We have had a full week. We began learning about mapping and geography. We launched the “Who Am I” scientist project. And the children had the opportunity to share their learning reflections and goals with their families. I am proud of the way the class has made choices that allow their classmates time to prepare to present their work at student let conferences.   Many classmates have been considering their behavior choices. More are thinking of how behaviors may impact others’ learning. In all the bustle and chatter of 3E it is obvious that thinking, questioning and wondering is happening. That’s what learning is about! Curious minds are exciting to be around.

Preparing and Sharing at Goal Setting Conferences

Thank you for coming in for your child’s student-led conference. This week most of the class had the opportunity to share their reflections on their own learning with their families. They shared graphs of their multiple intelligences and their learning narratives – some are a few sentences; others are a couple pages. Regardless of length, each narrative represents a story of careful thought and consideration. Your children worked many hours to select, plan and draft reflections to share how they see themselves as learners. They made a real effort to be thoughtful and create a story to show who they are as early third grade learners. They can be proud of their efforts. I know you will only hear your child present, but as I conference with each of the children to review what they have selected it puts a smile on my face to hear their individual voices and personality shine in their presentations.

Telling Time and Noticing How Time Elapses

This week we learned about multiples and focused on multiples of four. We also explored multiples of five by looking at clocks and exploring time. We’ve been reading analogue clocks and comparing them to digital clocks. Our math problems have helped us consider the passage of time and how to keep track of and record it. The children are working through multi-step problems that ask them to use different operations and shift their thinking from considering how much time has been used to imagining how the hands of the clock would change from start to end. Many more of the class is excited by the challenge of following the line of their thinking through to the end and a solution.

Learning About Our World

We have begun to learn about the geography, mapping and our world. Through our study of maps we will explore the diversity of our world. We’ve been reading about the different continents to compare their similarities and differences. North America has 11 countries. South America has 12 countries. Europe has 47 countries. Africa has 54 and Asia has 51. We’ll be finding out about Australia and Antarctica next week. We’ve noticed there are fewer countries then we originally thought. The number seems small to us because the world is so big and there are so many people.

Our plan is to have each student select a different country in the world to discover and explore. Through research they will develop their expertise and share aspects of the country and its culture with the class and with families at a second evening open house. (Not to be confused with the Parade of the States that will be held in spring.) It seems as though many of the children are thinking and wonder already. You may want to talk to your child about different possibilities – several of the children have talked about cities like London and Paris. I have learned through past experience that it can be challenging to find enough information understandable to eight and nine-year olds about a city. It is easier and less frustrating to have the broader lens of a country for this research project.

Through this work we will continue our S.E.L. conversations and talk about assumptions and stereotypes. We will explore traditions and consider the difference between native and contemporary cultures. We are looking forward to our study of maps, geography and people as we work to uncover what is wonderful around the world.

Launching the “Who Am I Project?”

Today we launched our first whole grade level project – Who Am I? – with a visit from the S.E.E. Science Mobile. Through Mr. Gustafson’s presentation the children learned more about thinking scientifically. He shared some exciting interactions and reactions. The project following this kick-off event is designed to help the children learn about different types of science and scientists. At the end of this month long exploration the children will share their discoveries with each other. In addition, have planned a trip to the S.E.E. Science Center on December 18. Look for details about the “Who Am I?” project in your child’s communication folder on Monday and about the field trip at the beginning of December.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have had another busy, full week. First the thoughtful Veteran’s Day assembly on Monday, an outdoor challenge on Tuesday and our 3E’s Bugs, Bugs, Bugs! Museum on Thursday. In and around that we’ve continued to gather fall work samples, set goals and begin action plans for meeting them. We’ve been reading and writing, exploring more books by Amy Krauss Rosenthal and solving lots to math problems too.

3E’s Bugs, Bugs Bugs!

Thank you all so much for coming to our museum and letting us share what we’ve been researching for the past month. The class was so glad to share during the afternoon with friends from other grade levels and parents who could more easily come then.  They were excited beyond belief to share with families at night as well. It was fun to answer questions and talk about how insects were chosen.  The students did a great job of describing what was interesting and unique about each of their insects. Thank you for understanding each child’s unique choice in how he or she chose to share and the level of adult involvement each wanted in completing the work. We are looking forward to the next round of research, writing and sharing to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Am I As a Learner?

Self-Awareness – Social Emotional Learning

This week we are looking through our reading records, our writer’s notebooks and our collection of math problems to select work that best shows what we can do. The children have been trying to describe what they see they can do in their work and to look forward to next steps in learning.  This is challenging, but we’ve been working together so the children can find ways to describe their thinking to be more aware of how they can grow. Thinking is something we do, but it is also something we can actively grow.  We are using an I See… I Think… I Wonder… protocol  to keep a record of thinking and a QAR protocol to help children develop and deepen their questions. It is a learning process for sure and we are excited to share what we are discovering in our goal setting conferences.

Developing Comprehension Strategies to Deepen Understanding

Most of the children are able to select books they are interested in reading from cover to cover. Most of them have read a wide collection of chapter and picture books with a smattering of information texts and poetry in the first few months of school. They are beginning to think about the genre they are most interested in reading. Some of the children are considering ways of challenging themselves to read genre they haven’t yet tried.

It seems like the class is ready to learn about summarizing. To do this they have to be able to identify the main ideas of the text and the important details. During this new chapter read aloud we’ve been taking notes and drawing sketches for each chapter trying to capture important actions and events. We’ve been recording our thinking to see if the act of choosing only three events from each chapter will strengthen our memory of events and the connections between them. We hope so. We’re reading The Sasquatch Escape by Suzanne Selfors. This is a first in a series that is quite accessible to our readers so I am hoping that we’ll be able to begin some book clubs in the next few weeks that will grow individual comprehension skills even more.

Wonderful Words

We’ve been looking at words in different categories. We explored compound words and made Puniddles inspired by Bruce MacMillan’s book of that same name. We’ve begun collections of contractions and synonyms.   We read The Right Word and have begun to learn what a thesaurus is and how it can help us find just the right word. It is fun to notice words and categories. It is interesting to notice letter patterns in words and to consider how words are related. We began the year making an alphabet of insects. Now we’re going to try to see if we can make an alphabet related to words and the alphabet. We’ll see.

Bits and Pieces –

• We’ve completed our first set of cursive letters – The Clock Climbers. They are a, d, g, q, and c.
• Confirmation notes went home on Thursday regarding your child’s student led conference. As more families select conference times I will send home another reminder. These begin on Tuesday, November 17 and are on Wednesday, November 18 and Friday November 20.
• Report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, November 24. Rather than receiving written comments on this report card, we will meet for a parent teacher conferences in the first week of December.  Conference sign-up (round 2) will come home next week.

Happy November! This week we have been exploring books by Amy Krauss Rosenthal, writing reflections about ourselves as learners, readers, writers and mathematicians, creating displays for our museum and studying words.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs –Our first research and writing project

There are so many different learning opportunities that come from preparing for and presenting at a museum. First is learning different research and note taking techniques. Next is time management so information is gathered and verified. After that the children worked to organize and present their information accurately and in an “eye-catching” way. We’ve been exploring different formats for organizing informational writing, looking at leads and uncovering the ways that illustration and information go together to teach.

The class is excited to share their work with you at our museum.  The children have taken the responsibility for creating their own displays. We’ve talked about planning, proofreading and decorating. We’ve taken time to read from each other’s displays as proofing partners. Some children are more concerned about details, accuracy and conventions than others. With each child we have focused on the things that seem most important for him or her. For some the focus has been on using resources to find understandable information. For others it has been on time management and meeting deadlines. For others the focus has been on building confidence and independence, or writing in complete sentences and being aware of an audience beyond themselves. There is great variety in our class as you will see when you “tour” our museum and talk to the children. Some children have much to share, while others have little. Some children have worked diligently to be accurate in all ways, while others are seemingly unaware that there may be mistakes in their work.

This is our stating point and we will build from here. The children will have several more opportunities to present their work in similar formats throughout the year. We will be able to see them grow and change as they become more skilled as researchers and writers. It is fun to be with them and to feel their enthusiasm grow as they prepare to share their work with you.

Taking Time to Know Ourselves as Learners – Social Emotional Learning

The children have been thinking about what they are learning now and how they may grow throughout the year. We’ve been making an effort to become more aware of our choices and more intentional in our actions. To begin the reflection process the children have been looking at their work – either the books that seem to be a good fits when reading, or the many pieces of writing they have been drafting or the math problems they have been solving. Using these as “anchors” they are trying to think about their learning process in each of those areas.

Some of the children are able to see what they are doing and seem excited to explain how they make their choices and why. Other children just can’t…yet. It is hard for them to find words to describe what is going on inside their minds as they work and learn and choose. This struggle is typical for 8, 9, and 10-year olds. They are in a transitional stage moving between concrete thinking to more abstract thinking. They are becoming more aware of their choices and the unique strategies they use for thinking things through. Metacognition (thinking about your thinking) is the way we all grow and learn. The children are each doing what they can and will be ready to share their reflections at their goal setting conferences in mid-November.

Becoming Flexible with Numbers and Amounts

This week we continued with our Numbers of the Week routine. It has been designed to help the children think more flexibly by asking them to do a variety of things with the same amounts. We hope this routine will also help the children develop understanding of different mathematical terms and vocabulary.

On Monday the children write the amounts in standard, word and expanded forms, along with representing the amount in two different ways with base 10 blocks. On Tuesday they find the sum and the difference and check their work with rounding to the nearest ten. On Wednesday they generate alternating patterns by adding and subtracting. On Thursday they write problems for others to solve, and on Friday they find two different ways to represent the numbers with money.

The numbers started small – 17 for the number of students in 3E and 46 for the number of students in 3^rd grade. These amounts helped us understand each part of the routine. The numbers will grow and the routines will grow in complexity as the children become ready for more and different challenges.

Bits and Pieces:   There is so much more to share – deeper understanding of multiplication and division, enthusiasm for blogging, photography in technology class, creating beautiful pictures and writing in artist-writers’ workshop, being caring friends – and the note is already too long!  Your children are hard working and fun loving. They are becoming more aware of using time wisely and making more skillful transitions from one activity to the next. They are considering how their actions affect success. They seem to enjoy their days and are growing in confidence. All wonderful things. 3E is a nice place to be.

• We finished Quinny and Hopper. Ask your child what advice they might give each of the characters about friendship and being accepting of differences.
• Our next challenge with Mr. Caron – outdoors weather permitting – will be on November 10.
• Our Student Led Goal Setting Conferences are planned for November 17 and 18 – please select a time on the schedule sent in your communication folder.
• Term 1 report cards will be sent home November 24. These will not have written comments. We will meet for parent – teacher conferences in the first week of December to review the goals your child presented and set some of ourselves as we work together to support his/her learning for the year.