Please go to this link to practice the M-Step and see what it is all about!
https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi In third grade, students are expected to identify the main idea in a paragraph, a chapter, and even an entire article. We talked about how the main idea is a complete sentence that tells what the paragraph is mostly about. It is the big idea and the details fall under that to support it. We discussed the difference between a topic (cheetahs) and a main idea (The cheetah's feet are designed to help it run). Topics are usually one or two words and main ideas are complete ideas in the form of a sentence.
We went on to discuss that often time you can spot the main idea in a sentence at the beginning or end of a paragraph. Sometimes it is in the middle and sometimes it is unstated. I modeled finding the main idea and details in a section of the book we read, and then students received and excerpt from the same book to try it on their own. We will continue to work on this for a bit! We have been learning about all different kinds of nouns- common, proper, singular, plural, concrete, abstract, singular possessive, and plural possessive. Now, it was time to put all our learning together. Students made a flap book with the definitions of each kind of noun. Then, students had to hunt through magazines and catalogs looking for examples for each kind of noun. Students needed to label their picture. The proof of their learning is in their labeling. For example, students can cut out a candy bar and glue it under noun, singular noun, or common noun and label it "candy bar" or they could glue it under proper noun and label it "Snickers Bar." They could also glue it under singular possessive and label it "candy bar's wrapper." It is all in how they label it! The aftermath!! 😳
We have been talking about our last big question we should ask ourselves as we are reading nonfiction. By asking what challenges, changed or confirmed our thinking, we are looking more critically at the text in front of us. First, we used a poster like this to discuss what the question means. Then I modeled recording on sticky notes any of my thoughts that were challenged, changed, or confirmed as we read an article on log jams. Students then worked together reading and recording their thoughts on an article about getting the logs to the saw mills. Students then sorted their sticky notes onto our white board to share them with the rest of the class. It was wonderful for us to see that what was confirmed for some, might have been challenged for others. We also noticed their were a lot of thoughts changed, so a lot of new thinking happened!
I then did a quick check in on how kids are feeling about our classroom and school. Instead of just the day though, I wanted kids to let me know how they are feeling overall about their week. This is coming home today. It may spark a conversation between you and your child. I use these just to check in and to see if there are any issues that may need to be addressed that they are too nervous to tell me about, but feel comfortable writing about it. And, I have to admit, many make me smile as I read that so many students are overall happy and loving life.
We have learned that there are two main reasons we used apostrophes- to form contractions and to show possession. In our read aloud, Journey Back to Lumberjack Camp, we are also seeing apostrophes being used when words have the ending dropped, like "Be mindin' your own business, boy." To practice forming contractions, students played a matching game where they had to match the contractions to the two words used to make the contraction. Will not and won't were a little tricky for some, but most are getting it! Soon, our focus will be shifting to practicing forming possessive nouns, which can be a little tricky for third graders.
As third grader writers, one of the standards that they must include in their writing is transitional phrases. In second grade, students were taught and got a lot of practice using transitional words, like next, then, finally, but now as third graders, they are expected to use transitional phrases, like all of a sudden, a few moments later, or the next day. Today, students were taught the importance of these time connector or transitional phrases. They are what moves their stories forward. After looking at the above rubric that is being used to score the students' pieces, we looked at some mentor texts of books we have already read to see how those authors used transitional phrases. We saw just how often they are used! Students then added a paper to their binder that they can use as references as they write their stories. Next, we went through my story that I have been writing with the class and highlighted ones that I already had in my writing. We then looked for places that I could add even more. We highlighted the ones I already had and the ones I added. Students then grabbed a highlighter and did the same thing with their stories. Many students noticed that they hardly had any transitional phrases, while others were surprised that they had quite a few. Most had at least one word transitions, but in third grade we are trying for phrases. After reading what they already had written and looking for transitional words, they then went back and tried to add some. Then, using their blue sequencing frame as a guide, they continued to write the rest of their stories, keeping in mind that it is important to include transitional phrases.
If you think of it, ask your child to retell his/her story. During March is Reading Month, students worked on fairy tale coding or Ozobots in computer/technology class. Students had to work cooperatively with a group to complete the entire task. Make sure to ask your child about what fairy tale their group worked on and how the project went with their Ozobot.
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Mrs. Ellis's Class
Learning & laughing our way through third grade. Archives
June 2020
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