Math
Now that we have composed and compared numbers using their place values, we will begin to round numbers to the nearest 10 to 100 using a number line. In third grade students worked on looking for patterns of numbers on a hundreds chart. We will use this same knowledge of patterns to expand to placing numbers on a number line to round. For the next two weeks we will use and discuss this visual representation. Our goal is for students to understand the process of rounding and real world connections to the purpose of rounding rather than learning the procedure of rounding. We will introduce this "rule" but we want students to be able to walk away know why we round certain numbers above or below based on place value patterns.
A helpful website that we will be using in class is http://www.softschools.com/math/rounding/game/
Our goal is to have weekly quizzes that will assess student progress with each section of material taught. The day we have the quiz will depend on how far we get in teaching the concept. Quizzes will be announced and written in agenda books each week. Math homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday to reinforce concepts students are learning in their small groups that week. If your child is frustrated by the homework and unable to determine a strategy for completion, please write a note on the paper and we will review with him/her the following day.
In addition, students should be practicing their basic facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication) each night. Students must be fluent in all four operations by the end of this year. Two great websites we use in class are:
www.multiplication.com
www.thinkingblocks.com
Reading/Science
This week students will engage in reading informational texts to make generalizations and analyze relationships. We will read various text to determine distinctions between decomposition and competition among various plants and animals that share a habitat.
Each day students will practice what is taught in the mini-lesson in their guided reading group. Teachers will continue to complete reading assessments with students to gain an accurate reading levels to form groups. In guided groups we will read various informational texts to make generalizations about how plants/animals co-exist in the same habitat.
As we read our group texts, our vocabulary goal for the week is to use our own words to paraphrase what we have read. We will read a portion of text and use our own words to paraphrase. This will be a vocabulary grade.
Social Studies/Media/Writing
In Media we will begin to research the geography and settlement patterns of Native Americans before 1400. As a class we will generate research questions to guide our inquiry projects. Each student will select a native culture group to research. We will look to identify the geographic characteristics of the land settled, how the culture shaped the roles of men and women, as well as various other questions once generated. After gathering our research, students will use what they have learned about native culture to craft a historical fiction piece of writing.
Our media time will be flexible and based on the needs of each class. Mrs. Dynda's class is gathering research this week. Our media time has moved from 11:15 to 1:00 in order to accommodate each grade levels needs. We will also have book check out during that time.
Now that we have gathered research about various Native tribes in media, in writing we will use the background information to write our historical fiction narratives about life in a Native tribe pre-European exploration. In order to create our story maps, we will read the Historical Fiction text Just Like Josh Gibson to map out the story elements the author used. We will then use this model to begin to think about our own story.
Students will be working in media and in writing to create a historical fiction piece centered around a native person from the 1300s. They will have to create a setting based on where their tribe lived and create a problem and solution that would have been possible in the 1300s. By the end of this week, students should have enough factual research to create their fictional story.
Science
During this marking period we will study ecosystems, particularly the Chesapeake Bay.
We will observe each animal (cricket, isopod, snail, guppy) and the plants that will provide nourishment for survival. We will examine our habitats (eco-columns) to determine how well our plants/animals are surviving based on our design. We will continue to observe our ecosystems each week.
We will also use bread to analyze the process and importance of decomposition. In reading, we will make generalizations about the need for competition and decomposition of specific habitats in order for the successful survival of the ecosystem. Last week we used a plastic bag to put a piece of bread with five drops of water on it. We hid the bag in a dark location to see if we can draw conclusions about decomposition over the next three weeks. This week we will find the bread we hid and observe if and how it has decomposed.
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