3B Blog News from Mrs. Kerian: January 2016

Monday, January 25, 2016

KidWind STEM Day!

If there is something that students love the most in 3B, many would say Genius Hour or STEM days! These times in our week are very hands on, and the students are very engaged. We all love it!!!

To end our social studies discussion on natural resources, we had a KidWind STEM challenge day. Students tried to create the blades of a wind turbine that would produce the most volts of energy. I had the base and volt meter set up in which partners would test their blades using. Each partnership was then given a hub in which they attached their blades.

Many decisions went into developing the best blades:
Materials used
Size
Shape
Pitch - which many learned about as the day went along

It was a wonderful day of students making a plan, analyzing and testing it, making changes, and retesting. While some students created wind turbines that moved, others did not and had to consider what they could do differently to make their wind turbines spin. It was so awesome to see all the thinking and processing going on. Powerful thinking and learning!

I kept all the information from the students and we will have another KidWind day in the future in which they will change something (variable) to test if their new wind turbines work better or worse then their original set.

Here are just a few pictures from the day:

What Else is Happening?

I apologize for not posting a blog post in a while. I have found that I reach more people by posting pictures, information, and events on our class Facebook Page. Therefore, that is where most of the daily information about our class is posted. I realize not all people have Facebook so try to update my blog page as frequent as possible.

Here is a quick snapshot of some of the happenings in math and science during the past month:

We recently finished a quick math unit on writing and reading numbers up through the millions place. Students practice reading large numbers and strategically making the largest number they could by playing a card game called 'Number Top It"

We just moved into a math unit on geometry. Students will learn/review lines, line segments, rays, polygons, and lines of symmetry. To record all of our new learning, students created a flip book to use and show their new learning.

To kick off our new science unit of Force and Motion, students manipulated simple toys and realized how we use a push and/or pull to play with these toys. This was introduction to a fun unit ahead. We then worked through a question posed from Mystery Science. The question was as follows:

Students were guided through a video lesson trying to determine how to beat an elephant at tug of war. They loved it!! I am excited to use more components of Mystery Science to supplement our science standards. Tomorrow we will work through the idea of push and pull by creating "hoppers" as guided by the Mystery Science activity.

As you can see, we are always busy learning and having fun!

Book Clubs...Time for Everyone to Get Started

Book Clubs...something that becomes a favorite of many students in 3B. Well, we have two groups already rolling in book club discussions and now it is time for everyone to get started. Yahoo!!!

Book clubs focus on building and understanding of reading by tracking thoughts and strategies and then sharing these thoughts in relaxed discussions focusing to build a deeper understanding of what was read. Groups select their book of choice from various titles and will be making lots of decisions throughout the process: how much to read, when to meet next, etc. Most of the reading is done at home although this week we will be practicing sharing our thoughts and starting our book clubs in the classroom.

A great way to record thoughts while reading silently is to track your thinking using post-it notes. Many students find this helpful in remembering what they have read and it gives them more confidence to share their thoughts. The tracks that the students have been practicing using are as follows:

Students will be involved in book clubs throughout 6th grade, maybe higher. Stay tuned for pictures showing students engaged in deep discussions while enjoying their book club with classmates!

Mid-Year Assessment Time! You Can Do It!

It is that time again.....formal assessment time. While I am not a fan of taking time out of class to give these assessments, I am excited to see how much the students have grown academically. So far, I am very pleased with what I am seeing!

Last week I gave the students the CBMR test, which is a fluency test done for FAST assessment from the Department of Education. Due to illnesses, students being gone, and the site being down, I have two or three yet to finish. Students read three different passages as fast as they could and their words per minute were averaged minus errors. I was extremely pleased how well everyone did and how much they have grown!!

Wednesday of this week, the 27th, students will take the AReading test. This is the comprehension and reading skills assessment part of the FAST testing. Again, this is for the Department of Education. This test is not timed and done on the laptops. Students are encouraged to try their very bests so that we can see how much they have grown since the beginning of school. The scores on this assessment help us determine which students need extra instruction through interventions.

Thursday, January 28th, we will be taking the MAPs math assessment. This test, if you remember, is done on the iPads and is not timed.

The last formal assessment we need to give is the MAPs reading test. Students in 3rd grade will take that next Tuesday.

Parents, please make sure your child gets enough rest and eats a great breakfast on these testing days. Do not stress over them as they are one picture of a child's education, but they are important. Just tell your child to do his/her best as that is all we ever ask.

Pajama Party! We Reached our Goal for Cadet Pride!

You can't get much more comfortable than wearing your pajamas to school and bringing along a favorite blanket or stuffed animal to enjoy as well. That's why I heard so many times throughout the day last Friday that "This is the best day Mrs. Kerian" and "Can we do this again soon?" We got to enjoy a pajama day and movie in 3B on Friday to celebrate a goal we accomplished.

Students have been working hard to get 25 compliments from teachers outside the classroom. This can be while walking in the hall, lining up at recess, lunch room behaviors, etc. but it can not be from me, Mrs. Kerian. It also must be a whole class compliment and not to one or two people. The only thing students had to do to get these compliments was to show good Cadet Pride. Well two weeks ago the students received the 25th compliment while walking quietly in the hall! So....they voted how to celebrate, and the winning vote was a pajama party!!! So fun!!!

Great job 3B! Let's see if we can accomplish our new goal! You can do it!

Reading Comprehension Strategies

Inferencing: Experienced readers make inferences as they read. Readers use what they already know and think about what they have read to construct meaning. The reader should ask themselves, "What I already know in my brain" and "What did I just read or see?" to make an inferences that is not stated by the author of person.

Determining Important Information: Determining important information is a strategy that helps us pick out the most important ideas we read. The first line of a paragraph may say the main idea of the page, but a reader should read through the details to decide what is the important information. The reader should ask themselves, "What is the author trying to teach me?"

Summarize: A summary is a paragraph or a statement in your own words that gives the most important ideas from what you have read. Readers determine important information, make inferences, and visualize when summarizing. We use the graphic organizer of "Somebody....Wanted....But....So.....Then....". "Somebody" is the character. "Wanted" would be the what the character wanted. "But" would be the problem. "So" would be how the problem was solved, and "Then" would be the resolution or end.

Predicting:When a reader predicts, they use information from the text along with their own knowledge and experiences to make thoughtful or informed guesses about what will happen in the text. When your child is reading at home, encourage them to stop and share predictions he/she may have as they are reading.

Identifying Text Structure: Recognizing how a piece of writing is organized can help readers understand what is happening. There can be different ways a text is structured.

* Sequential - in order

* Cause and Effect

* Question / Answer

* Steps in a Process

When reading at home, discuss how the text is organized and structure.

Ask and Answer Questions: Experienced readers ask questions about the text in order to understand what they are reading. Asking questions helps readers visualize, monitor comprehension and determine important information. Answers to these questions may be found in the text, or put together from the reader's own experience. At home, parents can encourage students to stop and ask questions while they read and recognize when answers are within the text or needed to be answered by own experience.

Paraphrasing: When readers paraphrase, they tell main ideas using their own words. This helps them check their understanding of what they have read. At home, parents can encourage their student to read a selection, flip the book over, and tell them main ideas from their reading in their own words. Flip the book back over and read another section or page before flipping it over again and paraphrasing his/her reading.

3B Blog News from Mrs. Kerian