Think Tank in Third
Weekly Update- September 9, 2016
Our Week at a Glance
Reading: We are almost through the 1st 20 days of Reader's Workshop. We're working hard to establish reading expectations and assess students to prepare for Guided Reading groups! Next week we will start talking about Author's Message and working in our Readers' Notebook.
Math: We started working on rounding to the nearest ten and hundred this week. We will continue working on rounding to the nearest 10 when there are more than two digits in a number, because that's were most students struggled. We are really focusing on proving our answers, because we learned that mathematicians justify their answers. For this skill we would expect students to use a number line or another method to justify their answer. We are trying to get away from students just using the trick of "5 and above round up," because this doesn't know that they actually understand why they are rounding up.
Writing: We worked on creating a heart map to brainstorm ideas for writing. We will continue working on making lists to begin Writer's Workshop so that students become more comfortable coming up with ideas to write for an extended period of time. We want writing to be enjoyable for students, so in the beginning, they will be writing about many things of their choice, that they love.
Genius Hour: Students have chosen their topics for Genius Hour and started coming up with questions for their research. Next week we will discuss thick and thin questions to narrow them down for research.
Coding: This week we did a hands-on, unplugged (no technology) coding activity. For this activity, students got to write directions for making a paper airplane. We have learned that coding involves algorithms and programming, which requires a programmer to come up with a series of directions. We discussed how we have to be very precise when writing directions. We also know what the word precise means!
Social Studies: This week we started learning about maps to introduce our Flat Stanley project. Please be sure to turn in an address to mail Flat Stanley if you have not yet done so.
Important Upcoming Dates
Curriculum Night: Thursday, September 15th from 6:30-7:30 PM. We will only have about 40 minutes in the classroom, so we will most likely not have time to answer everyone's questions, so we will be sending home a short survey for you to send in your questions ahead of time, for us to address that night. We will also have an area where you can write your questions down if you think of one that night and we will get back to you the days following Curriculum Night.
MAP Testing: MAP testing started this week to get a baseline for students. Today we took the reading portion, and on Wednesday, September 14th we will be taking the Math MAP test.
Think Tank Tip of the Week
What are some questions I can ask my child while reading?!
Click here to see a list of within, above, and beyond the text questions you can use with your child at home.
In Need of Head Room Parent(s)
Heart Map
Read Aloud
Math in Real Life
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