3S Marvelous Minions
Weekly Update!
Rockstar Readers
This week in Reader's Workshop we talked about Author's Purpose. Author's Purpose is why the author wrote the book you read. For example: Kelli Luce wrote Cezar's Pollution Solution because she wanted to teach people that trash can be treasure and to tell the reader to recycle, but also to reuse things in a different way. We also talked about PIE. It seems unusual that we talked about PIE but P stands for Persuade, I stands for Inform, and E stands for Entertain. We use PIE in reading and writing. We also made a pie out of a paper plate and colored it in. We use it when we need help in reading.
Our story for this week was A Mr. Rubbish Mood. It's a chapter from the book called Judy Moody Saves The World. It's about how Judy Moody feels a Mr. Rubbish mood coming. Mr. Rubbish is a character in one of her brother Stink's comic books. That means she wants to save the rainforest by recycling but she only takes her relative's stuff and not her own to recycle. This we we also did Guided Reading. Ava says, "GR is fun." We focused on how to reuse different things. Gianna said, "GR is so awesome." and Allison thinks GR is rad! Lola liked the author's purpose the best. From vocab to author's purpose, reading was great this week!
Mathletes!
Have you heard the news?! We're learning tons of things in math! Right when you finish reading hold your head together because your brain might POP from all the info!
One of the very first things we learned were extension facts. Extension facts are facts with extra zeros to EXTEND the fact. To solve multiplication extension facts we learned the 2 steps:
Step 1: Look for the basic fact.
Step 2: Add your zeros.
Example: 500 x 700 = 350,000
For division it's a bit different:
Step 1: Look for the basic fact.
Step 2: cancel out the zeros. On the smaller number you cross out the zeros then you cross off the same number of zeros on the bigger number.
Example: 18,000 / 600 = 80
It was fun yet sometimes tough.
Another fun thing we learned was how to solve number stories. There are 4 steps to solving a number story.
Step 1: Put it in your own words
Step 2: Underline the important info
Step 3. Think about what you're trying to figure out
Step 4: Think of a strategy to solve.
They can be tough but sometimes easier.
The last (but not least) thing we learned in math was parenthesis. Whenever you see a number model with parentheses a light bulb should be on top of your head and you should be thinking: "Whatever is in the parentheses, do it FIRST!" For example: (6x5) + 8 = 38 you multiply (6x5) first and then you solve 30 + 8 = 38. Tons of people liked parentheses. And tons of people liked math this week too.
Sensational Spelling
One of the subjects we did this week was Spelling. This week's words were difficult. Some of the sounds we learned are the /air/ sound which can be spelled a-i-r, e-a-r, or a-r-e. We also learned how to spell the /ear/ sound and you spell it like this: e-a-r. In our JJ, or Journeys Journal, we did some practice. We practiced by writing the spelling words in the correct sound pattern box. For example, bear would go in the box labeled: /air/ spelled e-a-r. We also practiced by reading clues and putting the words in the correct box. Terry and Melissa said, "It was a little tough at first but then we got into the swing of it." Connor told us it was not tough because he practiced. Griffin and Ava both said they love it and Lola said she liked it.
We also had some homophones like weather and whether, bear and bare.
In class we have Chocolate and Vanilla lists. Chocolate has more advanced words and Vanilla words are pretty good 3rd grade words. Also, we have SSWs which are self selected words. You pick one every week. From Vanilla to Chocolate, spelling is a fun and educational subject.
Building our Writing Muscles
In Writer's Workshop we stopped writing our chapters and started to write introductions. When you write an introduction you hook the reader in and introduce your topic. You should also give the reader the main idea. The introduction tells about what is coming up next in the book.
Also in Writers' Workshop we stopped and looked at our books with new eyes. We pretended we had never read our books. Also we added a lot of details. We also checked off our checklists like Not yet, Starting to, and Yes! To do that we had to look back to one of our chapters. Then, we highlighted our goals so we knew what to work on.
The last thing we did was wrote conclusions for the end of our book. We did that so we could wrap up our books. It's like a closing. And we learned to leave the reader thinking what might happen next. Sometimes we write a quick summary. Ava said, "It was fun writing intros!" Karlie said, "I think writing our introductions and conclusions were the best part." Everybody had a fun time during Writer's Workshop!
Talent Show
"Let's go to the movies!" This is the theme for the 2014 Elizabeth Haddon Talent Show! The Talent Show is where third to fifth graders get to perform an act that has to do with the talent show theme. You can sing, dance, or play an instrument. Once every week you practice at Lizzy Haddon School but almost all of the acts practice at home to get better and better.
Some of the acts are Marvelous Minions, Annie, Wayne's World, James Bond, Shakira, Time Warp, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Allison and Gianna are very excited to perform in the show. Also Audrey s excited to see the show. The groups have been working really hard to make the acts become a reality.
At the end of the Talent Show there will be a surprise featuring everyone who is in the show. If you come to the Talent Show your mind will be blown away with the amazing acts and dances that will be performed. See you there!
Gram Slam!
Do you know what we learned in Grammar this week? We learned about adjectives! Did you know adjectives describe nouns? There are three types of adjectives.
One kind is the kind that tell how many there are. Well as you can probably guess they tell how many nouns there are. For example: SEVERAL penguins, ONE dolphin One and several are the adjectives. Dolphin and penguins are the nouns.
Another kind of adjective describes which one. For example: THAT person is crazy. THIS sock is blue. THAT teacher is my teacher. The adjectives are that, this, and that. The nouns are person, sock, and teacher.
One more kind of adjective is the kind that describes which what kind of nouns there are. For example: the tall, funny, silly, huge hamburger. The adjectives in that sentence all describe the hamburger. There are a ton more like crazy, goofy, mean, bumpy, twitchy, slimy, muddy, and thousands more. Hope you liked learning about adjectives!
Read Across America
Dr. Seuss's birthday is a big celebration all across America. That's why the National Education Association invented Read Across America Day! So WOCKET your way on over to reading about Read Across America!
As part of Read Across America we are doing a Book Swap. The Book Swap is when you take an old book that you don't need anymore and swap it for some books you want. This is how you do it. You give your book to Ms. Gotti and she will give you a ticket. When we have the Book Swap comes around you can give your ticket and swap it for a book. So you see, the more tickets you get, the more books you can get. See! It's that easy!
Another way we are celebrating Read Across America is by getting caught reading. Getting caught reading is when a teacher sees you reading during your free time. They will give you a ticket which you will put your name and class on. Then you can put it into a hat and see if your name gets picked. Winners get to eat lunch with the principal!
The last way we celebrated for Read Across America is with our Dr. Seuss Cafe. The Dr. Seuss Cafe is a cafe where the Pre K and Kindergarteners came to our class and we read to them. Believe me, it was cute!
We hope you enjoyed learning about Read Across America. We sure did!
Art Masks
How has your week been? Ours was great! We had a bunch of fun activities. In art we finished up our masks. We are pretty mad because we want to keep making them! We used a lot of things to decorate our masks. For example: jewels, glitter, paint, etc. Some cool designs are like Rex's. He used tin foil to make his shiny. Some popular things were mustaches and unibrows. Johnny's had all of the things we already mentioned and bronze glasses with weird hair. Brianna's was pink and gold. She had gold lips, outlined eyes, and feathers around its head. From molding to decorating, we had a lot of fun decorating our masks!
Cat in The Hat Cafe
First, you see Thing 1. Then, you see Thing 2. Then, you see Thing 3. Wait! Thing 3!? Yes, there is a Thing 3 at the Dr. Seuss Cafe at Elizabeth Haddon School. Welcome!
For Dr. Seuss's birthday, we had a Dr. Seuss Cafe. We invited the Kindergarteners and our Pre K buddies to visit us in our classroom. When they got here, we gave them a menu. A BOOK menu! We gave them goldfish and read to them while they ate. They weren't the best listeners, especially the preschoolers! They were a little distracted.
When we finished reading, we took them to make a Cat in The Hat hat!They had to draw the lines on the hat and color red and white. The first line was white because if you look at a book, there is a white rim. The K and Pre K students got to decide how many stripes they wanted and how thick to make them. The hates were 2D (flat) so we used a strip of paper and wrapped it to head size, then taped it on. Now that you know about the the Dr. Seuss Cafe, what would YOU order?