character perspective.  We have also started to practice how to respond to a question about the text and provide text evidence to support our opinions.  The children are already loving the book because most of us can relate with having a "pesky" younger sibling!  












Technology:  We have incorporated the use of Google Classroom into our daily teaching and learning.  The children are using this tool to enhance the nonfiction writing unit and Brazil social studies unit.  This is a place where the teachers create assignments and the assignments are handed in digitally.  It allows the children to collaborate on projects and receive feedback on their work. The children are visiting different digital databases to take notes on their topic, learning how to write an informative essay and working together to create a newspaper page.  We are looking forward to digitally sharing their final pieces with you!

Thanks again for all of your support!  Feel free to leave a comment.  We love hearing from you.  

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!