Room 221 computer scientists visited with Mrs. Martell yesterday to learn more about computer programming. We participated in The Hour of Code. The Hour of Code is a global initiative designed to engage kids in computer science. Coding helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. This December, every Eliot student will participate and write block-style computer code. By starting early, our students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path. Anyone can learn. Will you join the more than 100 million students coding this year during the Hour of Code? Try your hand on some of these coding activities. Better yet, have your third grade computer scientists show you what they can do! Learn more at Code.org.
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We are beginning to learn the concept of multiplication. The most important idea is that when you are multiplying, there must be equal groups. That means each group should have the same number of objects in them.
For example: There are four cars in the driveway. Each car has 4 wheels. How many wheels in all? Remind your third grader that there are equal groups because all 4 cars have 4 wheels. Some children will be able to find the answer mentally, others may skip count by 4s to find the answer, others may benefit from drawing a picture to show all the wheels. We also learned that multiplication is the same as repeated addition, so we can add 4 + 4 + 4 + 4. Regardless of process, the children should understand that they are finding 4 x 4 or 4 groups of 4. We furthered our understanding of multiplication by learning about arrays. An array is a rectangle arranged into equal rows. For example, if I have 3 rows with 5 squares in each row, I have a multiplication problem. I can find out how many squares in all by multiplying 3 x 5. (You probably learned this as finding the area. We will make that connection later in the year.) For those who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! For those who don't, I hope you enjoy a relaxing long weekend.
Do you want to know the truths and myths about Thanksgiving? Plymouth Plantation has created a website to teach you the truth about English colonists and Native Americans. Room 221 third graders spent some time exploring the website this afternoon. So much of what we know is based on ONE letter about "the first Thanksgiving" written by an English colonist in 1621. The children learned that this primary source gives us some answers, but also leaves historians with many questions. Let your third grader learn more about it at: http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html Please check out the "museum exhibit" we created below. Third grade historians chose the heading, but the explanation is completely in their own words based on all they learned from the website. The Room 221 community also discussed what Thanksgiving means to different people. Although I encouraged children to celebrate and enjoy their own traditions with family, I also asked them to pause and remember that not all people celebrate Thanksgiving. Some families who are relatively new to this country do not choose to celebrate the holiday. In addition, many Native Americans don't choose to celebrate Thanksgiving because they consider it a Day of Mourning. It's so important for all of us to remember different perspectives at all times of year. The Eliot PTC brought us a very special program called "Understanding Our Different Abilities." This wonderful program shares with children the important message that we are all people first, and that we all have a different range of abilities in terms of how we move, see, hear, communicate, think and learn.
Third graders learned about physical disabilities from a workshop. They were able to watch these inspiring videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy3df8X726Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oXIdPoSLlE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsOGIdep-aQ In the performance center, third grade learners were able to try out many different tools that differently abled people use to accomplish daily tasks. Click here to see pictures of their experiences. Ask your child what they are learning about people who have different abilities. This afternoon, Jerry Scandiffio, a prosthetist, came and spoke to the children. He showed them many different prosthesis that he, himself made. He then surprised the children by showing them his own prosthetic leg. The kids were surprised they couldn't tell when they first saw him! Jerry taught the children all the different things he can do despite the fact that he wears a prosthesis. He even showed us his prosthesis for when he plays ice hockey! Ask your third grader to teach you all they learned today. In third grade we work every day to develop our growth mindset. People with a “growth mindset” believe that intelligence, skill and performance are malleable, and highly influenced by effort and using effective strategies. We have learned that our brain is like a muscle that gets stronger the more we stretch it by completing new, challenging tasks.
Having a growth mindset will help us to learn more every day! In order to help us work towards this goal, children have been asked to interview a person they consider to be successful. This person can be successful in any area - a sport, a hobby, academically, in a job, anything... (I think this will be most successful if children interview people that are no younger than high school age.) Third graders should ask the questions and record the answers. Finally, they should write a summary of their interview and bring the interview and the summary to school. We will share the interviews with the class so we all can learn from so many successful people! Your child should complete the interview by Monday, November 13. We played a great game at Morning Meeting that you can play at home. It's called "Pico, Ferme, Nada." One player thinks of a three digit number (although you can play with as many digits as you'd like). The other player(s) try to guess what the number is. The player who chooses the number tells the guessers if they are right using the words pico, ferme, nada.
Pico means that the digit is in the number and it's in the right place. Ferme means that the digit is in the number, but it's in a different place (therefore having a different value). Nada means that the digit is not in the number at all. For example, the person thinking of the number comes up with 784. They don't tell the other players. The other players start guessing. Perhaps they guess 743. 7 is pico because it's in the right place. 4 is ferme because it's in the number, but in the wrong place. 3 is nada because it's not in the number at all. The players then use their reasoning skills to make a new guess. I know this sounds a little complicated, but the kids know how to play. Let them teach you! It's lots of fun. :o) On Friday we learned a new strategy for adding. It's called the partial sums method. Many of the kids aren't big fans of it, but it reenforces each mathematician's number sense.
As you are working with your children, remember that math instruction has changed since we were in elementary school. You probably remember adding with carrying. "5 + 9 = 14. Put down the 4, carry the 1..." Children can still solve addition problems this way. The only thing different for that method, is that we call it regrouping. They don't carry the one, they regroup the 10 (or the hundred). We will learn to add three digit numbers using the traditional algorithm (regrouping) tomorrow. There are two major challenges with regrouping. First, it's important that children have lined up the numbers properly. The digits in the hundreds place, tens place and ones place need to be lined up. It's not accurate to combine 3 from the ones place with 4 from the tens place. Also, children tend to forget that the little 1 they are "regrouping" is really a ten. It's important for them to remember that so they can develop a sense of the numbers. So we learn to add with partial sums to reenforce the meaning of the numbers we are using. Here's how it works: 439 + 398 700 120 17 837 For this method, the mathematician actually starts with the hundreds column. Below the problem you show the sum of each column. As you can see, 400 + 300= 700. When all of the columns have been added, you add all of the sums. As always, don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns. Each third grade author is working to publish their first personal narrative. The children have been working hard to include many qualities of effective writing in their work. Ask your child if he/she has been:
*Writing a little seed story (NOT a watermelon topic) *Including true, exact details from the movie they have made in their mind Third grade authors have also spent time revising their work. Revision means to look at again. I've been quite impressed at their willingness to make changes to improve their writing. They have revised by: *Rewriting their lead. They worked to begin with a hook - perhaps using description, action or dialogue *Elaborating - Authors chose the most important part of the story and tried to say more. I challenged them to write exactly what the character was saying, thinking or doing. *Rewriting their ending - They worked to end the story close to their seed moment. They could try an ending that teaches a lesson, shows feelings that have changed, or solves a problem. This is hard writing work and certainly not all children are in the same place in their progress. My biggest goal for writers at this point in third grade is that their writing is (mostly) clear, it makes sense and that the writers are intentional. When I say intentional, I mean that third grade writers are working to be reflective and think about what they can do to make their writing the best it can be. Tomorrow, we will begin the process of editing. When I refer to editing, I mean checking the mechanics of writing - capitals, punctuation, spelling. Correct writing mechanics makes the writing easier to read. I can't wait to share their writing at our conference! Today we watched a Mystery Doug video. Mystery Doug loves science just like we do! Each week he creates a video to answer one question that is submitted by children around the world. This week he answered the question, "Why do humans have so many bones?" Click here to see the video your child saw this morning.
This week Mystery Doug shared a fun art project related to the video. Unfortunately, we don't have enough minutes to complete the activity in school. Click here if your third grade scientist/artist is interested in completing the activity at home. Yesterday I sent home a notice announcing our annual vocabulary parade! We ask that each child create a costume representing the meaning of a new and interesting vocabulary word. Please note - this should not be a word that most third graders would be familiar. If children are really excited about a particular word, but it's a very basic vocabulary word, you might help them to find a synonym for that word that is stronger, or new to your child. Alternatively, you can find a whole new word. Feel free to email me if children are having trouble. As always, children can certainly come talk to me on their own.
Click here, here, or here to see a pinterest page filled with costume ideas. ***Please note, not all words highlighted in the links are appropriate to third graders. Some of the words you will see are too basic. The photographs are just to give you an idea. |
AuthorMrs. Sullivan wants you to feel informed! Check out this blog to learn about what's happening in Room 221. Feel free to leave a comment. Let us know what you think or ask a question. Archives
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