With the short week and being out one day, I don't have too many photos from the week to share. Also, I was finishing some middle of the year reading assessments that I have been working on for the past few weeks. It's time consuming, but the data I collect is well worth the time. Playing a Game to Practice Multiplication Facts Reviewing Science Vocabulary using Touch and Talk Learning How to Use PowToons! Mr. Weiler visited our class to teach us how to use PowToons, (a website that allows you to create animated videos). There are many features to learn and practice, but it's a great tool to use for creating public service announcements, which is how we will be using PowToons. Working on a Multiplicative Comparison Sort Students worked in groups to sort visual representation, words, and equations. Multiplicative comparisons can be tricky, so it's important that students can visualize the problem. We also drew representations on dry erase boards to solve problems involving multiplicative comparisons. Perimeter-Ants on a Picnic Activity To introduce perimeter we pretended we were on a picnic and were invaded by ants. The ants didn't want to been seen, so they walked around our napkin searching for food. We measured the ant steps using one inch tiles and discovered we were finding the perimeter. We also had some pretend food items that students measured using centimeter cubes. On Friday we practice area and perimeter using several websites that I posted in Google Classroom. Creating Marble Runs for Enrichment
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Valentine Sweethearts Math We worked on our estimation skills, data collecting, fractions, and multiplication using Sweethearts! So much fun and super engaging! I noticed we need to review fractions in a set as some of the kiddos had a hard time showing 1/3 or 1/4 of a set of hearts. Valentine's Day Party We had a great time at our Valentine's Day party. The kiddos boxes were loaded with cards and treats! Everyone enjoyed playing games, making a snack mix with lots of goodies, decorating cupcakes, dancing, and hanging out with friends. I tried to go around and snap so photos, but I didn't get a picture of everyone. It's hard to find everyone at grade level parties, and even harder to remember who I took pictures of. So glad I took a class photo! Thanks to everyone who donated items for the party or volunteered to help out. Reading Our Writing with Partners Our fiction stories turned out great! We know that writers are always revising and seeking feedback, so we read students read their story to a partner to get advice on a few last minute revisions. Partners were to try to visualize the setting and the character. They also needed to listen to determine if there was a clear problem and solution with action, (showing not telling). We enjoyed listening to each other and providing specific feedback. Math Problem Solving Using Images Students moved around the room to solve problems related to a Valentine image. I love using images because it connects math to the real world and the kiddos seem to enjoy figuring out the math. It was great way to practice multiplication and division as well as a few other concepts. Using Thinking Blocks to Solve Multiplication and Multiplicative Comparison Probems Students were engaged in a variety of math activities to solidify their understanding of strategies for solving multiplication and division. Enrichment Time
As always, we LOVE Eslot on Friday! My group used their knowledge of force and motion to create tracks for hot wheels or created circuits using the Snap Circuit kits. Other students from our class enjoyed cooking, drama, Lego Robotics, or creating a game. Exploring Fractions on a Number Line We love using Cuisenaire Rods! They are a great tool to use to compare fractions and find equivalent fractions. During this exploration, students used different rods to partition number lines into different fractional parts. Then we compared the number lines to find equivalent fractions. This was actually an activity from the previous week. Writing Back to Our Pen Pals from Sweden We were SO excited to receive letters from our pen pals! We noticed they have different paper then ours and that they write the date differently. Everyone enjoyed reading their letters and writing back. What a great way to write for an authentic purpose! Drawing Representations of Multiplication and Playing a Multiplication Game Learning About Supply and Demand Do you see all of the colored tiles on each desk? That was their income that they could use to bid on a piece of gum during a supply and demand game. I assigned a dollar amount to each different color tile. I told the kiddos I had a very low supply of gum-one piece. They could use their income to bid on the gum. Almost everyone bid most or all of their income, (they really wanted that gum). The gum went to the highest bidder. Someone suggested I "sell" something else, so I suddenly discovered 5 more pieces of gum, (this was pre-planned, but I love that a student came up with the idea so it looked unplanned). For this next round of bidding, most of the students increased their bid because they knew they had a better chance of winning the gum even though there was still low supply. So the demand was high and so was the price. After the highest bidders "bought" the five pieces of gum, I suddenly found more gum-a whole pack. A few kiddos figured out they could lower their bid to $1 since their was ample supply of gum. After explaining this idea, most of class realized they could reduce their bid. And in the end, there was enough gum for everyone, but we all had a greater understanding of supply and demand. And...it was lots of fun! Field Trip to Westcave Preserve was also a highlight from the week. I wrote another post about it, so be sure to check it out. Coming up Week of February 13-17Writing: This week we will be starting public service announcements for our PBL. Students will use a storyboard format to plan and write a script for their psa. They will have choices such as a Powtoons, a video, or slideshow for their format. This is one of my favorite writing activities. It's hard work, but worth it in the end. We'll watch several quality public service announcements and a few that aren't so good to determine the features that make a good psa.
Reading: We'll continue reading, discussing, and responding to informational texts this week. As we read, we'll learn more about making inferences, using our prior knowledge, and synthesizing our learning. Math: More multiplication and division! We'll work on the last facts this week and represent these facts in various ways such as arrays, equal groups, area models, and pictorial models. We'll solve problems involving multiplication and division within 100. Also, we'll describe a multiplication expressions as a comparison such as 3 x 24 represents 3 times as much as 24. Science: Our focus will be on weather tools and observing weather which will wrap up our unit. Students will observe, measure, record, and compare day to day weather. We'll take the test on Thursday. Social Studies: Last week we had a great time learning about supply and demand through an activity where students had to bid on a piece of gum. I gave each student a handful of tiles which was their income and they used their income to bid on the piece of gum. Most students were willing to bid all their money when the supply was low. After the first bids, I discovered more gum-five pieces. Then I found even more gum at which point a few kiddos realized they no longer needed a high bid since there was ample supply. We'll continue learning more about economics and our free enterprise system this week. Upcoming Events Tuesday February 14th-Valentine's Day Party at 1:30. Our field trip was so much fun! Everyone seemed to really enjoy our hike through nature, especially exploring the cave and seeing the waterfall. There were numerous trees and plants that were different then what we typically see around Austin, so it felt like we were walking in a different area. Our guide was great! He informed us about the preserves history and how it was beginning to deteriorate from human activity before becoming the preserve. I was so impressed with how well the class listened and treated all areas of the preserve with respect. There were a lot of steps to conquer which made the trip more exciting-it felt like we were walking into another world. I took a lot of photos so you could get an idea of our experience. I still have many photos to add that I took with my phone. Check back later this week to view more.
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November 2019
Mrs. Swyers3rd Grade Teacher |