Friday, January 29, 2016
ACT Aspire
On Monday the students will be taking one of their ACT Aspire tests. They will take a total of three tests. They will be on language, reading and math. They will take their first test on Monday. Then they will take another one of these tests on Tuesday and finally the last one on Wednesday. They took this same test at the beginning of the school year. I look forward to seeing how much they've grown academically over the first half of the school year.
Weekend Writing Assignment
This weekend the students are being asked to write a review on a movie or television show that they've watched. We talked about adding more details to their writing. As a class we always talk about explaining our thinking. Below are photographs from a couple of my favorite movies .
Friday Word Sort
The students made as many words as they could with the letters they were given this morning. They created numerous words. All of the letters together created a question. The question was: What are unit fractions? Make sure to ask you child what a unit fraction is.
This is a list of words that Ambrosia and Josephe made.
This is a list of words that Ambrosia and Josephe made.
wine
swine
fine
shine
rat
fat
cat
at
sat
fin
sin
shine
tin
win
thin
hint
hunt
tint
write
writer
frier
fire
tire
hire
touch
fun
run
stun
sun
it
fit
sit
sweat
heat
witch
heater
itch
What are unit fractions?
pear
Presentations that "Rock"
Today our first group shared their presentation on the three types of rocks. The two students were Brayden and Zack. They did an outstanding job. Below is a copy of their presentation. Make sure to click on each of their links. They will bring you to the Google Slides part of their presentation and to some interesting videos. Each day throughout the next two weeks I will be having students sharing their presentations. We will only be presenting one presentation a day.
This is the Rock Cycle it shows how rocks change. 1st the volcano creates the Igneous rocks. Then the Igneous rock breaks up into pebbles. The pebbles fall in the water and create sedimentary rocks. Then the igneous and sedimentary rocks combined so hard with heat and pressure that they make a metamorphic rock. Then the metamorphic rocks turn into magma. Then it starts over again.
Sedimentary Rocks press here
Igneous Rocks press here
Metamorphic Rocks press here
Coding
I put a link below to show the importance of having students learn coding or computer science at a young age. I found the article to be quite interesting.
Coding Article
Coding Article
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Another Successful School Store
Caulden, Zack, and Julian ran another profitable school store today. This was the first school store that we sold popcorn at. It went smoothly thanks to the help of Caulden's dad.
Jungle Gym
In gym, the students climbed through a jungle gym. They also practiced their tumbling and walking on a balance beam.
Fraction Tiles
The students used fraction tiles to help them compare different sized fraction to a whole tile. As a class we talked about how people use fractions to explain how far they've traveled or will travel. It was a great opportunity for them to visually see different types of fractions.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Mid-Year Reflection
It's amazing that the school year is about half way through. I thought this would make a great time for each student to reflect on how they feel they are doing in third grade. They each wrote paragraphs on Google Docs on this topic. I will share these paragraphs with each of you next week at conference time. We talked about being honest about things they feel they are doing a great job with and on other things they feel they could improve on.
Khan Academy
During math the students scanned QR codes that brought them directly to different fraction lessons and problems on Khan Academy. Khan Academy is a free website that teaches math concepts to students at each grade level. It includes videos and hints. The students are able to write directly on the page too. Below is a link that will allow you to check out this cool site.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy
Thinking like a Scientist!
This week the students are all reading nonfiction stories. One story is about the history of gum. Another story is about kid inventors. The third story is about a group of boys finding a cave near their home. All of these stories deal with science. Today the students shared with one another their favorite parts of their books. Below is a page from the book about the four boys that Sam shared with the class. The other page shown below is from the history of gum story and it was shared with the class by Sophia. The paragraph below these photographs is written by Zack and it explains how inventors come up with their ideas. Today the students learned how all the books are similar. They learned that they all deal with asking questions and then finding answers to these questions.
Zack’s paragraph
An inventor is a person who creates something to help people with a problem. They make a new device or make something to improve on something already made. For example, Hart Main thought his sister was making too many girl scented candles for a school fundraiser and not enough guy scented candles. His family suggested to make candles that guys would like,and he made some. Two off the candles he made were”fresh cut grass and brand new baseball mitt.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Hardworking Students
I'm impressed by the hard work most students are putting forth in third grade. It's a lot of fun teaching them. There are so many students in this classroom that are self-motivated, but this can be a tough time of the school year to stay focused. Please take the time to talk to your child about the importance of school and working hard. I was impressed by the two boys pictured below and the hard work they put forth towards their morning tasks today.
Lego Math
Here is a problem the students will be working on throughout the week in math. If you get the opportunity, click on the link titled, "build with chrome." This is a free site that allows students to build with legos. I thought it would be a great way to help them learn more about fractions.
- Watch the videos above.
- Get to the lego building page.
- The long skinny lego with 16 pegs will be your whole.
- Find the lego piece that can represent ½ of your whole. What color did you make this piece? How do you know that this is ½ of your whole? Cover your whole with your ½ block.
- Find the lego piece that can represent ¼ of your whole. What color did you make this piece? How do you know that this is ¼ of your whole. Cover your whole with your ¼ block.
- Find the lego piece that can represent ⅛ of your whole. What color did you make this piece? How do you know that this is ⅛ of your whole. Cover your whole with your ⅛ block.
- Find the lego piece that can represent 1/16 of your whole. What color did you make this piece? How do you know that this is 1/16 of your whole. Cover your whole with your 1/16 block.
- Now figure out how many ¼ blocks will cover a ½ block.
- Figure out how many ⅛ and 1/16 will cover a ½ block too.
- Now determine how many eighth blocks it takes to cover a ¼ block. How many 1/16 blocks does it take to cover a ¼ block?
- Cover a ⅛ block with 1/16 blocks. How many did it take?
- Now build with your blocks. Create something that uses a total of 6 wholes. You don’t have to just use the whole blocks. You can also use the ¼ blocks, ⅛ blocks, etc. Remember four ¼ blocks equals one whole.
- Create your own design using as many blocks as you would like. You need to keep track of the blocks that you are using, because you will have to tell the total amount that you used to build your design.
- Create a 16 inch line a large sheet of paper. Divide it into sixteen equal parts. Place a one at the end tick mark and a 0 at the beginning tick mark. Use the color you used for your whole lego block to label each fraction on you number line.
- Create another 16 inch line below the one above. Divide it into 8 equal parts. Place a one at the end tick mark and a 0 at the beginning tick mark. Use the color you used for your whole lego block to label each fraction on you number line.
- Create another 16 inch line below the one above. Divide it into 4 equal parts. Place a one at the end tick mark and a 0 at the beginning tick mark. Use the color you used for your whole lego block to label each fraction on you number line.
- Create another 16 inch line below the one above. Divide it into 2 equal parts. Place a one at the end tick mark and a 0 at the beginning tick mark. Use the color you used for your whole lego block to label each fraction on you number line.
- Create another 16 inch line below the one above. Divide it into 1equal part. Place a one at the end tick mark and a 0 at the beginning tick mark. Use the color you used for your whole lego block to label each fraction on you number line.
- Look at all of these fraction lines and write down all of the different things you notice about them. How are they the same? How are they different? How do these lines compare to your lego blocks?
Fractions!
Here are the problems the students started solving for math today. During the class discussion, a handful of students came up in front of the classroom and shared their thinking. The photograph shows Julian pointing to where 1 whole would be on this number line. He explained to the class why he knew it would belong in this position.
One-fifth of the dogs above have been sprayed by a skunk. How many of these dogs have been sprayed by a skunk?
Two-thirds of these dogs have had fleas. How many of these dogs have had fleas?
Write your own fraction problem for the problem above.
Draw an eight inch line. Divide this line into eight equal parts. Place a 0 at the first tick mark and a 1 at the last tick mark. Label the rest of your line with fractions. Circle the fraction that is equivalent to ½.
Draw another eight inch line. Divide this line into eight equal parts. Place a 0 at the first tick mark and a 2 at the last tick mark. Label the rest of your line with fractions.
Spelling Words for the Week!
1. cloud 2. child 3. open 4. example 5. begin 6. chance 7. match 8. watch 9. batch 10.steel 11.speech 12.source 13.direction 14.travel 15.women 16.demonstrate
Friday, January 22, 2016
Relative of the Year
This weekend the students are being asked to write a paragraph nominating a person in their family for relative of the year. They should write a complete paragraph with lots of details.
Weekend Assignment
Last weekend the students were asked to write a review on a game, place in Sheboygan, etc. They did a nice job for their first homework writing assignment. Yesterday they met in small groups and talked about their writing. They shared some of their favorite paragraphs and why they were able to explain why they were chosen. Below are three examples of paragraphs written by students last weekend. If the students have technology at home that allows them to access their google accounts they are more than welcome to complete their homework online and send it to me directly.
I have a video game called “Pokepark 2 Wonders Beyond”. It is the best video game EVER! My first reason why I love this is that it never ends! When the second half of the story is over you also have places to explore! Another reason why I would definitely recommend this to my friends is that it has a great story! It starts out like you are new to pokepark and at the end you have almost befriended everyone there! I think that is amazing! My third reason why this game is the best is that the characters are amazing! There is Oshawott,Snivy, Tepig, and your character Pikachu. Oshawott is the detective who wants to solve the mystery of Wish Park. Snivy is the adventurous princess who doesn't want to be a princess. Tepig is the brave one who always wants to battle or do something crazy! My next reason why this game is my favorite is that the enemies never stay enemies. When you think you’ve beaten the game and beaten the boss you realize then you have to save him! My fifth reason is that the bosses they always have a fun minigame before you fight them! My sixth reason is that you can become so OP ( overpowered). You have to get a lot of berries to train though. My final reason why this game is the BEST! Is that you can do other things with other pokemon like play hide-and-seek or play chase instead of fighting them! That is why I think this game ROCKS! By: Logan
I think the Sheboygan Humane Society is an ok place. The first reason I LIKE it is there are free toys and outfits for dogs in need. The second reason is it is funny when the workers bring a dog into their work space. The dog peeks up at the front desk when you sign in. The next reason is the dogs have a lot of room to play outside and run around. The fourth reason I LIKE it is because they take care of animals that are stays and don’t have a home. The next reason I DON'T like it is the dogs don’t have much room in the cages. The sixth reason is I think it is so loud and you can hardly hear people talk. The last reason is you have to be 16 to volunteer and give the dogs walks. I don’t like that because the younger kids like me can’t help the animals only look at them. Those are some reasons the Sheboygan Humane Society is an ok place.
Written by ALLISON
Snap-Circuit sets are a great educational toy. Snap-circuits basically teach how electrical circuits work. One reason it is a great toy is that you can’t overload the battery so that you won’t break the components by overloading them. Another reason is it that it’s very easy to use. In some sets (not all) there are lot of pieces so you can make many different circuit. If you get stuck and don’t know what to do there is a instruction manual with circuits to build. Some sets are smaller than others so if you are a beginner, in the middle, or more advanced there is something for you. In some sets there are parts that don’t need electricity like in the student set there is a small plane. Last there is a box that has a place for everything so it’s easier to organize. That is why snap-circuits are an excellent learning toy.
This is everything in the circuit maker set.
This is a simple circuit when I turn it on the fan will rotate.
written by Joey
Hi. I will be telling you about how AWESOME my Fire Tv is. My first reason is that I can play a trick on my mom and dad. If they are watching a tv show on the Fire Tv, I can pause the show on my kindle in a different room. My second reason is when I play games. It shows on the tv and it’s soooooooo AWESOME! My third reason is I can listen to music. I can listen on my headphones. And that is why I like the Fire Tv so much
Sincerely,
Sam the Man FTW
Student Reviews of Commercial
The M&M commercial was so funny. I would give it 5 stars.One reason I liked it is at the beginning of the commercial yellow was shaking his bottom with emotion.
My second reason why is when yellow gets shot by the dart he says “sleepy time”. It has a lot of emotion. My third reason why I like this commercial is when he gets shot by a dart a guy holds a sign that says “find out what happens to yellow”. It’s mysterious I like mysteries. My fifth reason why I liked the commercial is the person who made the video has good quality. It’s not so blurry. My last reason why I liked it is the video has so much detail and humor. Those are my reasons why I liked the commercial. Written by Tifa
I love the M&M’s commercial. It is soooooooo funny. One of the reasons it is funny is that the M&M says “ O hay what you got there.” Then a dart hit him and he said with his eyes crossed “ Aww…... sleepy time.” Then he fell. Another reason it is funny is that he shakes his butt while listening to a catchy song. Even another reason it is funny is that a guy talks in a different language and then when he is done the M&M says “ I have no idea what you are saying but count me in.” Then the man says peanut M&M for everyone. Then everybody laughed including the M&M then the M&M says “Wait what.” Those are the reasons why this M&M commercial is the best of all.
written by Brayden
I think the commercial was funny. One reason was when this guy came in and shot the M&M and the M&M said “sleepy time” *(falls)* it was funny! My second is when the M&M was twerking on the camera! it was the funniest part in it. My third is when the M&M said “I have no idea what you are saying but count me in” Then I think the people said, “Peanut m&ms for everyone!” Then the m&m said “wait what???” That was about as funny as him twerking!!! My fourth was when the channel changed randomly! My fifth is when the people who made the commercial changed the language of the people at the end of the commercial! My sixth is when the people who made the commercial put captions and made the people do sign motion too. Those are some reasons I think the commercial was funny.
written by Tanner
The commercial was hilarious.
One reason it was hilarious was when he was shaking his butt. A second reason is when the kidnapper dragged yellow m&m to his car and locked him in the trunk. Also I liked the humor of the video, because the yellow m&m did not know that the thing that the kidnapper had in his hand was a sleeping dart. Also I liked when the kidnapper said (find out what happened to yellow 2-2-14). Also I liked what the old guy said (you know what I’m going to do to? First i’m going the chop you up into little pieces and then i’m going to sprinkle you on a large bowl of ice cream) because yellow m&m was like(I don't know what you're saying but count me in. Written by Josephe
I think the peanut m&m commercial has good humor. One reason that I thought it was funny is that in the beginning the peanut m&m was shaking his chocolate bum. Another part that I thought was funny is the music stopped and he’s like “hey what you got there... sleepy time”. A third part that I thought was funny is that who took him took him slowly. Another part that I liked is when the guy was talking and said he will sprinkle him on ice cream and the m&m is like I don’t know what you’re saying... but count me in. A fifth reason is that the guy says “peanut m&m for everyone!” and the m&m says “wait what?”. Those are some reasons that I think the peanut m&m commercial has good humor.
Written by Maddie
My opinion on the M&M commercial it is really hilarious. At the beginning the yellow m&m shook his butt and that made me laugh a lot. After that the yellow m&m got shot with an arrow and that made him sleep, then he said “Sleepy time.” I also like when he falls to the ground and then the sign said “ Find out what happens to yellow 2/2/14.”Also at the end it made me laugh, because he was laughing for no reason, then he said “Wait what”. I thought that was funny because he laughed for no reason.
Written by Kylie
The M&M commercial is a funny commercial. It was funny when the M&M guy danced. The first time I saw it on my tv I thought that someone was hacking; Weird. It was weird when it turned into like an action movie. I liked when the man said he would chop him into little pieces because he was pretending to do it with his hands. I liked the part when they cheered. I also liked the part when the M&M guy said “I have no idea what you are talking about. Those are some ways I liked the commercial.
Written by Joel
I would give this M&M commercial 4 out of five stars. I liked this commercial, because of the humor. It was funny when the M&M got captured and the guy speaked in a different language and the M&M said “I have no idea what you said”. The reason why I didn’t give it 5 stars is that it did not make me want to but M&Ms! That was the point of the commercial! It did not once say anything why you should buy them. I liked this commercial, because of the story. I liked how the M&M got captured and the guy that kidnapped him wanted to put him on ice cream! My third reason why this commercial is funny is that the characters are so funny! The spanish (different language) guy is funny, because he has a different language! The M&M is funny, because he is not very smart. I like this commercial, because the beginning is so funny. I like the song and the dance. My final reason why I wouldn't give it 5 stars is that the part confused me when the M&M passed out. Why did he pass out? That is why this commercial is a definite watch again.
Written by Logan
The M&Ms commercial was really hilarious. I liked the beginning because the m&ms song was very amusing. Also, the yellow m&m was funny because he had humorous dance moves. Another part that I thought was funny was when he got shot by that arrow. I thought that part was comical because after he got shot, someone carried him away. The only reason I do not like this video is because I do not think it is much of a commercial. I think this because it does not show an m&m bag or anything. That is why I think it is funny and why I think it is not much of a commercial. written by Zack
I think the M&Ms commercial was ok but mostly good. The first reason I liked it is the beginning. It has a catchy tune. It says down diggy down diggy diggy diggy diggy. The next fantastic thing was the M&M was twerking and then an arrow shot him and he said “ sleepy time ”. I liked that. The next great thing was The old man found the M&M in the car. The old man was speaking a different language. He said to the M&M “ I'm going to cut you up into little bits and eat you” . The next funny thing was the old man opened the car trunk and the M&M was sitting there and he said “ I don’t have any idea what you're saying but count me in”. Here is one reason I don’t like it. There was a fox staring at a car and that was boring. I think they shouldn't put that in the video. The last bad thing was it showed them driving in the car in the woods that was so boring. Those are some reasons the commercial was ok. written by Allison
I think the M&M commercial was funny, but it did not make me want to buy M&M though. One reason it is funny is that the guy that is about to eat the yellow M&M said it in a different language that the yellow M&M didn’t know. So the yellow M&M says “I have no idea what you said but count me in.” In the beginning the yellow M&M was twerking and a song was playing. About 11 second in someone came in with a tranquilizer and shot him so he said “sleepy time” and falls. Before the person came, it was so dramatic. There was also a random wolf when
they were driving to the place. At the very end the person said peanuts for everyone and yellow M&M said “wait what”. That is why this is a super funny commercial. the commercial
written by Joey
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