Sunday, September 13, 2015

Week of September 14

We have finished our iReady Math and Achieve3000 diagnostics. These programs are up and available for use at home. The link to the right under "Student Technology" will take you to the DCPS page to access both programs. This year students have a common user name and password for all programs! In reading class this week, we worked through a complete Achieve3000 lesson so students will be familiar with the format. Parents are encouraged to sit and learn about Achieve3000 early on so you know how it works!

Resources this week...
Cox:
Monday - Art
Wednesday - Music
Thursday - PE
Kluge:
Tuesday - Art
Thursday - Music
Friday - PE

ELA: Listening and speaking are very important in our curriculum and are part of our Florida ELA standards. Below are our norms for discussion and some photos from an activity called a carousel. Groups read a question related to a selected text, think, discuss, and work together to determine their group answer.


This week, as we continue to work with the text, Nasreen's Secret School, we will plan and write effective paragraphs about Nasreen's special story. We will look at a well written paragraph and identify the following elements:
Topic sentence
Detail #1
Explanation of detail #1 (example from the story)
Detail #2
Explanation of detail #2 (example from the story)

Our next story in our unit focusing on the great lengths people around the world go through to gain the power of reading and education is:
This book tells the story of a boy from Appalachia who is reluctant reader.  After repeated visits by a traveling librarian, the boy sees the joy and value in reading. Below is our graphic organizer we use for each book we read. The SIWBS will be a part of our upcoming mid-unit assessment. It can be applied to most fiction books. This is a great tool to use at home when you talk about what students are reading. 
MATH:
This week in math the students will solve two types of division situations.  Division problems where the group size is unknown and problems where the number of groups is unknown using factors of 2 and 3.   Students will use tape diagrams and arrays as tools to compare and analyze problems.  Students will use arrays and tape diagrams to practice solving division problems and transition to problem solving using abstract division and multiplication equations. The students will skip count objects in models to build fluency with multiplication facts using units of 4. 


Example of tape diagrams:

Math homework this week:
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Lesson 14

Math to practice at home:
·     Practice labeling tape diagrams to solve problem situations.
·     Discuss and practice analyzing problem situations comparing different unknowns. 
·     Ask your child how what the quotient represents affect the way a tape diagram is represented/drawn?
·     Practice multiplication facts  (2, 3, 4, 5)

SCIENCE:
This week in Science we will continue discussing how scientists work together to answer questions about the natural world.  


Monday, September 7, 2015

Week of September 7

Wednesday is Early Release! Dismissal is 1:40 PM.
We are almost finished with our baseline assessments! A few students need to complete i-Ready and Achieve baselines.

Resources this week:
Cox:
Tuesday: Music
Wednesday: PE
Thursday: PE
Kluge:
Wednesday: Art
Thursday: Art
Friday: PE

ELA: Remember to complete your R.A.H. log throughout the week and have a parent sign Thursday night. They are collected on Friday and new ones are passed out the same day. Also, study your spelling words for the quiz on Friday. The Word Work tab above has several suggestions for spelling activities.

This we will read Nasreen's Secret School, the story of a young girl in Afghanistan, who faces many obstacles to be able to go to school and learn. We will read the text closely and use the same organizational tools we used with Rain School to determine the gist and lesson of the story. We are becoming familiar with the term, gist.

The gist is the main idea, what the page, section, chapter, or book is about. The gist does not include many details, but at the same time can be supported with details.
When we read closely, we read a text numerous times, each time with a different purpose or focus. One focus we have is to make note of words that are unfamiliar in meaning to us as we read. We then go back in the text and try to use context clues to determine the meaning of the new word.

Example: Poor Nasreen sat at home all day because girls are forbidden to attend school. Because the author writes "poor Nasreen" and tells us she is staying at home, we can guess that forbidden means not allowed. We can use the "plug it in" strategy and see if "not allowed" makes sense and it does. Poor Nasreen sat at home all day because girls are not allowed to attend school.

We will also use the S-I-W-B-S graphic organizer to help us focus on the important details in the story as we read closely.
Somebody (the main character)...
in (setting)...
wanted (motivation)...
but (problem)...
so (resolution)...

When reading at home this week, think about the gist, look for unfamiliar words, and see if you can fill in a S-I-W-B-S chart about your book.

MATH: This week in math students will continue to build fluency with math facts using the array model and familiar skip counting strategies.  We will begin to manipulate arrays to study the commutative property. We will continue distinguishing rows from columns and noticing that the meaning of the factors changes depending on the orientation of the array.  Students will be writing the 2 different multiplication sentences to interpret the same array (different orientation).

For example:

                              

The students will find related multiplication facts by adding and subtracting equal groups in array models.

For example:
                                 7 threes = 5 threes + 2 threes

                                   7 x 3 =    5 x 3     +      2 x 3       
                                     21      =     15       +        6


Things to practice at home (math):
Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 x 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each.  Apply properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide.  Examples: If 6 x 4 = 24 is known, then 4 x 6 = 24 is also known. (Commutative property of multiplication)

Math Homework:
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Practice 2, 3, 4, 5 math facts at home

SCIENCE: This week in Science we will continue our discussion on the “Scientific Method” and how scientists raise questions about the natural world.



Sunday, August 30, 2015

Week of August 31

Welcome to week two of third grade! Our first week was very busy, but wonderful! We are really enjoying our new students! On Monday, students will bring home their Weekly Conduct Reports. Please initial at the bottom and return it the next day. It is blue. This will come home each Monday.

**** Mrs. Kluge's email is incorrect on the cards you have. The correct email is kluget@duvalschools.org

As stated in our previous post, we will continue our Duval County baseline assessments this week. 
Monday, August 31: Reading - 80 minutes
Tuesday, September 1: Math - 80 minutes
Wednesday, September 2: Math - 80 minutes



Resources this week:
Kluge - 
Tuesday: Media and music
Wednesday: PE
Friday: Art

Cox -
Tuesday: PE
Wednesday Media
Thursday: Art

ELA:
Students took home their first R.A.H. (Reading at Home) log on Friday. We walked through it step by step in class, but if you have any questions please let me know. They should record their reading at home on the bookmark AND the RAH log. RAH logs are due every Friday with a parent signature. If the log is lost, there is a tab above to print a new one.

On Monday students will receive their first spelling list. Please check the word work tab above for a word sort activity they can do at home to notice patterns. There will be a test on Friday.

The overall theme for our first nine weeks is how reading is powerful and how people around the world go to great lengths to access books and read. Our first text is Rain School. Last week, we learned a new term... "gist". The gist is the main or central idea, what is text is all about. The gist does not include a lot of details. We used a great tool to help us determine the gist.

Somebody (the main character)...
in (setting)...
wanted (motivation)...
but (problem)...
so (resolution)...

When we think about these specific elements and put them together, we can usually determine the gist or main idea. We can tell someone the gist of a paragraph, a chapter, or even a book. This is a good strategy students can use at home to talk about what they are reading.

This week, we will continue using Rain School and will lift evidence from the text to answer questions. Students will use sticky notes to mark text that supports their answers. 

We will also revisit the strategy of using clues in text (context clues) to help us determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Example from Rain School:

"He gathers grass and saplings with the other children, and they make a roof."

To figure out the meaning of saplings, we can use context clues...  If Thomas gathers the sapling, it must be a noun, because he can pick it up. Also, he picks it up with the grass, so we can guess it might also be a plant. They use it to make a roof, and we have seen roofs in pictures made of grass and branches from trees. So a sapling must mean something like a branch.

MATH:
For our first week in math, we introduced multiplication with the concept of repeated addition to find totals.  The students used counters to make 4 equal groups of 3. They learned to recognize equal groups of counters as units and count units using language of groups and unit form: 4 equal groups of 3 counters make 12 counters, or 4 threes make 12.  The students related the equal groups of object in scattered forms to the array model, making the connection between 1 equal group and 1 row in array models. They distinguished between the number of groups and the size of groups as they counted rows and how many in a row to write multiplication facts.  They started modeling dividing a whole into equal groups.  They created pictures, number bonds, and multiplication equations to model their understanding.

This week we will continue to work on understanding the meaning of the unknown as the size of the group in division.  Understanding the meaning of the unknown as the number of groups in division and interpreting the unknown in division using the array model.  We will use the Read, Draw, Write (RDW) strategy to solve math problems.

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Things to Remember!!!
Array – repeated rows of numbers or objects
Multiply - an operation showing how many times a number is added to itself
Equal groups – same number of objects in each group
Factor – number of groups and the number in each group
Equation – a statement that two expressions are equal, for example 5 x 4 = 20
Divide – separate into equal groups

Math Homework:
Module 1 Lesson 4
Module 1 Lesson 5
Module 1 Lesson 6
--Practice skip counting by 2’s, 3’s and 4’s at home. 
--Practice drawing model representations or groups and ask your child to analyze the model. 
For example:  oo       oo       oo
     How many times do you see a group of two? Have them count the groups, write the number sentence, and say the words together.
     3 groups of 2’s           
     3 x 2 = 6

SCIENCE:
This week in Science we will discuss that scientists raise questions about the natural world, investigate them through explorations and develop explanations based on their explorations.  We will begin to understand that scientists question, discuss, and check each other’s evidence and explanations.


Monday, August 24, 2015

Our First Day!!!

We had a great first day! We are thankful for the many supplies and happy children who walked through our doors this morning. Please find a very important brown envelope in your child's planner with paperwork to be completed. There is a checklist on the front for the forms we need back. 

We were informed of the dates of some of our upcoming baseline assessments:
Wednesday, August 26: Science - 80 minutes
Friday, August 28: Reading - 80 minutes
Monday, August 31: Reading - 80 minutes
Tuesday, September 1: Math - 80 minutes
Wednesday, September 2: Math - 80 minutes
These assessments will give us information about where our students are and will guide our differentiated instruction.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Thanks for coming!

Wow! What a great turn out we had for orientation! It was wonderful meeting all of you. If you did not bring your supplies, please try to bring them on Monday. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

RESOURCES WEEK 1:
Kluge: Tuesday: Music     Wednesday: PE     Friday: Art
Cox: Tuesday: PE     Thursday: Art

We have a working snack every day. We ask that it is a dry snack or fruit. Please nothing that requires a spoon and no cookies, brownies, etc. If you would like to send a water bottle, that's great too!

LUNCH: 12:10 - 12:40
RESOURCE: 9:30 - 10:20

Please join PTA! The membership fee is $6.00. You can go to the link to print out a membership form. Click here to join.

Field trips:
October 2: Fort Menendez / St. Augustine
December 11 OR 17: IMAX / World Golf Village
February 5: Super Scientific Circus / Florida Theatre

PTA Fun Run: November 13

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

3rd Grade Orientation!!!


Thursday, August 20 is 3rd grade orientation.

Come visit us in rooms 124 (Mrs. Kluge) 
and 125 (Mrs. Cox) 
between 10:30 - 11:15!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

May 4th

We will not have resources this week. Remember that Wednesday is early release and Friday afternoon from 1:00 - 2:15 is Field Day. Please bring water with your name on it!!!
This week is BSE Multicultural Arts Week! Our students will have many unique opportunities to experience and learn about other cultures. On Tuesday and Wednesday, artists and musicians from the Jacksonville area will visit our school to share their talents. Some programs we will see... bagpipe players, a Spanish guitarist and Spanish dancers, and Riverside Artists. On Friday, we will see the BSE Chorus perform their spring program, World of Music!
In our classrooms, we will learn about about two countries, Panama and Germany.
PANAMA: 

Students will learn about where Panama is located, which countries border Panama, why Panama is important, the construction of the Panama Canal, some of the Spanish language, and will also sample some food from Panama.
We will also create molas... brightly colored applique panels made only in the San Blas region of Panama by the Kuna Indians.
GERMANY:
 Students will learn about the geography of Germany, the culture of Germany, how Germany has influenced the United States, and how to say the German alphabet and some common German words.
After learning about the many castles of Germany, we will recreate our own versions of Swiss-German painter Paul Klee's, Castle and Sun. 

READING: We will continue to read our novel, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. This week, we will read chapter 22. We will revisit the Socratic Seminar. The Socratic Seminar is when students discuss questions that are very broad and open ended. Students dig into the novel for evidence that supports their opinions and thoughts. 4 questions will be given to students and they will write down talking points to prepare for the discussion. 
WRITING: We have started a short unit: informational writing. We will be using biographies as the main source of information. Instead of writing long reports about the entire life of a famous person, we are focusing only on the childhood. Students brainstormed a great list of questions to look at the childhood of a well-known person in depth. It included :
  • Where did this person come from? family, date and place of birth, poor or wealthy
  • What obstacles did this person overcome during childhood?
  • Were there any people or experiences this person had contact with that caused them to follow a certain path?
  • Did this person achieve something related to his/her later success in life?
We read about Susan B. Anthony and Milton Hershey and looked for information that addressed these questions. Hopefully, this week, we will choose our biographies and get started!

MATH:
Math Focus Points:

  • Solving subtraction problems that involve comparison, removal or finding a missing part
  • Subtracting 3-digit numbers by using strategies that involve either subtracting one number in parts, adding up, or subtracting back
  •  Representing solutions to subtraction problems with number lines, 1,000 charts, and/or story contexts
Math Homework:
Unit 8, p. 51-52
Unit 8, p. 53
Unit 8, p. 59
Unit 8, p. 66

SCIENCE:
This week in Science we will begin discussing how living things are classified.