Month: February 2015

Our Week – February 20

Mrs. Eaves Projects and Challenges

celebration of friendsEach week we add to our school timeline to keep track of our learning accomplishments and celebrations.  This week was the first time in five weeks that we’ve been at school for all five days.  Wa-hoo!  It was great to work consistently at our tasks and to really feel the impact of new learning routines designed to develop metacognition and self-reflection.

Knowing Yourself as a Learner

Knowing Yourself as a Member of a Learning Community – S.E.L.

This week we have begun daily recording of something new we have noticed or learned, wondered about or questioned in the last twenty-four hours.  The expression “you learn something new every day” is common enough, but have you ever wondered if that is really true?  This week we began this daily record of learning and wondering.  We take 10 minutes out of our morning to think and write about what we have learned in the last twenty-four hours.  The learning could happen anywhere in the day.  We’ve added the notion of noticing and wondering into the mix because questioning is the beginning of learning.  The children are encouraged to write for the full 10 minutes so they can record not only the simple fact, but also record the related details and information about why it was worth noting in their learning log.

We hope that the act of keeping this daily record will encourage children to be more aware of what they are learning and help them take a more active role in their own learning process.  Some in the class thought that this daily routine might get a little boring, but others thought it would be a cool record to look back on.  Having attempted to do this myself, I know it is challenge.  Learning something new every day takes thought, attention and effort.  We invite you to join us in this challenge.

We’ve also been working to notice how we “compassion it” at school and are trying to consider how we work to make our little piece of the world kinder, happier and more peaceful.

The Science of Gardening

MondayTuesdaySproutsgrowingThrough the amazing generosity of community member, Bob Hamilton, the third grade is piloting a square foot gardening project.  The ultimate goal of this project is that every student will have the opportunity to grow and harvest vegetables each year either in the fall or the spring.  Some of the produce will be used in the cafeteria and some will be for the children to bring home to enjoy with their families.  Our grade is starting this project this year to learn how it will work and find ways to ensure its success for all when it is fully launched across the entire school.

Our class started with broccoli.  We started the seeds last Friday and by Monday most of the seedling had sprouted.  (That was something many of the children noted in the learning logs.)  The next day they were an inch or two tall and reaching for the sun.  They are now under a grow light and are ready for the first transplant into a larger four-pack cell where they will grow for two weeks before being ready for the next transplant into a four inch pot.  At that point some of the seedlings will come home, while others will be planted in beds out in the greenhouse.  Each student will have one square foot to maintain.  In addition to broccoli we will be growing some spinach, kale and endive lettuce so we can compare the growing habits and later the tastes of these cold crops.  We are enjoying our sprouts!transplanting 2transplanting

Working to Add and Subtract

We have been working with three- and four-digit numbers to practice using the standard algorithm with addition and subtraction.  Often this is a real challenge – especially with subtraction.  Your children have really embraced this process and can see how trading and regrouping works.  This work has helped the children see the benefit of knowing facts cold without needing to take the time to count up or down.

Again, thank you for all the work you are doing at home to help your children practice and master these facts.  The children have been having fun playing each other’s fact games.  We’ve got a lot of fact work going on in the classroom each day.

State Studies

state selectionI imagine you’ve heard about the state your child will be exploring and learning about yesterday.  They were very excited to finally find which state was theirs.  We are approaching this project a bit differently this year.  We are starting with an exploration of the natural habitats of the state and the children will be researching an animal important to their state.  They will be teaching others about it and the habitat it is from.  They will be learning about concepts of food webs, food chains and the interconnectedness of plants and animals.

Later on in the spring the children will begin researching important natural, historical and manmade landmarks from their states and famous people who may come from the state.  The children will be using this information to create their float for the Parade of the States in May.  Most of the children attended last year’s parade practice so they have some idea of what to expect.  I have posted some pictures from past parades on our blog.  When the time comes we will send home detailed information about the floats, their size and suggestions for bases, etc.  Please don’t worry – the children should be in the lead although they will need your help and support when the time comes.

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Bits and Pieces –

  • We’re enjoying The Quirks and the Quirkalicious Birthday.  When we’re done we are going to have a Quirkalicious Birthday party in celebration of all of the birthdays in the class.
  • Common Core State Testing begins for 3rd grade on March 17.  We will have three mornings of Language Arts testing and two mornings of Math testing.  We will likely have completed the testing by March 25.
  • There will be a Parent Information Night about the testing on March 17

It’s Wednesday – here are some problems to solve

Mrs. Eaves Uncategorized

numbersOne of the things we learned yesterday about the test you’ll be taking in March is that for some of the math problems on the test you’ll need to use both equations and words to explain your math thinking.  That can be tricky so we’ll practice that more. You might want to practice here too answering with both word and equations in your comment or bring this math work in your homework folder.

Alexis read three Phoebe G. Green books.  Each of them had 90 pages.  Oliver read the four books in the Little Kickers series.  The first had 119 pages.  The second had 121 pages.  The third one had 122 pages and the fourth one had 115 pages.  How many pages did Alexis and Ollie read altogether?  How many more pages did Ollie read than Alexis?

Laird was making Lego robots.  He made five robots.  The first used 136 bricks, 3 motors and 4 sensors.  The second used 227 bricks, 4 motors and 3 sensors.  The third used 89 bricks, 4 motors and 2 sensors.   The fourth used 104 bricks 2 motors and 5 sensors.  The last robot used 342 bricks and had 5 motors and 3 sensors.  How many bricks did Laird use for all five robots.  How many motors did he use in his robots and how many sensors did he use altogether?When Laird began building his robots he had 1,250 Lego bricks in his bin.  How many were left when he was finished building?

Stella made 5 pizzas.  Each pizza was cut into 8 slices.  8 people came over to eat the pizzas.  When they were done eating their were 4 slices of pizza left over.  They (Stella and her 8 friends) all ate the same amount of pizza.  How many slices did each person eat?

It would be fun if you’d write a problem for others to solve in your comment.

Happy Mathing!

P.S. – Tobin, Thanks for doing such an awesome job sharing your math thinking with both equations and numbers.  We used your work as an example of how it can be done.  Way to go Super Math Guy!

It’s Monday – here are some books to read

Mrs. Eaves Uncategorized

This week I read a couple more books from the Jo Schmo series.  Again if your into super heroes, dogs and silliness these are books for you.  They’re by, Greg Trine, the author of the Melvin Beederman series and I know you’ll notice some similarities.  I also read the latest in the Phoebe G. Green series, Passport to Pastries.  Phoebe and her family travel to Paris with Camille’s family to celebrate Camille’s birthday.  You’ll read about France, food and friendship – with fun sprinkled throughout.

22323698Ranger in Time is the first book in a new series by Kate Messner.  Ranger has trained to be a rescue dog with his owner, Luke.  He knows how to follow a scent.  He knows how to pay attention to changes happening all around.  He knows about water rescue and about staying close for comfort.  The only thing Ranger can’t quite resist are squirrels.  Whenever they come into view, he just has to chase them.  A rescue dog can’t do that, and so while Ranger knows how to do everything, he can’t be certified.

One afternoon after a quick romp after a squirrel, Ranger comes upon an interesting smell.  He digs and finds an old tin box with a red cross sign on it and a long leather strap.  There’s no bone inside, Ranger can smell that, but he thinks he might like to show it to Luke.  When he puts his head through the strap and intense humming begins and next a blinding flash.  When the spots in his eyes clear, Ranger discovers he is not in his backyard.  It’s someplace dusty and confusing, but before he can find Luke he hears the command “to find.”  Ranger has a job to do.  He helps Sam find his little sister and, not yet finding Luke, stays with him on the trip across the Oregon trail from Independence, Missouri to Oregon Territory.  There’s lots of adventure, danger and loss on the trail.  Ranger helps through it all.  Ranger in Time Rescue on the Oregon Trail is a great story full of interesting facts about heading west and all the trials and challenges families encountered along the way.  I wonder how you would feel about going on that trip.

Leave a comment to let us know what you think.

What are you reading?  What do you recommend?

Our Week – February 13

Mrs. Eaves Weekly Newsletters

learning togetherSlowly but surely we are moving forward through our series of four and a half day (hoping for a new weather pattern soon) weeks.  We would not be in the place we are without your attention and support.  So thank you for encouraging your child to read and for providing him or her time to create blog posts from home.  Thank you for commenting on their posts and their classmates. Thank you for working with them on their math games.  Many of the children spoke of the time you spent with them playing their games and working through the quirks so we’d be having lots of fact practice, challenge and fun.  Thank you.

S.E.L. – Feeling Pride

We have begun the response section of our learning logs.  This is where we will keep our written book responses and quick writes.  The hope is by collecting our assigned writing in one place that we will be able to see how we improve and grow. We hope this log will be a concrete reminder, helping the children take ownership of learning and will help them think more deeply and reflect on their own learning.

Along with this we’ve begun to build our portfolio wall.  We’ve had some conversation about acting in ways and producing things that make you proud.  The children have agreed that effort, challenge, thought and time are key ingredients for feeling proud.  It seems as though more of the children have begun thinking about that this week and have begun to take responsibility for directing their own learning.

Demonstrating Understanding of Place Value

math practiceWe have continued to work with place value using 5- and 6-digit numbers.  Most of the children seem comfortable using the standard algorithm with addition.  There are occasional missteps, of course, but when we stop to consider what is being added – 50 +80 for example – they know 3 is written in the tens column rather than the 1.

We have begun exploring the idea of trading with subtraction and will work more with this idea next week to strengthen children’s understanding of how to use the standard algorithm with subtraction.

Reading to Write – Writing to Read

writing collaborationWith time we are working to strengthen the notion that reading is thinking and thinking is building one ideas.  We have talked about wondering and pondering to think about how this practice strengthens the web of connections in our brains and actually makes us smarter.  With this in mind we are trying to chat less and wonder more.  We’ve begun recording our thoughts and ideas when reading.  At first we worked to notice them – the pictures in our minds, confusion or questions, connections to things we know, and even blankness when we’ve have lost focus.  We are coming to understand how thinking about our thinking strengthens it.

As a class the children have written responses to picture books and short stories.  They’ve tried to become more attentive to thoughts and understanding in their own chapter book reading and we’ll be working our way into weekly reading response following vacation.

Bits and Pieces

  • We have begun to read The Quirk and the Quirkalicious Birthday
  • Completed our study of magnets.  Looking at the informational writing the children did explaining their understanding shows that they do know quite a bit about what a magnet is, how they lines of force work and what magnets do in our lives.
  • We are beginning to learn about different regions in the United States. The children are beginning to read about different states.  This is in preparation for The Parade of States at the end of the year.  During the first part of this study we are going to be learning about habitats.  The children will select a wild animal important to his or her state and learn about how it survives.  We’ll be learning about food chains and food webs.  We’ll be sharing with each other so the class can compare habitats and come to understand the importance of biodiveristy.
  • We are beginning a square foot garden project.  3rd grade is part of a pilot growing project – with the eventual goal being that once a year every student in the school will grow his or her own vegetable.  We are growing broccoli and the other two classes will be growing kale and endive.  We began our seeds this week, will transplant them before vacation and will move them out into the greenhouse upon our return.  We plan to have produce to share in May.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

It’s Wednesday – here are some problems to solve

Mrs. Eaves Uncategorized

numbersToday I’ll try to mix it up… let me know which problems you find must fun when you solve them.

A scuba diver find a treasure chest.  When she opens it up she discovers that it is filled with 3,567 gold coins and 1,793 silver coins.  How many coin did the treasure chest contain altogether?

The chest was so heavy she could not bring it to her boat.  She could put 1,340 coins in a bag and swim them to her boat.  How many trips did it take her to get all the coins to the boat?

The treasure chest also contained some pearls.  There were 1,356 white pearls and 562 black pearls.  How many pearls were there altogether?

How many more white pearls were there than black pearls? 

It’s Monday – here are some books you might like to explore

Mrs. Eaves Uncategorized

731515683349681035017211166738Aldo Zelnick’s grandmother, Goosy, gave him a sketchbook at the start of summer vacation.  She suggests that he  draw in it  everyday.  Mr. Mot, Aldo’s word loving neighbor suggests he write in it everyday.  Aldo follows that advice to create his first comic novel, Artsy-Fartsy.  It shares the story of Aldo’s summer with his rock hound best friend, Jack, in their Colorado Spruce tree fort.  Aldo loves T.V., video games and food – especially Slushies in the summer.  His mother often kicks him outside for some fresh air and activity – aka: exercise which Aldo dislikes.  He hates being hot and sweaty.  Aldo’s first journal is followed by Bogus, Cahoots and Dumbstruck.  In fact Aldo has written comic novels from A to J so far.  While I’ve only read the first four, I look forward to getting the rest.  I like Aldo, his family and friends. I like thinking about what I would do in his place.   I think you will like him too.  The word gallery at the end of each book is a fun way to exploring different words like acrophobic, amalgam, and audacious or bogus, bodacious and brazen.   Bacon Boy, Lady Lettuce and Tormado are Aldo’s comic strip characters.  They’re pretty fun too.  Check out the Aldo Zelnick website to learn more about the characters, the books and the words.

22237003A Poem in Your Pocket by Margaret McNamara and G. Brian Karas shares life in classroom that seems real to me. Let me know what you think after you’ve read it.  Have you ever wanted to do something so much and you want it to be so good and so perfect that you can’t do it at all?  Since it’s impossible to be perfect, nothing ends up being good enough.  That’s what happens to Elinor in Mr. Tiffin’s class.  The class is learning all about poetry and preparing for the day when Emmy Crane, a famous poet, will come to share her poetry with the school and to hear the original poems written by Mr. Tiffin’s class.  Elinor tries to create a poem but nothing is right all the way through to the visit.  Read it to find out how the story ends and then let me know when you’d like to celebrate Poem in Your Pocket day.  It’s usually the 3rd week in April.  How does that sound to you?

22540198Meghan McCarthy’s Earmuffs for Everyone seems an apt book to share on this snowy Monday.  Chester Greenwood is known as the inventor of earmuffs.  While he did receive a patent for his earmuff innovation in 1877 at the age of nineteen, there were many other patented ear coverings like the “ear, cheek and chin muff” patented in 1858 or “ear slippers” from May of 1877.  What is special about Chester Greenwood is that he was able to run his factory until 1937 and ship his earmuffs far and wide.  He was a beloved member of the Farmington, Maine community and because of that his fame as an inventor has been kept alive.  December 21 is a Chester Greenwood Day – you can attend the parade and be part of the festivities – just remember to wear your earmuffs.  To learn more about how Meghan McCarthy and her other books click here.  We have a box of her books at the meeting area.  Do be have them all?

Our Week – February 6

Mrs. Eaves Weekly Newsletters

recess on 2/3Despite the fact that last week was a two day school week and this week has been a two day, two half day school week, we have been moving forward to create a new learning log.  We (I) hope this will help us pay closer attention to how well we are accepting responsibility and taking advantage of the time we have in school for learning and growing our minds.  We are trying to consider the consequences of our choices and to understand how they help us grow in the ways that we wish to grow.

S.E.L. – Accepting Responsibility

We have defined responsibility as doing what you’re supposed to do, persevering, always trying to do your best, using self-control, being self-disciplined, staying focused, considering the consequences choices and being accountable for the ones we make.  Each of those traits defines behaviors that are essential for success.  We have individually thought about which traits seems easiest to achieve and which seems most challenging.  All of them appear to feel equally easy for some while being challenging for others.  Because of this, we have agreed to work on them by taking about what they look like in practice.  We are trying to mindfully pay attention to our efforts.  Next comes the tricky part, helping the children understand what working on them looks like.  Here are some examples:  If I’m walking down the hall talking about video games loudly enough that other classes have to shut their door, I’ve not been responsible even if I didn’t mean to.  If I jump off the top of the snow pile without looking to see that another classmate is coming up the hill and I hit them, I’ve not been responsible even if I feel like they should have stopped so I could jump. What about reading a book when it is time for directions for the math lesson?  How about talking about other people or saying bad words out in the hall while packing backpacks?  Our days are filled with opportunities for learning how to be a responsible person.  We’ve been looking for examples of this in our classroom and we’ve been reading books like Katy and the Big Storm, The Paper Boy and Brave Irene to add to our thinking.  Ask your child how he or she feels most successful and talk to them about habits they might want to consider developing that will help them grow in this way.recess on 2/5

Magnets and Magnetism

The children have learned a great deal about magnets, magnetic force and fields.  They experimented with magnets in many ways and hopefully have an understanding of how some things can become magnetized while others cannot.  We’ve learned about lodestone, repelling and attracting, lines of force, poles and even atoms.  We experimented with many different types of magnets and know they are important for making things run more easily in our lives.  Plus they are fun to mess around with.  Ask your child to tell you what they know about magnets and what they do for us.

Place Value

We’ve been exploring 5- and 6-digit numbers.  We’ve been learning how to read them and how to explain that value that each digit stands for.  The class is split between those who feel certain of these amounts and those who are growing in their certainty.  We’ve been having fun reading each others’ numbers and figuring out the values of each digit.  We’ve continued to work with place value and mastering the standard algorithm.  Again our class is evenly split with those who feel certain using the algorithm with addition and those who are working to gain understanding.  I have to say this is one place where the snow days have really slowed the momentum that repeated daily practice would have allowed.  We will continue on and, when ready, will launch into a subtraction unit to learn how to use the standard algorithm there too.  Thank you for all the time you take to help the children practice facts through games and activities.  The children are meeting with greater success when working on their math problems because they are surer of their facts.

We’ve added a few more games to our math activity list.  I’ve pictured them on the blog because they are fun to play and several of the kids thought their families might like to have them.flip 4roll and multiply4-way count downmath fact practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bits and Pieces –

Rich and Sandra WallaceSandra and Rich Wallace visited us on January 26.  They shared their books and their writing strategies with us.  It was interesting to note that professional writers do a lot of writing that no one ever sees and they do a lot of work to craft a piece of writing to make it good enough to share.

We completed Zorgamazoo, the novel written all in rhyme.  Ask your child about his or her favorite part or the story.  There are lots of interesting parts of the adventure.

Thank you to everyone for supporting the food drive and the 100’s celebration.  This collection does so much good through the Seacoast Food Pantry.  It is exciting to know how important each item is to someone in need.  Thank you so much for your support.

It’s Wednesday – here are some problems to solve

Mrs. Eaves Uncategorized

numbersThese problems are written with Tobin (aka Mrs. Wyman’s son, aaka a Portsmouth 3rd grader)in mind.  Enjoy!  Maybe one or two are a bit more of a challenge.  Hope so – have fun!

Six adults and five classes of 32 students each went to the museum by bus.  If each bus held 25 passengers, how many buses were needed?

Mr. Eaves divided $300 equally among his 5 nieces.  His niece, Theresa, used the money to buy 12 gifts that each cost the same amount.  What was the price of each gift?

I had 357 books and got 23 more for my birthday.  I put them into piles, with 38 books in each pile.  How many piles of books did I make?

It’s Monday – here are some books you might want to read

Mrs. Eaves Uncategorized

I’ve been wondering about curiosity and what kinds of things you wonder about and question.  How do you notice new things and ideas?  How do you discover things?

I watch and observe things or I read about them and wonder.  I go to museums to find things I know nothing about and wonder who discovered it, why and how.  It’s kind of interesting how different people notice different things in the world or in exactly the same place.

18565484I read about Joseph Cornell, a man who collected things all around his neighborhood – feathers, antique postcards, buttons or interesting advertisements.  Then he put those things together into display boxes.  The picture book biography by Jeanette Winter said that he stayed in his own home his whole life taking care of his younger brother with cerebral palsy and creating his boxes in his basement workshop. He was quiet and introverted, but sometimes he’d share his dreams and sweets with the children in his neighborhood.  There are some photographs at the end of the book showing scenes from his life and his boxes.  There are some more at this link. I’ve been wondering if I could find out where even more of them on are display to see them up close and I’ve been wondering what we might do.  What dream would you put your box?  What collection would you display?

Mary Anning and the Sea DragonEver since I held my first fossil in my hand, I have wanted to find my own.  I always look at rocks and collect them from wherever I go.  Of course, I’ve never seriously researched likely places for finding them and intentionally gone there in search of a trilobite or ammonite, but I always look.  That’s why Mary Anning was an interesting person to learn about and to realize that she was the finder of the first complete fossils of an ichthyosuar and a plesiosaur and that she sold fossils to make a living.  I know she had to work really hard and finding fossils wasn’t all that glamorous, but I still think it’s cool.  “She sells seashells by the sea shore” was made up about her.

11444709Reading How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland gave me an idea of how a fossil is discovered, painstakingly removed uncovered in the field and then prepared and reassembled for display.  It is amazing how many steps and how many people it takes to get a fossil like the Diplodocus longus discovered in Utah to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The Orbis Pictus awards were announced last week.  This link shows an illustrated list of the titles.  The award is for great nonfiction books published in the year.  I’m happy to say we have lots of them in our classroom.  They’re about people and animals – it’s a pretty interesting list.  If you check it out maybe one of the covers or topics will catch your eye and you’ll discover something new.  And then one thing can lead to another and then… and then…  What are you curious about?  Leave us a comment and let us know.