One of the portraits students did yesterday after they interviewed each other.
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Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Day Two
The second day is sort of the first real day of school. We begin to settle down into a routine and the students begin to actually use their books and start learning. I like the second day better than the first usually!
Today we started with silent reading. Most classes call this DEAR. We call is Reader’s Workshop because we’ll do it slightly differently. For today, though, we just practiced picking books and reading. We also started our Writer’s Workshop. Today students brainstormed possible topics and started rough drafts. We also began our Open Court work today, focusing on what we know about our theme of Friendship. We start our phonics component with a view of consonants and short vowel words. Today we practice blending short a phonograms.
After lunch, we started our first Science unit on living things. The six weeks we spend on this prepares us nicely for the next Open Court theme, City Wildlife. We also started our music today. At first, since we are spending time working on steady beat and rhythmic speaking, students don’t quite get that it’s music, but nothing is more fundamental than rhythm.
After lunch, we did relays in PE and discussed odd and even in math. I explained how my two dogs could divide by two and knew the difference between odd and even. They liked the idea of canine math.
Homework: Students had about 15 minutes to start this in class so there should not be many questions.
Today we started with silent reading. Most classes call this DEAR. We call is Reader’s Workshop because we’ll do it slightly differently. For today, though, we just practiced picking books and reading. We also started our Writer’s Workshop. Today students brainstormed possible topics and started rough drafts. We also began our Open Court work today, focusing on what we know about our theme of Friendship. We start our phonics component with a view of consonants and short vowel words. Today we practice blending short a phonograms.
After lunch, we started our first Science unit on living things. The six weeks we spend on this prepares us nicely for the next Open Court theme, City Wildlife. We also started our music today. At first, since we are spending time working on steady beat and rhythmic speaking, students don’t quite get that it’s music, but nothing is more fundamental than rhythm.
After lunch, we did relays in PE and discussed odd and even in math. I explained how my two dogs could divide by two and knew the difference between odd and even. They liked the idea of canine math.
Homework: Students had about 15 minutes to start this in class so there should not be many questions.
- Finish the Science questions, page A 9. Most students did finish these in class.
- Write 4 statements and 4 questions. The content is unimportant here; I’m looking for correct use of capital and periods and to see if there are subjects and verbs in each sentence.
- Do the subtraction facts worksheet. This should be fast if the students really know the facts and aren’t counting on fingers.
- Do page 3 in the Math book. Write answers only on lined paper. This deals with odd and even.
- Continue studying spelling if needed for Friday’s test.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The first day of school
The first day of school is always so hard for everybody, no matter how often you’ve done it. Children are nervous of course, but so are parents and teachers. Somehow it seems so important that the first day be just right.
Well, our first day went quite well, I think. All 21 of us showed up, and almost everybody right on time. Students completed Interest Inventories which will help me to guide them toward books in Independent Reading which will be just right for them. They also did a pre-test of third grade skills from the Open Court series. I took a little longer than I thought it would, but I was impressed by their seriousness.
We took a tour of the campus so they would know where to play during recess. We also practiced our line order and walking in line.
Returning to our classroom, we partnered up and interviewed our partners. We took the information we gained from the interview and wrote rough drafts. I corrected those and the students did final drafts.
After recess, I did our first portrait of the year. We will study this skill more in depth later, but for today we did a rough sketch of the person we interviewed and used crayons or oil pastels to color it.
I stayed with the students during lunch today so that they could get a feel for the lunchtime routine. This year we have three lunches, and it seemed much calmer and quieter than last year with fewer children eating at the same time.
After lunch, I gave the students who still needed to work on final drafts a little more time while the students who were done got a head start on the math homework. We then discuss the basic rules which apply in any classroom, including, of course, ours. Their wording of the rules was slightly different from mine, but the basic values and ideas were the same.
Tomorrow, we’ll start learning our daily schedule and the “how to” of each activity on the schedule.
Homework: Homework starts our very easy at first. I like to give students a feeling of success and confidence. We can then decided how to make it more challenging for some students. For tonight,
Well, our first day went quite well, I think. All 21 of us showed up, and almost everybody right on time. Students completed Interest Inventories which will help me to guide them toward books in Independent Reading which will be just right for them. They also did a pre-test of third grade skills from the Open Court series. I took a little longer than I thought it would, but I was impressed by their seriousness.
We took a tour of the campus so they would know where to play during recess. We also practiced our line order and walking in line.
Returning to our classroom, we partnered up and interviewed our partners. We took the information we gained from the interview and wrote rough drafts. I corrected those and the students did final drafts.
After recess, I did our first portrait of the year. We will study this skill more in depth later, but for today we did a rough sketch of the person we interviewed and used crayons or oil pastels to color it.
I stayed with the students during lunch today so that they could get a feel for the lunchtime routine. This year we have three lunches, and it seemed much calmer and quieter than last year with fewer children eating at the same time.
After lunch, I gave the students who still needed to work on final drafts a little more time while the students who were done got a head start on the math homework. We then discuss the basic rules which apply in any classroom, including, of course, ours. Their wording of the rules was slightly different from mine, but the basic values and ideas were the same.
Tomorrow, we’ll start learning our daily schedule and the “how to” of each activity on the schedule.
Homework: Homework starts our very easy at first. I like to give students a feeling of success and confidence. We can then decided how to make it more challenging for some students. For tonight,
- Do the addition facts worksheet.
- Study the spelling words – no need to write anything.
- Bring in a photograph or a picture if you don’t have a photograph of you and a friend doing something together. This photo will be returned when the friendship unit is over. It is for our Concept/Question board.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Welcome
I’d like to welcome all the new students and their parents to third grade and to room 19. I am excited and looking forward to a very productive year together. This blog will be an important part of how I work with families and let them know what is going on in our classroom. It will not only tell you what we have done each day, but will also explain what the homework is.
Our first day of school, as you all know, I’m sure, will be Tuesday, September 6th. Please arrive on time. Our school day begins currently at 8:05. Please understand that I do not have time on Tuesday morning to discuss your child’s needs and other things in detail. It’s not that I’m not interested, but there is just too much going on for me to really listen.
I have tentatively scheduled a parent meeting for our class only on Tuesday, September 13th, at 5:30 p.m.. Please let me know if it is impossible for you to come at that time. If we have quite a few people for whom this time does not work, we may need to reschedule the meeting.
The best way to contact me is by email. You can use either my school account jbasse1@lausd.k12.ca.us or my home account johndavidbassett@comcast.net. I check both of them frequently so I’m sure to get your message and be able to respond fairly quickly.
Our first day of school, as you all know, I’m sure, will be Tuesday, September 6th. Please arrive on time. Our school day begins currently at 8:05. Please understand that I do not have time on Tuesday morning to discuss your child’s needs and other things in detail. It’s not that I’m not interested, but there is just too much going on for me to really listen.
I have tentatively scheduled a parent meeting for our class only on Tuesday, September 13th, at 5:30 p.m.. Please let me know if it is impossible for you to come at that time. If we have quite a few people for whom this time does not work, we may need to reschedule the meeting.
The best way to contact me is by email. You can use either my school account jbasse1@lausd.k12.ca.us or my home account johndavidbassett@comcast.net. I check both of them frequently so I’m sure to get your message and be able to respond fairly quickly.
Universal concepts and big ideas help children to connect knowledge across disciplines and to connect what they learn in school with their own experiences.
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Thursday, June 09, 2005
Our three "trenches" -- one had artifacts of the Native period, another of the rancho period, and a third was from the more contemporary decades.
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There's such a feeling of excitement when you uncover something in the dig! Here we found an old camera in the "contemporary" trench.
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Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Last Short Tuesday
Today was our last shortened day of the year. I'm not sorry! I'd rather spend the time with my students than at a faculty meeting any day!
It was a productive day. We spent our morning doing Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop. The current page totals are on the gradebook for you to check. Two students currently have well over 1000 pages since March! Wow! I'm a little behind on giving credit for the writing, but that should be current by Monday. I really enjoy working one-on-one with the students on their writing, discussing strategies and helping correct mistakes. We then started on the next story in Open Court, "Just Plain Fancy" by Patricia Polacco. This is a fictional account of two Amish girls who accidentally raise a peacock and fear they will be shunned because the showy bird is too "fancy." We just go started today, doing blending and vocabulary and reading about half the story.
After recess, we again split into two groups that worked on Mrs Caruso's play. I worked with the musicians on Tallis' Canon. It's starting to come together. After lunch, Mrs Caruso had to leave early to deal with an automotive crisis, so Ms Jan and I worked with both classes on their math.
Homework: Just keep working on the math workbook.
It was a productive day. We spent our morning doing Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop. The current page totals are on the gradebook for you to check. Two students currently have well over 1000 pages since March! Wow! I'm a little behind on giving credit for the writing, but that should be current by Monday. I really enjoy working one-on-one with the students on their writing, discussing strategies and helping correct mistakes. We then started on the next story in Open Court, "Just Plain Fancy" by Patricia Polacco. This is a fictional account of two Amish girls who accidentally raise a peacock and fear they will be shunned because the showy bird is too "fancy." We just go started today, doing blending and vocabulary and reading about half the story.
After recess, we again split into two groups that worked on Mrs Caruso's play. I worked with the musicians on Tallis' Canon. It's starting to come together. After lunch, Mrs Caruso had to leave early to deal with an automotive crisis, so Ms Jan and I worked with both classes on their math.
Homework: Just keep working on the math workbook.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Country Fair Afterglow
Well, I had a chance to see a number of you at Country Fair on Saturday. Nida and Alejandro performed with Ms Kullman's group, and I thought they stole the show. I unfortunately miss Paolo's performance since some group times were rearranged. I'm sure he was great, too.
It was awfully hot, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, and I spent too much time in the sun and felt it for the rest of the weekend. In fact, I still felt a little solar "hangover" today. At least my shoulders did! But I had a great time, and I was delighted to see our basket did quite well. Thank you to everybody who contributed!
Today, Mrs Caruso began rehearsing her play with the actors, and I started to work on the music. For the First Thanksgiving scene, we will be playing Thomas Tallis' famous "Canon" on recorder in four parts over a repeating "g" sounding on the metalophone to imitate a church bell. After each the canon, we will bridge over into having the whole "Pilgrim Chorus" (not Wagner's!) sing the tune to words which the students will help write.
Homework: Continue work on the math book. Students should be about 1/3 done with the text by now. Also, remember that Science Fair has been moved up from Friday to Thursday. Contributing a Science Fair project is not required, but will help students move from a "3" to a "4" in Science.
It was awfully hot, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you, and I spent too much time in the sun and felt it for the rest of the weekend. In fact, I still felt a little solar "hangover" today. At least my shoulders did! But I had a great time, and I was delighted to see our basket did quite well. Thank you to everybody who contributed!
Today, Mrs Caruso began rehearsing her play with the actors, and I started to work on the music. For the First Thanksgiving scene, we will be playing Thomas Tallis' famous "Canon" on recorder in four parts over a repeating "g" sounding on the metalophone to imitate a church bell. After each the canon, we will bridge over into having the whole "Pilgrim Chorus" (not Wagner's!) sing the tune to words which the students will help write.
Homework: Continue work on the math book. Students should be about 1/3 done with the text by now. Also, remember that Science Fair has been moved up from Friday to Thursday. Contributing a Science Fair project is not required, but will help students move from a "3" to a "4" in Science.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
The Play's the Thing
Today we started to return to what Warren Harding famously called "normalcy." Testing is over, and our field trip is done. We can now get back to that wonderfully productive routine.
Certainly that's how our morning went. We had Reader's Workshop, and then during Independent Work Time we reviewed our last story on dairy farming and began to look at the next story about the Amish. We worked on a lot of hard words today during blending. Four-syllable words are now the norm for blending, but everyone seems to understand the way to look at the words and separate them into syllables. We then discussed some vocabulary. We read and discussed the story.
After recess, we turned our attention to the play that Mrs Caruso helped to write. It is pretty long! In the story, two children pick up their mother's cell phone and are instantly transported back to the Plymouth of the first Thanksgiving. They meet up with two Wampanoag children. After some initial hesitation, they become friends. The two Native American children are concerned that their mother might die unless she receives some medication, so once they learn about the time travel phone, they want to come along to the future to get the medication. From Plymouth, the children journey through the Cumberland Gap where they meet Daniel Boone, and then attend the unveiling of the Freedman's Memorial in Washington D.C. where they meet Frederick Douglas. They go to San Francisco to see the Summer of Love, and then journey 500 years to the future where they discover the genial reason for their adventures. It's an interesting romp through American history.
I proposed to Mrs Caruso that I would watch members of both classes after lunch while she held auditions for the major roles. With Ms Jan, the RST aide, to help me, this went quite well. Mrs Caruso should be announcing the cast tomorrow or Monday. Once she is working with the actors, I will work with the musicians.
Homework: (1) Write a summary of what was seen and learned on the trip to Cabrillo. (2) Continue to work on the math workbook.
Certainly that's how our morning went. We had Reader's Workshop, and then during Independent Work Time we reviewed our last story on dairy farming and began to look at the next story about the Amish. We worked on a lot of hard words today during blending. Four-syllable words are now the norm for blending, but everyone seems to understand the way to look at the words and separate them into syllables. We then discussed some vocabulary. We read and discussed the story.
After recess, we turned our attention to the play that Mrs Caruso helped to write. It is pretty long! In the story, two children pick up their mother's cell phone and are instantly transported back to the Plymouth of the first Thanksgiving. They meet up with two Wampanoag children. After some initial hesitation, they become friends. The two Native American children are concerned that their mother might die unless she receives some medication, so once they learn about the time travel phone, they want to come along to the future to get the medication. From Plymouth, the children journey through the Cumberland Gap where they meet Daniel Boone, and then attend the unveiling of the Freedman's Memorial in Washington D.C. where they meet Frederick Douglas. They go to San Francisco to see the Summer of Love, and then journey 500 years to the future where they discover the genial reason for their adventures. It's an interesting romp through American history.
I proposed to Mrs Caruso that I would watch members of both classes after lunch while she held auditions for the major roles. With Ms Jan, the RST aide, to help me, this went quite well. Mrs Caruso should be announcing the cast tomorrow or Monday. Once she is working with the actors, I will work with the musicians.
Homework: (1) Write a summary of what was seen and learned on the trip to Cabrillo. (2) Continue to work on the math workbook.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Cabrillo
A most pleasant trip to the Cabrillo Marine Museum today. We boarded the bus a little after nine o'clock, and we started the LONG drive down to San Pedro. Once we arrive, we were ushered into the auditorium where we watched a most informative slideshow about tidepools led by a smart, funny, and very cool guide. They then split us into two groups to take turns visiting the tidepool touch tanks and the lab. In both places, we got to really feel the creatures. Some of us thought that they were a little slimy, while others had a great time touching away. We had a short lunch (and we kept most of it away from the seagulls) and then we walked out to the tidepools themselves. We got a chance to see a lot of the things we'd seen in the slides. On the way back to the bus, a pod of dolphins popped up out of the waves as if to say, "Come again!"
Many of you had a chance to come to the parent meeting yesterday, and some of you VERY generously contributed. Mrs. Caruso and I will be splitting responsibility for the play that she and Talia's mom wrote together. She will be in charge of directing the play and designing sets and costumes. I will be responsible for working with a group to develop and perform appropriate music for the play. I'll help her out as I can with the sets, but I'm not nearly the artist she is! We don't have much time, but we'll give it our all.
Homework: Keep working on the math textbook. Other than that, nada.
Many of you had a chance to come to the parent meeting yesterday, and some of you VERY generously contributed. Mrs. Caruso and I will be splitting responsibility for the play that she and Talia's mom wrote together. She will be in charge of directing the play and designing sets and costumes. I will be responsible for working with a group to develop and perform appropriate music for the play. I'll help her out as I can with the sets, but I'm not nearly the artist she is! We don't have much time, but we'll give it our all.
Homework: Keep working on the math textbook. Other than that, nada.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Another of our Ox-Cart Man pictures. Note the wonderful use of color and the sense of perspective.
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New Math
Today was the Language Arts section of the CAT 6. This is currently the section of the testing used to evaluate students for placement in gifted programs, so I have always urged the students to do it with particular care. I think they did reasonably well, though I try not to look over their shoulders. The urge to say, "Think about that one again!" is so strong when you see a silly mistake. Unfortunately, the state does not let us give that kind of assistance on tests.
Since we are basically finished with the math book -- it's such a rush to "cover" everything by the first of May -- I gave the students some math books I've had in my cupboard for a few years. These will help review some of the number sense and problem solving skills and will also give them a taste of what to expect next year in fourth grade. They will be working on these books in school and at home for the next month. Students seem pretty excited by their new texts.
I just learned today that we will be putting on a play next month. The inspiration for this came from Mrs Caruso, and we will be involved with room 17 in doing this. There will be a special meeting about the play and about upcoming events next Tuesday at 7:45 am. If you can possibly attend, please come. If you cannot make it, please email Mrs Caruso to get details. Write her at kcaruso@lausd.k12.ca.us.
Homework: Finish Heartland questions if these were not completed in class. Continue work innew math books.
Since we are basically finished with the math book -- it's such a rush to "cover" everything by the first of May -- I gave the students some math books I've had in my cupboard for a few years. These will help review some of the number sense and problem solving skills and will also give them a taste of what to expect next year in fourth grade. They will be working on these books in school and at home for the next month. Students seem pretty excited by their new texts.
I just learned today that we will be putting on a play next month. The inspiration for this came from Mrs Caruso, and we will be involved with room 17 in doing this. There will be a special meeting about the play and about upcoming events next Tuesday at 7:45 am. If you can possibly attend, please come. If you cannot make it, please email Mrs Caruso to get details. Write her at kcaruso@lausd.k12.ca.us.
Homework: Finish Heartland questions if these were not completed in class. Continue work innew math books.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The ox-cart man starting to walk home from Portsmouth market with the kettle he bought.
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Hanging In
Today was the last day of the California Standards Test. Tomorrow we start the CAT 6 portion. By Monday, deity of your choice willing, will be done. It's hard for them to keep the energy up. But they're really trying. I can tell that.
We checked yesterday's work first thing, and we read and discussed the "Heartland" poem. We talked about what the "heartland" is and why people call it that. We also scanned several lines of the poem so that students could learn what couplets are and about iambic. (The poem is written in irregular stanzas of iambic quadrameter). After recess, we also had Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop.
In the afternoon we finished up Minnie and Moo, a rather odd book about a ragtag group of animals who try to save the farm. We reviewed "Ox-Cart Man" and students were assigned lines of the poem to illustrate as a first step towards the culminating project. One of the works is shown above.
Homework: No homework is the only really good part of testing week, isn't it?
We checked yesterday's work first thing, and we read and discussed the "Heartland" poem. We talked about what the "heartland" is and why people call it that. We also scanned several lines of the poem so that students could learn what couplets are and about iambic. (The poem is written in irregular stanzas of iambic quadrameter). After recess, we also had Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop.
In the afternoon we finished up Minnie and Moo, a rather odd book about a ragtag group of animals who try to save the farm. We reviewed "Ox-Cart Man" and students were assigned lines of the poem to illustrate as a first step towards the culminating project. One of the works is shown above.
Homework: No homework is the only really good part of testing week, isn't it?
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Finishing Lap Two
Sunday was the Kentucky Derby. I did not watch it, but watching the reports about the race on the news made me wonder what exactly the horses thing about it. Do they get a thrill from seeing how fast they can run around the track? Do they want to win? Or do they just wonder why the heck they have to run around in circles?
State testing is sort of like this, I think. Some students seem to sense that there is some kind of competition going on here, and you can tell they take it seriously. There's an energy there. Other children just have a resignation which lets you know that they think that this is sort of a pointless as running around a short track a whole bunch of times.
Either way, we finished "lap two." This concludes both sections of the English Language Arts section of the California Standards Test. It's probably the most tiring for the children. Two days of math testing follow. These tests seem shorter, though they're actually the trickiest.
Homework: All have earned a day off.
State testing is sort of like this, I think. Some students seem to sense that there is some kind of competition going on here, and you can tell they take it seriously. There's an energy there. Other children just have a resignation which lets you know that they think that this is sort of a pointless as running around a short track a whole bunch of times.
Either way, we finished "lap two." This concludes both sections of the English Language Arts section of the California Standards Test. It's probably the most tiring for the children. Two days of math testing follow. These tests seem shorter, though they're actually the trickiest.
Homework: All have earned a day off.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Testing begins
Students did the first section of the CST (California Standards Test) today. I think it is one of the hardest sections, so it's nice that we're done with that. Tomorrow, we'll continue with the language arts sections, and then start the math on Wednesday.
Today was -- groan! -- rainy day schedule. And I wasn't in the mood for it. We had a really whiny lunch recess, so I dug out every worksheet I could find and assigned them for an afternoon independent work session. Suddenly, all was calm and pleasant. If they worked hard during this time, they should NOT have much if any homework. Everything listed below was assigned to them at 1:00 pm, and they had 90 minutes to work on it.
Homework: (1) Science, questions WB 97. Copy questions. (2) "Ox-Cart Man" open-book quiz. (3) Alphabetical order worksheet. (4) Equivalent fractions WS. (5) Multiplication WS.
Today was -- groan! -- rainy day schedule. And I wasn't in the mood for it. We had a really whiny lunch recess, so I dug out every worksheet I could find and assigned them for an afternoon independent work session. Suddenly, all was calm and pleasant. If they worked hard during this time, they should NOT have much if any homework. Everything listed below was assigned to them at 1:00 pm, and they had 90 minutes to work on it.
Homework: (1) Science, questions WB 97. Copy questions. (2) "Ox-Cart Man" open-book quiz. (3) Alphabetical order worksheet. (4) Equivalent fractions WS. (5) Multiplication WS.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Country Life
Today we began our final Open Court unit, "Country Life". I particularly like this unit because it really allows the students to think about urban and rural life, past and present. We began today by starting to create our Concept/Question board. The children understood that there were lots of farms and therefore animals in the country, but were a little unclear about anything else. Our unit will help, I think, to broaden this understanding.
We started reading and discussing the first selection, "Ox-Cart Man", a poem by Donald Hall. (I have a particular fondness for this poem, and I developed a lesson plan for the Education Devision of the LA County Music Center based on it. We will be following this lesson plan in its broadest outlines, though I'm making some changes.) The poem helps students see the rhythm of life for a family on a farm in New Hampshire in the 1850's. I admit another bias here: the poet was one of my professors at the University of Michigan back in the 1970's.
The selections which follow help students see country life today. "I am the Heartland" is a paen to the agricultural sector. It provides students with the opportunity to see that urban and rural life are intertwined, even though it has a political undertone which sometimes makes me wonder if it was not commissioned by Archer-Daniels-Midland. There is an informative selection on dairy farming called "Cows in the Parlor".
There are a couple of selections about the Amish. These probably cause the students to assume that there are a lot more Amish farming families than there really are, but they find the life of the Amish interesting. Neither really explains the religious motivations of the Amish, so I try to provide a succinct and objective introduction to Anabaptist movement to place these in context. They usually look a little blankly at me when I do this, but I feel like I need to explain that the Amish are not doing this just to look cute.
There is a long and hard to read selection to the problem of urban sprawl called "Whatever Happened to the Baxter Place?". This is an important one for me because my sister is a professor of urban planning at Michigan State University and stopping urban sprawl is one of her professional and personal passions. I've got to figure out a way this year to make this selection for lively to the students.
The unit ends with a big question and a little answer. The question is, "Which is better, rural or urban life?" Unfortunately, the only thing that McGraw Hill seemed able to find to address this question was the tedious old Aesop fable about the "Country Mouse and the City Mouse". I suppose that student's cultural literacy would not be complete without knowing this, but it seems like a trite answer. We'll do better in class.
Homework: The students have had a heavy load lately, and they're getting a night off. Unless they have some classwork to finish, they should have a free evening. Enjoy!
We started reading and discussing the first selection, "Ox-Cart Man", a poem by Donald Hall. (I have a particular fondness for this poem, and I developed a lesson plan for the Education Devision of the LA County Music Center based on it. We will be following this lesson plan in its broadest outlines, though I'm making some changes.) The poem helps students see the rhythm of life for a family on a farm in New Hampshire in the 1850's. I admit another bias here: the poet was one of my professors at the University of Michigan back in the 1970's.
The selections which follow help students see country life today. "I am the Heartland" is a paen to the agricultural sector. It provides students with the opportunity to see that urban and rural life are intertwined, even though it has a political undertone which sometimes makes me wonder if it was not commissioned by Archer-Daniels-Midland. There is an informative selection on dairy farming called "Cows in the Parlor".
There are a couple of selections about the Amish. These probably cause the students to assume that there are a lot more Amish farming families than there really are, but they find the life of the Amish interesting. Neither really explains the religious motivations of the Amish, so I try to provide a succinct and objective introduction to Anabaptist movement to place these in context. They usually look a little blankly at me when I do this, but I feel like I need to explain that the Amish are not doing this just to look cute.
There is a long and hard to read selection to the problem of urban sprawl called "Whatever Happened to the Baxter Place?". This is an important one for me because my sister is a professor of urban planning at Michigan State University and stopping urban sprawl is one of her professional and personal passions. I've got to figure out a way this year to make this selection for lively to the students.
The unit ends with a big question and a little answer. The question is, "Which is better, rural or urban life?" Unfortunately, the only thing that McGraw Hill seemed able to find to address this question was the tedious old Aesop fable about the "Country Mouse and the City Mouse". I suppose that student's cultural literacy would not be complete without knowing this, but it seems like a trite answer. We'll do better in class.
Homework: The students have had a heavy load lately, and they're getting a night off. Unless they have some classwork to finish, they should have a free evening. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Putting it all Together
Today we spent most of the morning reviewing what we learned from our study of money. Students were called on one by one. Each could either recall something from memory about what they learned about money or go to the Concept/Question board and take off and read one of the entries. You can guess what choice appealed to most of them. As each idea was recalled, I put it on cluster or webs on the board. The students carefully copied the webs down. After they finished the webs, we brainstormed a sentence which could be used as a sentence which seemed to introduce or sum up the cluster. They will use these tonight to help guide writing a multiple paragraph essay. The sentences we brainstormed can be used as topic sentences for the various paragraphs. This is really a fourth grade kind of assignment, but I think they're ready to give it a try!
In math, students are learning to compare decimals. This is always a little tricky. Student instinctively think that 0.11 must be bigger than 0.9 because 11 is bigger than 9! It sort of makes sense, no matter how wrong it is! For this reason, we really must insist that they say "zero point one one" instead of "zero point eleven" which most of them will want to do. Of course, translating the decimals into equivalent fractions is what REALLY shows understanding.
Homework: (1) Math, Decimals p. 159, #1-14. (2) Write a three to five paragraph essay about money. Summarize what we discussed throughout the unit. Use the three clusters/webs developed in class this morning to guide you, including the sample topic sentences.
In math, students are learning to compare decimals. This is always a little tricky. Student instinctively think that 0.11 must be bigger than 0.9 because 11 is bigger than 9! It sort of makes sense, no matter how wrong it is! For this reason, we really must insist that they say "zero point one one" instead of "zero point eleven" which most of them will want to do. Of course, translating the decimals into equivalent fractions is what REALLY shows understanding.
Homework: (1) Math, Decimals p. 159, #1-14. (2) Write a three to five paragraph essay about money. Summarize what we discussed throughout the unit. Use the three clusters/webs developed in class this morning to guide you, including the sample topic sentences.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Finishing up
Today we did the final parts of our LAST Open Court test of the year. We did the Vocabulary test and the Writing Assessment. The first was pretty hard; the second was somewhat ludicrous. It asked the students to suppose that one of their friends had written a letter to them asking them how to earn and save money. Yeah, right. A nine year old Warren Buffett, I suppose.
Still, the students seemed to do quite well on both parts. Grades will be posted shortly on the Internet: www.teacherease.com.
Homework: (1) Math, page 525, #1-14, 16-20. (2) Math, pages 527, all problems. (3) Science, page C37, #20-29.
Still, the students seemed to do quite well on both parts. Grades will be posted shortly on the Internet: www.teacherease.com.
Homework: (1) Math, page 525, #1-14, 16-20. (2) Math, pages 527, all problems. (3) Science, page C37, #20-29.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Scene from our Fitness Walk. How lucky we are to study in such a lovely neighborhood!
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Whew!
Well, the student were great today, but between the absurdly difficult math test in the morning and the Open Court test in the afternoon I really felt sorry for them. Still, we tried to liven things up as best we could by taking our Friday Fitness walk about 11:00 am, and by working on our second composition activity in the last 30 minutes or so.
Homework: They've earned a weekend without any!
Homework: They've earned a weekend without any!
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Test-o-mania
We seem to have a sudden crunch of tests and getting ready for them. Not only is the California Standards Test/CAT 6 coming up soon, but we have the district quarterly math test to give and the Open Court unit test.
The district test strikes me as particularly hard, and the homework today is largely designed to give them a chance to review the Statistics and Geometry that we did some time ago. There's a lot of this stuff on the test. Sorry. I didn't make up the test.
Homework may seem heavy tonight, but students were given from 1:50 to 2:30 to get started on it. Some used this time wisely. Others didn't.
Homework: (1) Statistics: Review/Test, p 264 and Cumulative Review, p 265. (2) Geometry: Review/Test, p 410. (3) Complete Connect Concepts, p C36. Copy the chart. (4) Punctuating Dialogue Worksheet. (5) Multiple Meaning Worksheet.
The district test strikes me as particularly hard, and the homework today is largely designed to give them a chance to review the Statistics and Geometry that we did some time ago. There's a lot of this stuff on the test. Sorry. I didn't make up the test.
Homework may seem heavy tonight, but students were given from 1:50 to 2:30 to get started on it. Some used this time wisely. Others didn't.
Homework: (1) Statistics: Review/Test, p 264 and Cumulative Review, p 265. (2) Geometry: Review/Test, p 410. (3) Complete Connect Concepts, p C36. Copy the chart. (4) Punctuating Dialogue Worksheet. (5) Multiple Meaning Worksheet.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
New Blog
Please check out our latest blog, this one featuring student writing. It's at www.roomnineteenwriters.blogspot.com.
Also, the gradebook is up to date now. I did have to adjust the points in Independent Reading, and didn't realize that doing this would artificially inflate existing scores. These are now corrected to reflect what's on the chart.
Homework: Vocabulary Review, Science, page C36 #1-11 only. Do NOT do Connect Concept. Copy the questions. (2) Math, Review/Test, page 516, and Cumulative Review, page 517.
Also, the gradebook is up to date now. I did have to adjust the points in Independent Reading, and didn't realize that doing this would artificially inflate existing scores. These are now corrected to reflect what's on the chart.
Homework: Vocabulary Review, Science, page C36 #1-11 only. Do NOT do Connect Concept. Copy the questions. (2) Math, Review/Test, page 516, and Cumulative Review, page 517.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Learning and Drills
There real growth in school comes, I've learned, not on those big exciting days when lots of things seem to happen but on the ordinary days when a quiet routine carries learning forward. This was just one of those days. The only thing "exciting" today was a fire drill with a lengthy explanation about what to do when bees are sighted on the playground.
But a lot of wonderful learning is going on. Equivalent fractions are hard, but we're learning them. We'll be done with the Money unit in the next couple days.
Homework: (1) Finish "Golden Touch" storyboard. Draw and color carefully. This is an arts grade. (2) Do both pages of the spelling review. The words on side one are the same words in the word search. (3) Math, page 512, #8-28. Reduce to simplest form when possible. (4) Write a four line poem. Each line should have 8 syllables. This is preparation for our next music writing assignment.
But a lot of wonderful learning is going on. Equivalent fractions are hard, but we're learning them. We'll be done with the Money unit in the next couple days.
Homework: (1) Finish "Golden Touch" storyboard. Draw and color carefully. This is an arts grade. (2) Do both pages of the spelling review. The words on side one are the same words in the word search. (3) Math, page 512, #8-28. Reduce to simplest form when possible. (4) Write a four line poem. Each line should have 8 syllables. This is preparation for our next music writing assignment.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Going well
A ordinary but pleasant Monday. We began with Reader's Workshop. After the Pledge of Allegiance, we shared what we had done with weekend. We continued with Writer's Workshop. We concluded with a short quiz over "Cobbler" and read through "The Golden Touch", a retelling of the King Midas Story.
We went to Tech Center today where students imagined their own dinosaurs and drew them in Kid Pix. Lunch time was a little exciting when a bee nest was discovered in one of the Chinese elm trees on the yard. Once the hysteria died down, we had our PE. We concluded with our discussion in math time of putting fractions in simplest form. I think about half of the students get the idea. That's pretty good for the first day!
Homework: (1) Math, page 506, #8-30 only. Answers MUST be in SIMPLEST FORM. (2) Plural Forms worksheet. (3) Crossword puzzle.
We went to Tech Center today where students imagined their own dinosaurs and drew them in Kid Pix. Lunch time was a little exciting when a bee nest was discovered in one of the Chinese elm trees on the yard. Once the hysteria died down, we had our PE. We concluded with our discussion in math time of putting fractions in simplest form. I think about half of the students get the idea. That's pretty good for the first day!
Homework: (1) Math, page 506, #8-30 only. Answers MUST be in SIMPLEST FORM. (2) Plural Forms worksheet. (3) Crossword puzzle.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Getting Fit
Today we had another brisk walk through Hancock Park. Mrs. Caruso sets quite a pace for us! It's amazing to see how much fitter the students have become over the course of the year. We're working on keeping a steadier pace and keeping our attention fixed on the people in front of us and behind us so that we can move together smoothly as a group. As I tell the class, walking in line has all the skills important for driving - staying in you lane, watching the cars in front of you and behind you, and keeping the right distance, neither too close nor too far.
We corrected the math tests today. The results are online at www. teacherease.com. I think all of the parents have access. If you have forgotten your log on or your password, let me know right away so I can allow you to check. The test were basically good, though some students need to continue working on the idea of equivalent fractions.
We finished the Cobbler's Song today. Next week we'll do the King Midas story and start our culminating activities, including the test.
Homework: Finish any classwork not completed today.
We corrected the math tests today. The results are online at www. teacherease.com. I think all of the parents have access. If you have forgotten your log on or your password, let me know right away so I can allow you to check. The test were basically good, though some students need to continue working on the idea of equivalent fractions.
We finished the Cobbler's Song today. Next week we'll do the King Midas story and start our culminating activities, including the test.
Homework: Finish any classwork not completed today.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Steady Progress
Another lovely day. Our Writer's Workshop in going splendidly, and I hope to start posting student compositions soon to a new blog. Details to follow.... We are closing in on the end of the money unit. We've raced through it in order to make plenty of time for the Country Life unit which has a major, major performing arts project.
Students performed the songs they wrote to the four bar rhythmic pattern I gave them. It was a first attempt, and the results were mixed. One group of girls did an absolutely phenomenonal job. I heard some of the boys mutter, "Next time we need to get some girls in the group!" Boy is it rare to hear third grade boys say that! I look forward to future composition projects.
We also took our math test today covering the first part of the fraction unit. We'll grade it tomorrow. By the way, if you haven't checked the gradebook lately, you'll find it is up to date now. My apologies for how behind I got this winter. I think we're back on track now.
Homework: Homework holiday today! A little reward for lots of hard work and wonderfully cooperative behavior.
Students performed the songs they wrote to the four bar rhythmic pattern I gave them. It was a first attempt, and the results were mixed. One group of girls did an absolutely phenomenonal job. I heard some of the boys mutter, "Next time we need to get some girls in the group!" Boy is it rare to hear third grade boys say that! I look forward to future composition projects.
We also took our math test today covering the first part of the fraction unit. We'll grade it tomorrow. By the way, if you haven't checked the gradebook lately, you'll find it is up to date now. My apologies for how behind I got this winter. I think we're back on track now.
Homework: Homework holiday today! A little reward for lots of hard work and wonderfully cooperative behavior.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Great Day
No special insights to share today. It was a thoroughly pleasant day. We continued with Reader's and Writer's Workshops, went to the library, and corrected our Open Court homework. After lunch, we continued working on our group compositions and reviewed atoms and molecules. We continued work on our PE skills in the baseball unit, and we did some review of fractions and equivalent fractions in math. We'll have a quiz tomorrow on this subject! Study hard!
Homework: (1) Open Court worksheet on Drawing Conclusions. (2) Practice and Problem Solving pages for 27.2 and 2.3. This is a PHOTOCOPY.
Homework: (1) Open Court worksheet on Drawing Conclusions. (2) Practice and Problem Solving pages for 27.2 and 2.3. This is a PHOTOCOPY.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Composition
Today we focused on composition in two different ways.
First, we FINALLY started our Writer's Workshop. I'd been meaning to get this started for a LONG time, but I felt like the pedagogical zeitgeist demanded that I have tasks and criteria charts and and checklists and rubrics and who knows what else for every composition I might possibly assign. It was all so overwhelming that I ended up teaching writing a whole lot less than I should have. Well, I've come to the conclusion that I hate rubrics, those stupid 4-3-2-1 charts which everybody is supposed to use to evaluate everything. I'm sick of them! So, we'll just start writing and sharing our writing and doing it like we used to do before.
Second, we started composing in music today. I gave the students a four measure rhythmic phrase swiped from Musik fur Kinder. They got together in groups of three or four and are setting words to the rhythm. Most of them finished that today. Tomorrow they will compose a simple pentatonic melody for each phrase and will have a song to present the class. I'm looking forward to seeing and listening!
Homework: (1) Complete the "Four Dollars and Fifty Cents" study questions. (2) Do the Chapter Test/Review and the Cumulative review on pages 498-499.
First, we FINALLY started our Writer's Workshop. I'd been meaning to get this started for a LONG time, but I felt like the pedagogical zeitgeist demanded that I have tasks and criteria charts and and checklists and rubrics and who knows what else for every composition I might possibly assign. It was all so overwhelming that I ended up teaching writing a whole lot less than I should have. Well, I've come to the conclusion that I hate rubrics, those stupid 4-3-2-1 charts which everybody is supposed to use to evaluate everything. I'm sick of them! So, we'll just start writing and sharing our writing and doing it like we used to do before.
Second, we started composing in music today. I gave the students a four measure rhythmic phrase swiped from Musik fur Kinder. They got together in groups of three or four and are setting words to the rhythm. Most of them finished that today. Tomorrow they will compose a simple pentatonic melody for each phrase and will have a song to present the class. I'm looking forward to seeing and listening!
Homework: (1) Complete the "Four Dollars and Fifty Cents" study questions. (2) Do the Chapter Test/Review and the Cumulative review on pages 498-499.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Another one of the excellent fraction charts. Note the astounding precision of this student's work!
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All things being equal...
Well, there are moments in the year that a teacher dreads. In third grade, teach ing equivalent fractions in one of them. The idea isn't too hard for students to understand when you draw pictures for them, or have them draw pictures for you, but learning the very simple formula of "Multiply or divide the numerator and the denominator by the same number" is challenging to apply for them. They'll need a lot of help in the next couple weeks.
Thanks again for a wonderful Open House.
Homework: (1) Do final draft of thank you letter in cursive. (2) Comparing fractions, pp 493-495, #3-31. (3) Problem solving, pp 496-497, #1-8.
Thanks again for a wonderful Open House.
Homework: (1) Do final draft of thank you letter in cursive. (2) Comparing fractions, pp 493-495, #3-31. (3) Problem solving, pp 496-497, #1-8.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Another pleasant day
We started today by doing an art assignment combined with a writing assignment. One of the key standards for third grade is writing a good descriptive paragraph, and it occurred to me that if they drew and colored a picture FIRST they might be more attuned to fine details as they were writing their descriptions. So students did a "rough draft" of the picture on newsprint and then used oil pastel on black paper to create a special glow to their pictures. I'll post a couple great examples tomorrow. They then wrote rough drafts which we will revise and complete tomorrow.
We read the story "Alexander who Used to be Rich" in Open Court as we continued our look at the Money theme. Students correctly identified it as an example of realistic fiction and we enjoyed keeping a kind of checkbook as we watched poor Alexander squander the dollar that his grandparents gave him. This story introduces the third big question of the unit, "What is the proper use of money?" It's one adults can ponder as well as children.
We finished filming the wonderful music and drama that the students presented at Open House. I will edit this and include it on the DVD. We also started a look at the idea of the physical properties of matter today.
Homework: (1) Science questions, page C13. Please copy the questions as well as answering in complete sentences. (2) Math, pages 486-487, all problems. This introduces the idea of fractions of a set.
We read the story "Alexander who Used to be Rich" in Open Court as we continued our look at the Money theme. Students correctly identified it as an example of realistic fiction and we enjoyed keeping a kind of checkbook as we watched poor Alexander squander the dollar that his grandparents gave him. This story introduces the third big question of the unit, "What is the proper use of money?" It's one adults can ponder as well as children.
We finished filming the wonderful music and drama that the students presented at Open House. I will edit this and include it on the DVD. We also started a look at the idea of the physical properties of matter today.
Homework: (1) Science questions, page C13. Please copy the questions as well as answering in complete sentences. (2) Math, pages 486-487, all problems. This introduces the idea of fractions of a set.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Open House
What a great time I had last night! And, judging by the comments I heard, I think our students and parents had a good time, too.
We performed three of our best musical selections: the fruit pie canon, "Who has Seen the Wind?" and "All Through the Night." After that, half the class did their version of the classic African spider story, "A Story, A Story," while the other half of the class improvised accompaniment on the xylophones and other instruments.
A big thank you to all the mothers who brought food, served it, and even cleaned up, too! The chicken and the kimbap were delicious! The vegetables were the perfect complement and the cookies just the right touch for dessert!
Today we had a chance to walk through many of the classroom in the school to see what they had done for Open House. The kids were very excited to visit their old classrooms. We also had library and PE today.
Today were started, as you can see from the picture above, some work on fractions.
Homework: (1) Finish the fractions diagrams. (2) Do pages 483 to 485 in the math book. (3) Do the point of view worksheet.
We performed three of our best musical selections: the fruit pie canon, "Who has Seen the Wind?" and "All Through the Night." After that, half the class did their version of the classic African spider story, "A Story, A Story," while the other half of the class improvised accompaniment on the xylophones and other instruments.
A big thank you to all the mothers who brought food, served it, and even cleaned up, too! The chicken and the kimbap were delicious! The vegetables were the perfect complement and the cookies just the right touch for dessert!
Today we had a chance to walk through many of the classroom in the school to see what they had done for Open House. The kids were very excited to visit their old classrooms. We also had library and PE today.
Today were started, as you can see from the picture above, some work on fractions.
Homework: (1) Finish the fractions diagrams. (2) Do pages 483 to 485 in the math book. (3) Do the point of view worksheet.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Home Alone
I wasn't feeling particularly well today, so I left without going to the faculty meeting in order to catch up on a nap. Not that I couldn't have easily napped through the meeting, of course, but it is considered in bad taste.... So it's a quick post today before I sleep.
Homework: (1) Do the study questions on the Open Court story, and (2) page 333 in the math book, numbers 6-17 only.
Homework: (1) Do the study questions on the Open Court story, and (2) page 333 in the math book, numbers 6-17 only.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Our Money Concept Question board. Note the international currency, much of it shared by students.
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Money, Money
Our Open Court unit on Money is progressing nicely. Students are grappling with three "big" questions in this theme: (1) What is money and why do we have it? (2) How do people earn money? (3) What is the proper use of money? We have discovered quite a bit about the first question, tracing the origins of money from barter economy to debit cards. We are starting to look at issues of business right now, focusing particularly about how even children can make money.
Math takes a huge leap up in difficulty this week as we grapple with two digit quotients in division. If your child knows the times tables well this is a relatively quick procedure to learn; if she or he does not, well it is nearly impossible.
Homework: Read page 328 in the math book. Starting on page 329 do numbers 2 - 54. SHOW ALL WORK.
Math takes a huge leap up in difficulty this week as we grapple with two digit quotients in division. If your child knows the times tables well this is a relatively quick procedure to learn; if she or he does not, well it is nearly impossible.
Homework: Read page 328 in the math book. Starting on page 329 do numbers 2 - 54. SHOW ALL WORK.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Zoo Trip
We had our trip to the zoo today. We had a great time despite record heat and the world's grouchiest bus driver. We saw the bird show shortly after we came in, and really had fun watching a bird steal a dollar bill from Mrs Kaupp, one of the parents in room 29! We wandered around and saw all kinds of critters from alligators to cassowaries. I'm sure everybody had a particular favorite. I loved watching the snakes and lizards in the Reptile House.
Homework: Have a great weekend!
Homework: Have a great weekend!
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Quick post today
As usual, I have to learn early on Thursdays for my piano lesson. We had a great day today -- the DVD is pretty amazing of their storytelling -- and I look forward to a wonderful field trip tomorrow.
Homework: (1) Do the study questions over the "Money, Money" story. (2) READ page 326 in the math book carefully. Do problems 2 to 22 on page 327.
Homework: (1) Do the study questions over the "Money, Money" story. (2) READ page 326 in the math book carefully. Do problems 2 to 22 on page 327.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Genius
I'm cleaning up the room and sorting out a bunch of stuff. Yes, still trying to get caught up with the grading! But as I'm doing this I have a DVD on of three short films about Martha Graham. And I was just struck, and almost as if I had been really whacked on the head, when Graham said, "Everyone is born with genius. The tragedy is that so many hold on to it for such a brief time." She continued to say that we lose our genius because we are not willing to be disciplined, to focus and concentrate and develop our talents.
I'm so discouraged as the GATE coordinator at this school by our endless obsession with separating the sheep from the goats, discerning who are really "gifted" from those who are not. Instead, I wish we would approach all our children as gifted, though perhaps gifted in different ways, and challenge them to hold onto their "genius" and to develop it with hard work and passion. What a better school, what a better world we would have if we did so.
Homework: CAREFULLY and THOUGHTFULLY do page 325 in the math book. Try to really understand what remainders are and what they mean, not just get the procedure for dividing with remainders.
I'm so discouraged as the GATE coordinator at this school by our endless obsession with separating the sheep from the goats, discerning who are really "gifted" from those who are not. Instead, I wish we would approach all our children as gifted, though perhaps gifted in different ways, and challenge them to hold onto their "genius" and to develop it with hard work and passion. What a better school, what a better world we would have if we did so.
Homework: CAREFULLY and THOUGHTFULLY do page 325 in the math book. Try to really understand what remainders are and what they mean, not just get the procedure for dividing with remainders.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Back from Break
It was nice to be back and see so many wonderful happy faces. Since I spent most of my break cutting back overgrown foliage in my backyard (all this rain has caused more growth than steroids!) I was happy to see everybody.
We're starting the Money Unit in Open Court. It's a bit abstract at first, but students come to really enjoy this look at what money is and what role it plays in our lives. I encourage the children to bring in coins and bills from other countries (small denominations are obviously best) to decorate the Concept/Question board. If you can loan us some bills, be sure you somehow put your name on it so we can get them back to the right person. I forgot to do this last year, and we were VERY confused six weeks later about who brought in what.
In math we are beginning the division unit. If students have really learned the multiplication tables, then this unit is a breeze. If not....
Homework: (1) Write a letter to a friend or family member telling about your Spring Break. You can make it more interesting than it really was! Be sure to use the proper return address, date, salutation, and conclusion. Indent as appropriate. Skip lines, please to make editing easier. (2) Division worksheet -- this one is not due until Wednesday.
We're starting the Money Unit in Open Court. It's a bit abstract at first, but students come to really enjoy this look at what money is and what role it plays in our lives. I encourage the children to bring in coins and bills from other countries (small denominations are obviously best) to decorate the Concept/Question board. If you can loan us some bills, be sure you somehow put your name on it so we can get them back to the right person. I forgot to do this last year, and we were VERY confused six weeks later about who brought in what.
In math we are beginning the division unit. If students have really learned the multiplication tables, then this unit is a breeze. If not....
Homework: (1) Write a letter to a friend or family member telling about your Spring Break. You can make it more interesting than it really was! Be sure to use the proper return address, date, salutation, and conclusion. Indent as appropriate. Skip lines, please to make editing easier. (2) Division worksheet -- this one is not due until Wednesday.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Sliding in Towards Home Base
Well, with our field trip tomorrow, our vacation feels like it's just beginning already!
We finished the Open Court Assessment today. Students overall seemed to do quite well. Grades will be posted soon on the gradebook. I know that I have a BIG backlog of grading to put up, but I'll get it done over Spring Break. Don't worry, though. If there was a big problem with your child's work I'd have contacted you already.
We finished the last of the storytelling projects. Most students did quite well indeed for being third graders and trying this for the first time. I will be editing the video and burning it to a DVD for Open House. Some of the students have indicated they'd like to have a personal copy of the disk, and I think that can be arranged....
We still finishing the math test. We'll correct it tomorrow.
Homework: Finish the final draft of the writing component of the Open Court unit assessment. Also, be sure to get permission slips signed and returned. Remember, they need to be signed BOTH at the top and at the bottom.
We finished the Open Court Assessment today. Students overall seemed to do quite well. Grades will be posted soon on the gradebook. I know that I have a BIG backlog of grading to put up, but I'll get it done over Spring Break. Don't worry, though. If there was a big problem with your child's work I'd have contacted you already.
We finished the last of the storytelling projects. Most students did quite well indeed for being third graders and trying this for the first time. I will be editing the video and burning it to a DVD for Open House. Some of the students have indicated they'd like to have a personal copy of the disk, and I think that can be arranged....
We still finishing the math test. We'll correct it tomorrow.
Homework: Finish the final draft of the writing component of the Open Court unit assessment. Also, be sure to get permission slips signed and returned. Remember, they need to be signed BOTH at the top and at the bottom.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
One of the bas relief paper weights. Our next steps will be to color them with permanent marker and apply a finishing coat.
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Field Trip
We continued our wrap up of the Open Court Storytelling unit today. Students took and corrected the Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Spelling sections of the Unit 4 test. They overall did fairly well, particularly because it is a very challenging unit test. Tomorrow they will take the Checking Skills section. Our storytellers are continuing to do a good job, and I look forward to editing the video next week and burning it to DVD so that we can watch it at Open House.
Today we also did a great job at PE, and managed -- somehow -- to get all that math corrected. Tomorrow is also the test over multi-digit multiplication standards. I suspect it will go well.
Friday we will reward all this hard work with a walking trip to Pan Pacific Park to play softball and other games and have a picnic. It's a "PE field trip." If any parents would like to accompany us, or would like to drive equipment or lunches to the park, please let me or Mrs Caruso know right away. As always my emails are: jbasse1@lausd.k12.ca.us, johndavidbassett@comcast. net, or johndavidbassett@gmail.net. I cannot get my gmail at school, however, so it's best to use one of the other two if it is urgent.
Homework: Nothing specific for the evening. However, make sure you know the quotation mark rules and the difference between an adjective and an adverb for the Checking Skills subtest tomorrow.
Today we also did a great job at PE, and managed -- somehow -- to get all that math corrected. Tomorrow is also the test over multi-digit multiplication standards. I suspect it will go well.
Friday we will reward all this hard work with a walking trip to Pan Pacific Park to play softball and other games and have a picnic. It's a "PE field trip." If any parents would like to accompany us, or would like to drive equipment or lunches to the park, please let me or Mrs Caruso know right away. As always my emails are: jbasse1@lausd.k12.ca.us, johndavidbassett@comcast. net, or johndavidbassett@gmail.net. I cannot get my gmail at school, however, so it's best to use one of the other two if it is urgent.
Homework: Nothing specific for the evening. However, make sure you know the quotation mark rules and the difference between an adjective and an adverb for the Checking Skills subtest tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Bas Relief
Today we continued our culmination of the Storytelling theme in Open Court. Five more students shared stories today. Since many of the students who shared today tend to be quiet and shy I was particularly struck by how much courage it took to get up in front of everybody and tell and story with expression and feeling. We started the unit assessment also, taking the spelling section only today. Tomorrow we will do the vocabulary and reading comprehension sections and continuing with the folk and fairy tale presentations.
After recess, we worked on making bas relief plaques out of clay. We will use these as paper weights at Open House so things don't go flying it the day is windy. This project is a lot of fun for kids! I wish I could say it was a lot of fun for teachers, but it's not. I had one of those "What was I thinking?" moments as I was cutting up the clay and watching the desks get covered with a thin layer of gray dirt.... But the results will be worth it.
Homework: (1) Finish the math packet. It will be checked tomorrow. (2) Finish the rough draft of the "memorable event" story. This is the writing part of the OCR assessment. (3) Do the crossword puzzle. The words on this puzzle are the ones that will be tested on that section of the test tomorrow.
After recess, we worked on making bas relief plaques out of clay. We will use these as paper weights at Open House so things don't go flying it the day is windy. This project is a lot of fun for kids! I wish I could say it was a lot of fun for teachers, but it's not. I had one of those "What was I thinking?" moments as I was cutting up the clay and watching the desks get covered with a thin layer of gray dirt.... But the results will be worth it.
Homework: (1) Finish the math packet. It will be checked tomorrow. (2) Finish the rough draft of the "memorable event" story. This is the writing part of the OCR assessment. (3) Do the crossword puzzle. The words on this puzzle are the ones that will be tested on that section of the test tomorrow.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Slow Motion Week
This is a week for teachers and children which seems to usually go by like a slow motion replay on ESPN! Somehow, with Spring Break so near, every day seems to last a little longer than it usually does.
But while it may be a hard week for children, OUR children continue to do quite well. We are beginning our storytelling performances today. They were extraordinary. I'm glad that I borrowed the video camera and recorded them. Tomorrow another group of children will be performing. ALL of the performances will be on the television during Open House.
Homework: (1) Unscramble the words on the spelling review worksheet. (2) Work on the math packet. Remember that the packet will be corrected on Wednesday and that we will have the test on Thursday.
But while it may be a hard week for children, OUR children continue to do quite well. We are beginning our storytelling performances today. They were extraordinary. I'm glad that I borrowed the video camera and recorded them. Tomorrow another group of children will be performing. ALL of the performances will be on the television during Open House.
Homework: (1) Unscramble the words on the spelling review worksheet. (2) Work on the math packet. Remember that the packet will be corrected on Wednesday and that we will have the test on Thursday.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Storytelling
We're coming to the end of our storytelling unit in OCR. I wasn't too keen on this section of the reading series the first time I used it with a class. I thought the stories were sometimes hard, and often quite dull.
I've changed my mind. As a teacher, I've come to learn to focus more on the theme and less on the individual selections, and to use each new story as a way to help "construct" a richer and more complex map of the world in my students' minds. I think they've come to understand a bit about how oral language and literature predates the written word, and how inanimate objects can both be storytellers in their own right (such as the totem pole in Carving the Pole) or as an associative object for storytellers (like the hats in Aunt Flossy's Hats and Crab Cakes Later).
Next week students will be telling the folktale or fairy tale they chose to the rest of the class. We will videotape these, and they will be available during Open House for everyone to appreciate.
Homework: (1) Continue work on math packet. (2) Practice telling and acting out the chosen folk or fairy tale.
I've changed my mind. As a teacher, I've come to learn to focus more on the theme and less on the individual selections, and to use each new story as a way to help "construct" a richer and more complex map of the world in my students' minds. I think they've come to understand a bit about how oral language and literature predates the written word, and how inanimate objects can both be storytellers in their own right (such as the totem pole in Carving the Pole) or as an associative object for storytellers (like the hats in Aunt Flossy's Hats and Crab Cakes Later).
Next week students will be telling the folktale or fairy tale they chose to the rest of the class. We will videotape these, and they will be available during Open House for everyone to appreciate.
Homework: (1) Continue work on math packet. (2) Practice telling and acting out the chosen folk or fairy tale.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Pleine Aire
Today was the last visit from the Barnsdall art teacher. Students sat in the school vegetable and flower garden where they sketched and watercolored. This is what is known as "pleine aire" painting. The results were surprisingly wonderful. Many of these paintings will be up for Open House.
We will be attending a performance tomorrow by the Southland Opera as part of a special assembly at 10:00 a.m.
Next Friday, we will be traveling to Pan Pacific Park for a day of physical activity and a picnic prior to Spring Break.
Homework: (1) Finish the questions on Keeping Quilt. (2) Continue work on the math packet.
We will be attending a performance tomorrow by the Southland Opera as part of a special assembly at 10:00 a.m.
Next Friday, we will be traveling to Pan Pacific Park for a day of physical activity and a picnic prior to Spring Break.
Homework: (1) Finish the questions on Keeping Quilt. (2) Continue work on the math packet.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Eve Caruso Whitman finished the library's Marathon Book Challenge. She received a medal and a certificate. Way to go, Eve!
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Students worked in partners to explore duple meter. On the downbeat one partner moved, while the other froze; on the upbeat, the other partner moved while the first froze.
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Eurhythmics
One of the most interesting things I've tried this year with students has been our exploration of Eurythmics. I'm not talking here about the pop group from the 1980's. Eurhythmics is an approach to music and movement created a century ago by Jean-Jacques Dalcroze, a Swiss music professor. Dalcroze observed that most of his students, though on the surface highly competent pianists or violinists, could not play with much real expression nor did they seem to have much sense of rhythm. Dalcroze decided that these two problems both stemmed from the fact that students were not taught to experience music physically. He developed a series of exercises designed so that students would experience musical concepts like tempo, dynamics, and phrasing through movements of their bodies.
We have been using some materials developed for elementary school students by Robert Abramson, a professor at Julliard and the nation's leading exponent of Eurhythmics. It's been really fun for the kids, and a great learning experience for me.
Homework: (1) Finish pages WB 59, WB 63 and WB 64 in the science packet. (2) Continue work on the math packet. (3) Practice telling and acting out the folktale. Note that there is no spelling this week.
We have been using some materials developed for elementary school students by Robert Abramson, a professor at Julliard and the nation's leading exponent of Eurhythmics. It's been really fun for the kids, and a great learning experience for me.
Homework: (1) Finish pages WB 59, WB 63 and WB 64 in the science packet. (2) Continue work on the math packet. (3) Practice telling and acting out the folktale. Note that there is no spelling this week.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Our reading chart. One student extends halfway around the OTHER SIDE of the door! Just amazing!
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Free Reading
I have been just delighted by the amount of independent reading that out students have been doing lately. If you haven't had a chance to check lately, you may find that your son or daughter is literally "off the chart." This means that they have done close to 1000 pages of free reading since December. It is particularly heartening that much of this reading has been good quality children's literature. All the best research in the field of reading instruction shows that once students have mastered basic phonics and learned some simple sight words, nothing improves reading fluency, textual comprehension, and vocabulary development like free independent self-selected reading. Way to go, room 19!
Homework: (1) Finish the second draft of the dialogue between two characters. Remember, the content here is less important that the correct use of quotation marks and other punctuation. (2) Finish pages WB54, WB 55, and WB 58 in the science packet. (3) Begin work on the math packet. It will be due a week from tomorrow. (4) Practice telling your fairy or folk tale.
Homework: (1) Finish the second draft of the dialogue between two characters. Remember, the content here is less important that the correct use of quotation marks and other punctuation. (2) Finish pages WB54, WB 55, and WB 58 in the science packet. (3) Begin work on the math packet. It will be due a week from tomorrow. (4) Practice telling your fairy or folk tale.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Students are developing flexibility through stretching, both in large groups and with partners.
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The Last Few Miles
Yesterday thousands of runners participating in the Los Angeles marathon came past Third Street School. They were beginning the hardest phase of the marathon, the last few miles as the passed June Street. In a way, our students also feel like they are in those last few miles. The days before Spring Break can pass so slowly! And only a few weeks remains before Open House and Testing. So much to do, so little time!
Still, I am happy to report that everybody is working hard and making good progress. We will be wrapping up our Storytelling Unit in the next couple weeks. We began a new story today called The Keeping Quilt. We will be practicing our folktales and getting ready to put them on videotape soon. We will be beginning a new unit in math this week, this time on multi-digit multiplication. We're also going to be aiming at real "automaticity" with our math facts as we do this. We want to know them COLD!
Today we had some really great PE participation, so maybe some of you "had a talk" with your children. Thank you so much.
Homework: (1) Complete the study questions on Aunt Flossy's Hats. (2) Write a rough draft of a dialogue between two friends. Be sure to use quotation marks correctly. Begin a new paragraph every time a different person speaks.
Still, I am happy to report that everybody is working hard and making good progress. We will be wrapping up our Storytelling Unit in the next couple weeks. We began a new story today called The Keeping Quilt. We will be practicing our folktales and getting ready to put them on videotape soon. We will be beginning a new unit in math this week, this time on multi-digit multiplication. We're also going to be aiming at real "automaticity" with our math facts as we do this. We want to know them COLD!
Today we had some really great PE participation, so maybe some of you "had a talk" with your children. Thank you so much.
Homework: (1) Complete the study questions on Aunt Flossy's Hats. (2) Write a rough draft of a dialogue between two friends. Be sure to use quotation marks correctly. Begin a new paragraph every time a different person speaks.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
On Intelligence
I've just started to read a new book -- well, listen to it on my famous Hancock Park dog walks -- by the guy who invented the Palm Pilot. It's pretty technical in parts, but I think it has some big implications for education.
The book is On Intelligence and the author is Jeff Hawkins. In brief, Hawkins argues that intelligence fundamentally consists of (1) stored memories of past experiences which (2) allow us to make reasonably accurate predictions about future experiences, and (3) sensory imputs which allow us to correct our predictions and add new experiences. Hawkins argues that we should not confused "intelligence" with "intelligent behavior." The latter may or may not be a sign of intelligence; it could merely reflect training or conditioning. The essence of intelligence, in contrast, is the correction of the paradigm our brains create about the world.
I think this has a lot to say about the classroom. We spend a lot of time in schools assessing and rewarding intelligent behavior. Isn't that what most of our homework, classwork, and standardized test scores are about? And yet, if a student earns a perfect score, the student probably has LEARNED nothing from the experience. If, however, a student makes some reasonable mistakes and then comes to understand WHY the answers were wrong, then that is the moment when the student actually is learning and the brain is growing.
That means that we need to make classrooms safe places to make mistakes. Not that we should accept laziness or sloppiness. But it is even worse to make children overly cautious and afraid of making mistakes. When that happens, students are afraid to take the kind of risks involved in making reasonable mistakes or in questioning why an answer was inadequate. And that is the point at which intelligence increases.
More about this as I continue the book....
Homework: Study the spelling words. Review the math material in preparation for tomorrow's test.
The book is On Intelligence and the author is Jeff Hawkins. In brief, Hawkins argues that intelligence fundamentally consists of (1) stored memories of past experiences which (2) allow us to make reasonably accurate predictions about future experiences, and (3) sensory imputs which allow us to correct our predictions and add new experiences. Hawkins argues that we should not confused "intelligence" with "intelligent behavior." The latter may or may not be a sign of intelligence; it could merely reflect training or conditioning. The essence of intelligence, in contrast, is the correction of the paradigm our brains create about the world.
I think this has a lot to say about the classroom. We spend a lot of time in schools assessing and rewarding intelligent behavior. Isn't that what most of our homework, classwork, and standardized test scores are about? And yet, if a student earns a perfect score, the student probably has LEARNED nothing from the experience. If, however, a student makes some reasonable mistakes and then comes to understand WHY the answers were wrong, then that is the moment when the student actually is learning and the brain is growing.
That means that we need to make classrooms safe places to make mistakes. Not that we should accept laziness or sloppiness. But it is even worse to make children overly cautious and afraid of making mistakes. When that happens, students are afraid to take the kind of risks involved in making reasonable mistakes or in questioning why an answer was inadequate. And that is the point at which intelligence increases.
More about this as I continue the book....
Homework: Study the spelling words. Review the math material in preparation for tomorrow's test.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Students using their spinners to explore probability. One students spins, another records and they work together harmoniously.
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A sort of different day
Today we started out our day with a celebration of the birthday of Theodore Geisel, better known to the world as Dr Seuss. I've always felt a little connection here because Dr Seuss and I both hail from the small city of Springfield, Masschusetts. I suppose he's probably now Springfield's most famous son. I don't think I'm on the list at all.... Anyhow, we had a spirited contest to see who could answer the most Dr Seuss trivia questions correctly, and then we paired up with first graders to read from Dr Seuss books. Many thanks to Mrs Marks for arranging this special event.
After we returned from library we corrected and discuss our Oral History questions and our spelling words. That pretty much took our time until recess! Then after recess we discuss the technique of mosaic and students tried making mosaics out of tiny bits of torn paper. The project isn't finished yet, but you will be very pleased, I think, when you see their work at Open House next month.
We had PE after lunch. I'm a little concerned that a number of our students are not putting enough effort into the activities that we do to improve their strength, flexibility, and endurance. Some parents may not be completely happy with the PE grades this marking period, but I have to be honest about the actual level of effort and achievement here.
We concluded our day by doing our last probability assignment. Here students worked in partners to make spinners and to collect data about the results of spins. We will discuss this assignment more tomorrow so that they really grasp the what they saw prior to taking the test on Friday.
Homework: (1) Finish the math packet. It will be corrected tomorrow. Please have it all cut and stapled. (2) Do the final draft of the solar system paragraph. It should be either in cursive or typed.
After we returned from library we corrected and discuss our Oral History questions and our spelling words. That pretty much took our time until recess! Then after recess we discuss the technique of mosaic and students tried making mosaics out of tiny bits of torn paper. The project isn't finished yet, but you will be very pleased, I think, when you see their work at Open House next month.
We had PE after lunch. I'm a little concerned that a number of our students are not putting enough effort into the activities that we do to improve their strength, flexibility, and endurance. Some parents may not be completely happy with the PE grades this marking period, but I have to be honest about the actual level of effort and achievement here.
We concluded our day by doing our last probability assignment. Here students worked in partners to make spinners and to collect data about the results of spins. We will discuss this assignment more tomorrow so that they really grasp the what they saw prior to taking the test on Friday.
Homework: (1) Finish the math packet. It will be corrected tomorrow. Please have it all cut and stapled. (2) Do the final draft of the solar system paragraph. It should be either in cursive or typed.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Oral History & Probability
Today we spent more time discussing the Oral History story in the reader. It's not one of the most fascinating selection in the reading series, but it does introduce the students to an important idea about storytellers.
They had a lot more fun with math. We continued our unit on probability. We discussed the ideas of "equally possible" and outcomes. We figured out that the outcomes for a coin toss were head and tails. The students hypothesized that heads and tails were equally likely. We then created an experiment to test this. Students worked in partners. They flipped a penny 100 times. They made a tally chart to track the data. We then added up all the results using a calculator. There was only a difference of 1 between heads and tails. Students then did a quickwrite paragraph about what they had learned.
Homework: (1) Spelling sentences in cursive. Words are clothes, choral, coral, chews, choose, coarse, course, ewe, you, and yew. (2) Do the study questions on Oral History. (3) Continue work on the math packet. (4) Practice telling the chosen folk or fairy tale.
They had a lot more fun with math. We continued our unit on probability. We discussed the ideas of "equally possible" and outcomes. We figured out that the outcomes for a coin toss were head and tails. The students hypothesized that heads and tails were equally likely. We then created an experiment to test this. Students worked in partners. They flipped a penny 100 times. They made a tally chart to track the data. We then added up all the results using a calculator. There was only a difference of 1 between heads and tails. Students then did a quickwrite paragraph about what they had learned.
Homework: (1) Spelling sentences in cursive. Words are clothes, choral, coral, chews, choose, coarse, course, ewe, you, and yew. (2) Do the study questions on Oral History. (3) Continue work on the math packet. (4) Practice telling the chosen folk or fairy tale.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Counting and categorizing the trail mix. One student was overheard remarking, "I really like math when you can eat it!"
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Probability
Today we had a delectable math lesson -- really! I had a big bag of trail mix left over from an Oscar party. The students looked at it and guessed which item would be the most likely to get pulled out of the bag: pretzels, pretzel sticks, cheese crackers, wheat chex, puffed wheat, or little croutons. Most of the students guessed the pretzels.
They worked in partners and each took a scoop from the bag. They made a tally chart as they pulled out each piece, and then most of them ate what they took! Each group then reported, and we added up the lists. To our surprise, we discovered that cheese puffs were really the most likely to get pulled out. Not that this was important. What mattered was that the students figured out how "more likely" and "less likely" was based on their experiences, and that they could systematically collect data to support or inform their predictions.
Wednesday we will create out own spinners to find out more about probability.
Homework: Write sentences for the first group of homonyms. These are cellar, seller, cent, scent, sent, serial, cereal, cheap, cheep, and close. The sentences should be in cursive. Students should also finish the storyboard from the story of their choice for the culminating project/video. Finally, students should continue work on the math packet. This one is due THURSDAY. It will be corrected in class.
They worked in partners and each took a scoop from the bag. They made a tally chart as they pulled out each piece, and then most of them ate what they took! Each group then reported, and we added up the lists. To our surprise, we discovered that cheese puffs were really the most likely to get pulled out. Not that this was important. What mattered was that the students figured out how "more likely" and "less likely" was based on their experiences, and that they could systematically collect data to support or inform their predictions.
Wednesday we will create out own spinners to find out more about probability.
Homework: Write sentences for the first group of homonyms. These are cellar, seller, cent, scent, sent, serial, cereal, cheap, cheep, and close. The sentences should be in cursive. Students should also finish the storyboard from the story of their choice for the culminating project/video. Finally, students should continue work on the math packet. This one is due THURSDAY. It will be corrected in class.
Monday, January 17, 2005
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