Right before vacation, Ben and Zeke’s dad came in to SHOW us how a large triangle does not budge, while a quadrilateral does. Students got to get on the floor and try and push the sides of a triangle. They couldn’t. When they pushed each side of a quadrilateral, however, the sides moved a lot! This exercise gave us a better understanding of why triangles are so important in structures for safety and durability. 3F always appreciates when parents come in to share their expertise with us!
Mrs. Fairley came in to spend some time with us with Carter the last day before vacation. Students had a lot of questions about Carter! It was so much fun to see them. On February 2nd, Mrs. Fairley will be back!
On Monday after vacation, students started to read chapter books written by Grace Lin. Grace Lin will be coming to Baker School in March. Her books are wonderful!!!! Small groups of 3F students will be reading When the Mountain Meets the Moon, the sequel called The Starry River of the Sky, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, and a few others. Students will be keeping track of their thinking as they read in small groups. In addition, students will develop a list of thoughtful, rich, thick questions to ask Ms. Lin during her Baker visit.
As a class, 3F has begun to read and write various Winter poems. Poets make great mentors, teaching children how to write poetry using different techniques and styles. Students, so far, have read Winter poems by famous poets such as John Updike and Robert Louis Stevenson. Figuring out what certain lines mean in poems is challenging. 3F is up for the challenge! Students have begun to read and write similes and metaphors in their poetry.
In math, students continue to figure out function machines, (this week the rule was division), as well as figure out geometric and number patterns. I am impressed how well students are learning their multiplication facts, which facilitates how well students can solve word problems, figure out the "rules" of function machines, and number patterns! Students are also learning about fractions, understanding and using the vocabulary words numerator and denominator. There are "keys" attached to our beautiful snowflakes on the bulletin board inside of the classroom showing the fractions of circles, triangles, rectangles and hexagons we pasted in different ways to make "individual" and "unique" snowflakes. Snowflake Bentley would have been proud to see these snowflakes! Pupils will be adding and subtracting "like fractions" to extend their thinking. As usual, there are many differentiated and fun math programs newly listed in the third grade site of the Baker School website. I encourage students to use these programs to make them more proficient at solving and extending the math problems they receive in school around a variety of math topics.
3F students have begun to study about the Wampanoags, a Native American group who lived in over 47 villages along the upper middle eastern part of the United States. Students began this week, (using a visual reading exercise and visual thinking strategies), what life was like for the Wampanoags before the arrival of the Pilgrims in the 1600's. Already there are awesome drawings and evidence of student thinking posted in the hallway of our classroom. Social Studies is my personal passion, and I am very excited to teach this unit! Of course, integrating technology will be included in many lessons.
The New Year has begun, and exciting activities across the curriculum will continue to occur in 3F!!!!! We will be welcoming a new student, Abdalla, to our classroom on Monday! Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Fairley came in to spend some time with us with Carter the last day before vacation. Students had a lot of questions about Carter! It was so much fun to see them. On February 2nd, Mrs. Fairley will be back!
On Monday after vacation, students started to read chapter books written by Grace Lin. Grace Lin will be coming to Baker School in March. Her books are wonderful!!!! Small groups of 3F students will be reading When the Mountain Meets the Moon, the sequel called The Starry River of the Sky, The Year of the Dog, The Year of the Rat, and a few others. Students will be keeping track of their thinking as they read in small groups. In addition, students will develop a list of thoughtful, rich, thick questions to ask Ms. Lin during her Baker visit.
As a class, 3F has begun to read and write various Winter poems. Poets make great mentors, teaching children how to write poetry using different techniques and styles. Students, so far, have read Winter poems by famous poets such as John Updike and Robert Louis Stevenson. Figuring out what certain lines mean in poems is challenging. 3F is up for the challenge! Students have begun to read and write similes and metaphors in their poetry.
In math, students continue to figure out function machines, (this week the rule was division), as well as figure out geometric and number patterns. I am impressed how well students are learning their multiplication facts, which facilitates how well students can solve word problems, figure out the "rules" of function machines, and number patterns! Students are also learning about fractions, understanding and using the vocabulary words numerator and denominator. There are "keys" attached to our beautiful snowflakes on the bulletin board inside of the classroom showing the fractions of circles, triangles, rectangles and hexagons we pasted in different ways to make "individual" and "unique" snowflakes. Snowflake Bentley would have been proud to see these snowflakes! Pupils will be adding and subtracting "like fractions" to extend their thinking. As usual, there are many differentiated and fun math programs newly listed in the third grade site of the Baker School website. I encourage students to use these programs to make them more proficient at solving and extending the math problems they receive in school around a variety of math topics.
3F students have begun to study about the Wampanoags, a Native American group who lived in over 47 villages along the upper middle eastern part of the United States. Students began this week, (using a visual reading exercise and visual thinking strategies), what life was like for the Wampanoags before the arrival of the Pilgrims in the 1600's. Already there are awesome drawings and evidence of student thinking posted in the hallway of our classroom. Social Studies is my personal passion, and I am very excited to teach this unit! Of course, integrating technology will be included in many lessons.
The New Year has begun, and exciting activities across the curriculum will continue to occur in 3F!!!!! We will be welcoming a new student, Abdalla, to our classroom on Monday! Have a great weekend!