Window Washing

In third grade we LOVE problem strings! Problem strings are a set of carefully sequenced questions that are designed to help guide students towards a more efficient way to solve a particular kind of problem.  Problem strings focus heavily on making connections between the questions. We know that the first problem is meant to be a little bit easy, because it is going to help us solve more challenging questions coming up. 

This is an example of a problem string we did on Wednesday. The first and second problem (5x4 and 4x4) helped us solved 9x4 in an efficient way! 

Four Winds

We had our first Four Winds time this week! Thank you to Liam's, Sawyer's and Alexis' moms for helping us learn about insects! We started by putting together an insect made of different pieces like felt and pipe cleaners. We talked about the different parts of an insect's body: head, thorax, and abdomen. 

Then we got to look at a paper that explain how insects are categorized into different categories.

After this, we were given a picture of an insect and had to try and figure out which category the insect went in! 

We enjoyed the puppet show! 

And lastly, we went outside to look for insects! 

Chloe the Clownfish

Today we explored multiplication using a picture of a seascape and a friendly clownfish named Chloe! We learned that Chloe the Clownfish is 4 inches long. Using that information, we tried to use our multiplication skills to figure out how long, tall, or wide other sea creatures in the picture were. For example, we noticed that the sea anemone was about the size of 2 Chloes, so that would be 2 x 4 = 8 inches long. We were using proportional relationships to help us determine the size of the larger objects! Ask your child about some of the other creatures: triggerfish, tube sponge, moray eel, sea turtle, parrotfish, brain coral, and vase sponge. 

Engineering with Forces!

In Ms. Pacy's WIN group, we are currently working on engineering some Rube Goldberg machines to go along with our third grade study of forces and interactions. Yesterday, we did some research and watched several videos of different machines online, and then students made a plan to build their own machines. Today, we experimented with materials and tested out our plans! These third graders are continuing to amaze me with their creativity and ideas! 

In homeroom science today we were able to make a claim and support it with some evidence we collected from an experiment (using golf balls and ping pong balls) earlier this week. We observed that a heavier object will travel less distance than a lighter object when flicked with the same force. We also observed that the harder an object is flicked (more force) the farther it will travel. 

Reading Partners

Today we met with our reading partners and learned about their reading preferences and goals. We know that a partner can help push us toward our goals and recommend books if they know us well. We practiced our interviewing skills by asking questions to get to know our partner as a reader. 

We also started to phase in small group reading this week! Your student may be traveling to a different classroom to work with a different teacher during Reader's Workshop. These groups are very flexible and will continue to change throughout the year! 

This group is well on their way to building reading lives!