Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Doorbell Rang
Literature was integrated into the math problem solving lesson. The book, The Doorbell Rang, was used to help the students better understand division and its use in the real world. In the story two children have 12 cookies to share between them. Then two more friends come. Now there are 4 children to share 12 cookies. Then two more children come to share the twelve cookies. Now there are 6 children to share the twelve cookies. At the end, there are 12 children to share 12 cookies. After reading the story, the students acted out the story using counters. The students also wrote the division number model sentence to go with the problem. The students drew an illustration for each problem and shared their illustrations with the class.
Thoughtful Reading Log Entries
Today the lesson was on thoughtful log reading entries. These are the following suggestions:
Respond personally to the text
Respond to the theme and/or author's purpose
Offer opinion of text
Ask questions
Make predictions/inferences
Respond to the writing style or author's language
Respond to the traits and/or actions of the characters
Share connections
Evaluate the text
Today the students were working on responding to the traits and/or actions of the characters. Their reading entries were for their independent reading.
Respond personally to the text
Respond to the theme and/or author's purpose
Offer opinion of text
Ask questions
Make predictions/inferences
Respond to the writing style or author's language
Respond to the traits and/or actions of the characters
Share connections
Evaluate the text
Today the students were working on responding to the traits and/or actions of the characters. Their reading entries were for their independent reading.
Poetry Celebration
On last Thursdy the third grade students invited their kindergarten friends to a poetry celebration. The third graders read their free verse poetry to their reading friends. It was a very successful and fun event.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Habit 3 First Things First
Suppose your planning your evening activities which includes homework. How do you know what's really important for you to do?
This habit helps students decide to put first things first. The students prioritize the important activities in their evening schedule. The students set goals on how to spend their time in order to accomplish their important evening activities. First the students wrote their evening activities for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. These are the days they often have homework. Then the students created a homework plan for these days. The students wrote the time in the evening they would complete their homework, where they would do their homework, and what they would do to make sure their homework was handed in the next day. These plans seemed to be very effective for most of the students.
This habit helps students decide to put first things first. The students prioritize the important activities in their evening schedule. The students set goals on how to spend their time in order to accomplish their important evening activities. First the students wrote their evening activities for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. These are the days they often have homework. Then the students created a homework plan for these days. The students wrote the time in the evening they would complete their homework, where they would do their homework, and what they would do to make sure their homework was handed in the next day. These plans seemed to be very effective for most of the students.
Reading For Pleasure
What are the expectations?
The goal is to enhance the enjoyment of reading and to improve reading skills. The expectation is that each child will read for at least 15 minutes daily. Your child is always welcomed to go above and beyond the reading minutes requested. Thank you for your cooperation.
What should your child read?
Any reading material will count toward the reading minutes. This includes books, magazines, newspapers and poems. Please help your child to select reading material that is age appropriate and he/she is able to read easily. You may count books that you read to your child, or ones that your child listens to on tape/computer. Thank you for your help and cooperation.
Why is it important to read?
Students who read for pleasure on a daily basis become better readers. Just reading 15 extra minutes a day helps to improve reading skills significantly. Thank you for your cooperation.
The goal is to enhance the enjoyment of reading and to improve reading skills. The expectation is that each child will read for at least 15 minutes daily. Your child is always welcomed to go above and beyond the reading minutes requested. Thank you for your cooperation.
What should your child read?
Any reading material will count toward the reading minutes. This includes books, magazines, newspapers and poems. Please help your child to select reading material that is age appropriate and he/she is able to read easily. You may count books that you read to your child, or ones that your child listens to on tape/computer. Thank you for your help and cooperation.
Why is it important to read?
Students who read for pleasure on a daily basis become better readers. Just reading 15 extra minutes a day helps to improve reading skills significantly. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Suggested Children's Books That Can Be Used to Reinforce the 7 Habits
Paradigms
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
Ira Sleeps Over by Brenard Waber
Going Home by Eve Bunting
Circle of Influence
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
The Empty Pot by Demi
Habit 1 Be Proactive
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Salt in His Shoes by Delores Jordan
Habit 2 Begin With the End in Mind
Thank You, Mr. Falker
Miss Rhumphius by Barbara Cooney
Habit 3 First Things First
Alejandro's Gift by Richard E. Albert
Jamica's Find by Juanita Havill
Esperanze Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Habit 4 Think Win-Win
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Habit 5 Seek First to Understand then to Be Understood
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Habit 6 Synergy
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
Habit 7 Sharpen the Saw
The Snowy day by Ezra Jack Keats
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
Ira Sleeps Over by Brenard Waber
Going Home by Eve Bunting
Circle of Influence
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
The Empty Pot by Demi
Habit 1 Be Proactive
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Salt in His Shoes by Delores Jordan
Habit 2 Begin With the End in Mind
Thank You, Mr. Falker
Miss Rhumphius by Barbara Cooney
Habit 3 First Things First
Alejandro's Gift by Richard E. Albert
Jamica's Find by Juanita Havill
Esperanze Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Habit 4 Think Win-Win
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Habit 5 Seek First to Understand then to Be Understood
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Habit 6 Synergy
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
Habit 7 Sharpen the Saw
The Snowy day by Ezra Jack Keats
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky
Math Notes Strategy
Word problems in math can be frustrating for students. Unlike other kinds of math problems, word problems require both reading and math skills. Math Notes teaches students how to use notes to use both sets of skills by systematically breaking word problems down into these steps:
* Identifying the facts of the problems.
*The main question that needs answering.
*A set of action steps that can be used to solve the problem.
*A visualization that represents the problem in nonlinguistic terms.
These notes are written in the students' math journals for later reference. They can use their notebook as a reference tool, searching for past problems and solutions that they can apply to new problems. This strategy has helped the students to successfully solve math story problems.
* Identifying the facts of the problems.
*The main question that needs answering.
*A set of action steps that can be used to solve the problem.
*A visualization that represents the problem in nonlinguistic terms.
These notes are written in the students' math journals for later reference. They can use their notebook as a reference tool, searching for past problems and solutions that they can apply to new problems. This strategy has helped the students to successfully solve math story problems.
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