WAY TO GO 3rd GRADE!!!!

Reading TAKS results are in and we are WAY impressed! You guys did such an awesome job! Now lets continue working just as hard for the next few weeks getting ready for the math test! Last year it was kind of tricky so we are going to have to be smarter than the test! We know you guys can do it!

Ok, maybe we can get the rest of the class going on this blog adventure. Help your friends out if they get confused. We will go over it again at school. Don't let Mrs. KEEN forget!


Planets: We are starting to learn about the planets in our Solar System. What do you already know about Planets, especially the SUN???
Do you know the order from closest to the Sun to farthest away?
We will need to know this by the end. Maybe we can think of some fun ways to remember the order by.
Leave you thoughts and ideas....

Blogger tip:
You can keep track of the post I make by becoming a "follower" of the blog. It will then send you an e-mail letting you know there has been a post!

One down and one to go...

YEAH! Our reading TAKS is behind us and now we can focus on the upcoming MATH TAKS!!! Please keep reviewing and practicing your strategies on your homework as well as on your math boxes. We have done so much this year in math and are starting to prepare on how to be great math test takers!

A few years ago you might have remembered a teacher here named Mrs. Dodson. Well the great thing about technology is being able keeping in touch with friends and family that may have moved away. Now being teachers we still like to share ideas with each other. She liked the idea of blogging so she started one for her students. It is SO cool!

Check it out! Mrs. Dodson's 3rd Grade

They actually interact and post comments or questions to postings that she has posted.
I thought this would be really neat for us to do. I know it's late in the year but I know it is never to late to start anything!

How to respond:
Create an e-mail address with your parents. Gmail, yahoo, and hotmail are all good and have parental controls to use for sercurity.
Once you have an e-mail address you can register as a "BLOGGER". This has no personal information unless you put it on there, so it is safe for all. Once you have registered then you can post comments and reply to others comments.


HERE WE GO....

Can you explain how addition and subtraction are connected? Do you have questions about this? If so post a response or question and see what your other classmates have to say...

TAKS here we come!

The kids have been working so hard on preparing for the reading TAKS test next week! Ms. Ruth and Ms. Rowles have been working so hard to get the students ready to be successful on the test. Students should be using their reading strategies when reading as well as using and labeling their QAR strategies when answering questions on practice passages!

What is QAR you ask??

It stands for question, answer, and response. There are 4 types of questions that students have learned how to identify.

1. Right There (RT)-Questions where you can go directly into the passage and find the answer

2. Author and Me (AM)- this is the same thing as inferring. Taking information given in the text and what the student should already know (schema) and connecting those two to come up with a response. These are tricky and often times students don't even know they are inferring until they start thinking about the meaning as they are reading.

3. Think and Search (T+S)-This is where they might have to put different pieces of the story together to come up with the best answer. Summarizing a paragraph would be an example of this!

4. On my own-Questions that a child can respond with their own opinion or thoughts. The test will not have any of these on them.

Don't know what to get your child's teacher?Need some suggestions for what to get your teacher friends?View our list below!

Classroom Items
Ziplock baggies
Labels
Magazine holders
Magnets
Paper towels
Children's books

Gift Cards
Walmart
Target
Kohl's
Dollar Tree
Half Price Books
Mardel/Teacher's Tools
Starbucks

Math Club

Today was our first math club meeting.

THANK YOU parents for getting your kids involved in this. It was so awesome to see the line of cars waiting to get kids in the door at 7 AM this morning!!!!

WOW!

We had about 30 3rd graders and 80 students between 2-5th grade!!!

This will go on EVERY Wednesday until the end of the year, unless noted otherwise.

Please be aware that after 7:05 we will be already working hard on our math problems and doors will be closed.

What is math club anyway?

It is where students get to pick between a variety of problems to solve. Each problem varies in difficulty and they decide if it is a "Green" "Yellow" or "Red" problem.

Just like a stop light,

Green means it's easy breezy and can be done with no help.

Yellow means that it is a little more difficult but the student can understand it and plan a way to solve it with minimal help.

Red means WHOA! I don't even understand what the problem is asking me and the math seems really difficult.

Next Math Club: Wednesday November 5th!

Memoirs

Reading and writing class has been quite memorable for us! In writing class we are discussing memories we have had and writing about them. We have talked about focusing our writing on one event, one memory that is meaningful to us. You learn many interesting things about a 3rd grader by the memories they write about! Memories are not always happy. We have discussed how some of our most memorable moments can be sad, embarrassing and even funny! When an author writes down a memory into a book, it is called a memoir. In reading class we have been reading published memoirs. Patricia Polacco and Tomie dePaola are two authors that we have been studying this year and which have published many memoirs. Polacco and dePaola write beautifully about their past memories. Reading a memoir is a great way to get to know an author you love- they are writing about themselves in their own life!
At home, talk to your child about memories YOU have- of your own childhood, and when they were little! Discuss memories they have too! And always, always encourage your child to read as much and as often as they can!

WATCH THIS....

This is great for site to help understand what are kiddos are doing in class....

http://www.schultzcenter.org/mathvideos.shtml