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)!