We have been busy learning routines and establishing what we would like our classroom to look like and sound like. Here are some snip-its of what has been going on:
Literacy: We have been spending a lot of time building our Read to Self and Read to Someone stamina! This will help set the foundation and routines for the rest of the school year. Students have done a great job building their stamina for Read to Self up to 20 minutes already!!! Yeah 3B!!! This was after they had time to explore books in the classroom, select books that were "just right" for them and using the "I Pick" strategy that we learned about. We have also spent some time discussing what reading is. While students are reading to self, I have been doing some assessing and listening to them read in preparation for starting guided reading groups soon. We have practiced the strategy of "Check for Understanding" as well. With only three days of Read to Someone, the students have build their stamina to 10 minutes. We will keep working on this hoping to get to 20 minutes as well. This week we will also throw in "Listen to Reading".
Math: Math is structured similar to literacy. In math, the students are doing the Daily 3. Math with Someone, Math Technology, and Math by Myself. I should call it the Daily 4 really as there is also Math with the Teacher. Students have a great grasp of each of these areas and put it into motion last Thursday and Friday. They have been introduced to a new math app called "ST Math". This was awarded to Howard Winn through the STEM Scale Up grants. Last week we also worked on reviewing telling time and showing time to the nearest minute as well as number grids. There are many activities on the side of my blog page that I have shown the students. Students are encouraged to access these online activities at home as well to review concepts learned in class.
Science: Besides our STEM day (see previous post), students have been introduced to the Scientific Method. We did a fun activity using chocolate kisses and chocolate hugs. Students had to apply the scientific method to determine which melts faster in your mouth, the kiss or the hug. It was a fun way to learn about science. We will be moving into our first unit on Plants and Animal Populations this week.
Writing: It always seems like the hardest part about writing for 3rd graders at the beginning of the year is getting ideas. Students have listened to me read many picture books while setting up their own writing notebook full of ideas that they can write about. We will continue working on ideas in writing as well as move into reviewing nouns and verbs this coming week. We have also learned how to access our student blog pages and have made a few beginning post. Be sure to check them out using the link on the side of my blog page.
So you can see we are very busy in 3B! I love the end of the day when the students are shocked it is time to go home. They are amazed how fast each and every day goes. We are really having a lot of fun while learning so much!
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