Can Drive

Traditionally at this time of year, our school participates in an annual Can Drive. We are collecting can goods for those who are in need in the communities of Lakeshore. Our class goal is 252 cans! We have 40 and need 210 more.

What does our Brain do when it's Thinking?

We use reading strategies to help us understand what we are reading. Recently, we have discovered that these strategies help us when we are thinking and we use them during math problem solving, science, social studies . . . during everything. In 3ES, we call them our thinking strategies.

Making Predictions - We think about:
-what might happen next
-what I want to find out
-what will happen to the characters
-how will the problem be solved
-how will a story end
-new ideas and how they make me reconsider what I think

Make Connections - We think about:
-how a text or math problem relates to another text or problem that we have read or solved before
-how a text or math problem relates to another text or problem that we has occurred in the world
-how a text or math problem relates to something in our own life experience

We Visualize
-we can think about the author's words and make a picture or a movie in our mind
-we can see the problem in our mind and develop a strategy to help us solve it

We Question - We think about:
-What is the purpose? - Is it to Entertain, Persuade, Inform?
-What does this mean to me?
-What do I already know?
-Does this make sense?
-What information is missing?
-We use the 5Ws - Who? What? Where? When? Why?

Math Link for Home

http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/ This is a link we have been using in the classroom to help us during math. Here you can find games, videos, and songs that are related to our math learning.

Geometry Learning Goals

Pictured are a couple of examples of how we can sort figures using Venn Diagrams. We have been using geoboards to learn about the attributes of polygons and non-polygons and matching congruent shapes. 

This month we continue to explore the big ideas of geometry which include:

-figures and solids can be described, compared, and sorted according to their attributes (length of sides, parallel sides, angles, number of vertices)

-two figures (2D) or two solids (3D) are congruent if they have the same size and shape.

-solids have faces that are figures. The shape of the base tells the name of the solid

-a model of a solid can be built with a net

Enjoy our pictures from our day at Heritage Village!

Heritage Village

Today we visited the Heritage Village in Essex County. We had a great day, despite the cold weather during the morning! Before we left, we thought of some great questions we had about what life was like in the 1800's. Here are some:

We learned how the Early Settlers made butter and even tried some of the bread that they would have baked many years ago. We toured some of the log cabins and noticed how tiny they were compared to the homes we live in today. Many families had 10 or more children. Yikes! We learned that they built their homes with logs and grass and they were heated with fires in the winter. In the summer, they were very warm and there were lots of bugs. The children were never really bored because they did all the chores. They made candles. We did too! Candles were used for lighting. They all slept well at night probably because they were so tired from the day's chores. They ate ducks, rabbits, deer, and even squirrels! When they were sick or hurt they usually relied on doctor's to visit them, as they didn't have medicine or hospitals like we do today. We even were able to see some of the clothes people wore back them, which are very different than what we wear today. 

The best part, we visited a school that was used in 1907 and agreed that maybe our school rules aren't so bad afterall. 

We had a great day. Most of our questions were answered, but now we have even more questions.... stay tuned!

Why are we on Twitter?

As a mom and a teacher, I have had (and will continue to have) many conversations about social media, blogging and the Internet. Most of those conversations have been about what's wrong or dangerous about these latest ways of sharing and gaining information. I still have my believes, but I also know that these tools aren't going anywhere and I know that the future is here! My goal is to teach children to use social media and blogging to communicate in ways that make us smarter! I want my children and my students to see how useful and inspiring it can be when it's used in responsible ways, with thought and care. 

I am not encouraging my students (or even my own children) to join twitter (not yet anyway). We can learn together how to share our thoughts, ideas, questions, and information with the Twitter world by using our shared "Cirque de Szalay" account. Here we can get cozy with it, maybe make mistakes - but we're in this together. Through this, my hope is that as they get older and begin to experiment with social media on their own, they will remember the importance about being responsible online and taking all the good from the Internet and using it their advantage. There is so much to learn. It's truly exciting. 

Parents - please follow our Twitter account and learn along with us. It will be fun! We won't follow you back, so feel free to use your account as a read only. 

Tomorrow we will be live Tweeting from the Heritage Village (whatever that means)! 

Tuesday's Field Trip

On Tuesday, we travel to the Heritage Village to learn more about what life was like for people living in Canada in the early 1800's. Children and volunteers should dress for the weather, as we will be outside for most of the day. Please back a garbageless lunch. Our bus will leave at 9:00 A.M and return around 2:30. Thank you!

Be sure to follow our Twitter Account for live updates during our trip!

Early Communities in Canada

We have compared a current map of Canada and a map of Lower and Upper Canada from 1791 and discovered many similiarities and differences. Canada was so small many years ago. We have also investigated how our lives are different compared to people (Early Settlers and First Nations) who lived in Canada many years ago. 

Next week, we will travel to the Heritage Village to learn more about what life was like back in the early 1800s. We hope you continue conversations about life in the past at home! 

Number Sense

Our learning goals for the next few weeks in Mathematics:

• read and print numbers from 0 - 1000
• count by 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 100 and 1000 using various starting points (count backwards too)
• identify and describe numbers to 1000
• model numbers using base ten materials and recording numbers on a place value chart
• explore other ways to model numbers
• count on number lines

Try this game at home:

Remove the 10s and face cards from a deck of cards. Deal 3 cards to each player. The player who can make the greatest 3-digit number with her or his cards gets 1 point. Return the cards to the deck, shuffle, and deal again. The first player to get 10 points is the winner. Repeat the activity making the least possible number. 

Expanded Form:

Somebody Wanted But So Then

Students are often asked to retell a story or event either orally or in writing. The ability to retell or summarize demonstrates a student's comprehension abilities. There are a number of strategies to help children do this with success. We often use graphic organizers that break the story up into characters, setting, problem and solution. We provide sentence starters: In the beginning, Then, Finally.
Another way (that works very well), is the Somebody Wanted But So Then strategy. By using this organizer, students are prompted to recount the story by naming the characters, the problem and how it's solved. It works! Try it at home.
Read a story together and have your child retell (recount/summarize) it either in writing or orally.

Thinking about Thinking

This month, we will review the strategies we use as we are thinking during problem solving, reading or writing. We have discovered that we can use the strategies that all good readers use in everything we do.
We have learned that as read, or listen to a story being read aloud, we begin to ask questions in our head. We talked about the 5Ws too. Ask your child what they are!
This month, we will focus on how we make predictions, connections and inferences. We will also learn more about how we our thinking changes (transforms!). Powerful stuff!