Proof that we are AWESOME!!!
October 10: We have been inquiring into and exploring fractions and learning that we can represent the same fraction in multiple ways! We also learned about what the numerators and denominators are to show proper Fraction Notation.
October 10: Today we explored different fraction relationships using pattern blocks. Before we started the lesson, we were allowed to explore the tools for 5 minutes creatively, and came up with some interesting creations and patterns! It's fun to see how math tools can be used in so many ways to express our thinking!
October 3: Today we used multiple strategies to figure out the number of knots that could fit on a piece of rope. First, we recorded 3 estimates for the answer (too high, too low, and a just-right estimate). Next, we had to figure out what information was given to us before we figured out what we needed to solve. Then we figured out how to represent the problem either with drawings or with tools. Lastly, we checked our answers with a partner before coming back together as a whole group. It is fun to see division in action! Way to go everyone!
October 2: Today we exercised one of our rights as a citizen of this classroom and elected a class representative by voting! First, we listened to each of the eight candidate's speeches and presentations, asked thoughtful questions to the candidates to clarify their intentions for our class, and then practiced voting privately in our classroom voting booth by silently pointing to the name of the candidate that we chose. Ms. Ballantyne took down our votes privately and announced the winner the next day! We had such a great time listening to our classmate's ideas for making Spicewood and our classroom even better! Fabulous job everyone! :)
October 1: We learned about the awesome tool of a Writing Buddy today! We saw just how helpful our friends can be when looking at how to make our writing better. We spent time with a writing buddy and talked about our Personal Narrative stories! Their feedback was so helpful when looking at how to make our stories even better! Great job everyone!
September 30: We talked about our responsibilities as a scientist when we record our understandings in our science notebooks, and our responsibilities as a scientist when we go on a field expedition. THEN we went out on our first field expedition to the Atrium and the Learning Garden where we made observations of the soil in both areas. We also discussed how our perspective is affected when we use a hand lense. We had so much fun inquiring into soil! It was a blast to get to see different types of soil up close!
September 24: To start off our unit, Who We Are, we asked students to have a discussion with their families about rights, responsibilities, and privileges. We recorded our discussions on this sheet and returned with them to class. Then we shared the rights, responsibilities, and privileges that we discussed with our families within their table groups, and noticed any similarities and differences. We realized that we had many ideas in common within our families!! We also talked about what a citizen is and collected all of our ideas about the responsibilities that a citizen has.
September 24: We worked to solve this division problem to figure out how many people can play a card game if we knew the total number of cards and how many cards each player gets. After we solved the problem, we had a few of our friends share their mathematical thinking with the class! Wonderful job everyone!! Way to stretch and grow your brains as mathematicians! :)
September 24: We practiced using tools to model division relationships to find out how much candy each monster would get if we had 18 pieces of candy and 3 monsters. We learned that we can divide the candy evenly if we divide the candy in rounds. When we divided the candy in rounds, we saw that each monster would get 6 pieces of candy!
September 25: Students explained their summatives and each of the symbols they chose to represent their special person. It is so fun to see the variety of products that the kids produce! Great work everyone!
September 23: Today we worked with a partner to solve the problem: How much candy was in the bucket?
First, we watched a video that showed all the candy spread out randomly on the counter. We discussed some noticings and wonderings as a whole group, made 3 estimates (a too-low, a too-high, and a just-right estimate), and then talked with a partner about what sorts of information would help us when trying to figure out the total number of candies.
We concluded that we could figure it out if we knew the number of groups (types of candy) and the number of candies in each group. After we shared our thoughts as a whole group, Ms. Ballantyne shared the picture of the candies broken up into arrays (groups) and we worked with a partner to solve the problem!!
There were 155 candies in all!!! We gave ourselves a pat on the back because almost everyone got it right!! Fabulous job everyone!!
September 23: We ended the day with some quiet, mindful, focused, and guided meditation before spending some time in our Writer's Notebooks. We listened to what our minds and bodies were telling us, and quieted our overactive minds for a few minutes. It was the perfect segway as we transitioned to working on our personal narrative stories. We really enjoyed slowing down and reconnecting with our breath after returning from a hot recess this afternoon. We enjoyed it so much that we asked if we could do it everyday! :)
September 20: We ended today by watching some videos about the International Day of Peace which is TOMORROW September 21!
We watched Kid President tell us how to work through disagreements, and about how you just need to treat people like their people, people! :)
We also watched some other videos of how different cultures around the world celebrate the International Day of Peace, as well as some kid's perspectives on peace around the world!
Then we created our very own posters about the importance of practicing peace at Spicewood! Lastly, we were given the Peace Day Challenge to see just how many acts of peace we can achieve over the weekend!
September 20: Today we used the "Chalk Talk" strategy to record what we noticed and wondered about some multiplication images. We rotated through 6 different posters and recorded our thinking. We discussed how each poster had an example of the double, double, double strategy (multiplying by 8: 2x2x2=8). A turkey has 2 legs, a coyote has 4 legs, and a tarantula has 8 legs! Ew gross! :) We picked out lots of patterns, and discussed how they showed the double, double, double strategy!
September 20: Today in Reader's Workshop, we reviewed the elements of fiction together as we looked a story called, No Wash, Hand Washing.
We discussed the main characters, Clementine and Margaret. Margaret wanted Clementine to wash her hands, but Clementine didn't think that she needed to wash her hands because she thought that they were clean enough. We analyzed how Clementine's actions as a character helped us understand her better. We decided that she was a clever and sneaky character because she came up with a no wash, hand washing trick, so that she wouldn't have to actually wash her hands!
We also discussed the setting and reviewed the elements of the stories plot! Then we took what we learned and spent some time reading our own Just Right books. We recorded the main characters, setting, and a few elements of the plot on sticky notes before coming back together to discuss/review what we learned as readers for the day!
September 17: Today we revisited the Two of Everything story from yesterday. We created our own "magic pots" to show what would happen if we put something into the pot, took out the double, THEN put that double back into the pot. We used q-tips, paper, and sparkly red paint to represent the coins going into the pot, coming out doubled, going back in, and coming out double, doubled!!
It was our introduction to the double, double strategy (multiplying by 4). When we put in 5 coins to the pot, we got 10 coins out at first, then we put the 10 coins we got back into the pot, and we doubled them again and got a total of 20 coins back out. 5 doubled is 10, and 10 doubled is 20, so 4x5=20!!
September 16: We watched a Read Aloud story today called Two of Everything! It was a funny multiplication story! Then we talked about how the magic pot doubled everything that went into the pot! We recorded and discussed some of the patterns, and then talked about what would happen if we put different numbers of coins into the pot! This was our introduction to the doubling strategy. When you put 4 coins it, it doubles and you get 8 coins out! We know that double 4 is 8, so 2x4=8!! What a fun story and a fun way to look at, and think about doubling!!
September 12: We spent some time investigating light energy today using prisms and UV beads in science! It was really fun to see how the lights changed when we looked at it through the prisms. We saw RAINBOWS!! It was AWE-SOME! :) We also observed how the light energy from the sun caused the UV bead to change colors!! Pretty cool stuff!!!
September 11: We have been exploring multiplication more and more this week, and today we played a game where we and a partner challenged each other to create an array that would match a multiplication fact and their turn around fact!! Take a look at some of our arrays that we made!! Great job guys! Way to challenge your partners!!
September 3: We talked about how we can double numbers! We practiced using this doubling and halving organizer to help us organize our thinking when working with our partners and larger numbers. We used our classmates to help us visualize the relationships of doubling! When we started with 10 fingers and we doubled it, we got 20 fingers. When we started with 20 fingers, we doubled it and we got 40 fingers! It was awesomely fun to put our friends into the problem and model it!! Then we had to stop and think...well how do I find the double of a number that doesn't end in zero, such as the number 35!?
To do this, we were introduced to a new strategy called the DOUBLING STRATEGY! As we learned about this new strategy, we noticed that we can take a tricky number that ends in a 5, like the number 35, and break it apart into its tens and ones = 3 tens and 5 ones and easily find the doubled answer.
Here's how: We realized that once we break up the number into it's tens and ones, it is so much easier to double! We doubled our tens first, and we saw that 30 doubled is 60. Then we doubled our ones, and 5 doubled is 10. Once we did both steps, all we had left to do was add the two numbers together to get our total! (60 + 10 = 70) How amazing!! We found out that Double 35 is 70! We are so smart!! We even showed how we are risk-takers, and tackled a 3-digit number using this new strategy!! :)
September 3: We started out the morning by revisiting and reminding ourselves of our Essential Agreements. Then we decided to pick one of our learner profile attributes to focus on for the day. We wrote a goal and plan for ourselves on a sticky note to remind ourselves throughout the day! Great job guys!
August 21: We began the 100 face challenge today. We were given a bag of Cuisenaire Rods and had to figure out the value of each color before we started the challenge. We determined our values with a partner. We then were told that we needed to create a face that equaled 100 when we added the values of each rod together. We got some seriously silly faces and had a great time seeing just how creative and visual math really is! We also learned that everyone can do anything, and your brain can learn and grow!! We rocked it!!
Aug. 20: We had our first number talk during math class, and we talked about how math is a creative and visual subject.
We looked at a collection of 7 dots for 2 seconds, and then told Ms. B about all the amazing patterns that we saw to create the 7 in our minds!!
No two people saw the same pattern!! How cool!!! Fabulous job everyone!!
Day 2: We had a super BUSY day as we continued talking about the 5 learner profile attributes that we have picked for Spicewood this year: Caring, Inquirer, Risk-Taker, Principled, and Open-Minded.
We worked with groups to draw pictures, labels, wrote words and worked very hard to SHOW OUR THINKING...THEN we rotated through each attribute poster to offer our thoughts and show our understanding of what each of them means.
Then each group came up with a "We can" statement about their attribute. We rotated in groups to each statement and offered helpful feedback before coming back together to talk about each one individually.
Using the statements as our spring board, we began drafting our ESSENTIAL AGREEMENTS...it was a messy process, but we dove right in, persevered and came up with some FABULOUS essential agreements that everyone felt we could definitely abide by this year. We all signed it to show that it was a binding contract for the year and even Ms. Ballantyne signed it!!!!
SUPER AMAZING JOB EVERYONE :) Way to start the year off with a BANG!! :)
Aug, 15: 3rd Grade First Day Fun! We talked about the learner profile attributes and worked with friends to create some AMAZING posters that showed our understanding for each! They turned out SO GOOD!
Learner Profile Attributes: Inquirer, Risk-Taker, Caring, Principled, Balanced, Knowledgeable, Thinker, Communicator, Reflective, and Open Minded.
