Playing and Acting How Engaging!

Team Jordan has been working on creating fun math games that will help our classmates practice their skills. This week, students presented their games to their peers. They included instructions, question cards, and lots of creativity!

How does creating games make you a better thinker?

When you can teach others it shows mastery and true understanding!

A math game called "Field Goal" for the football fans!

The class is captivated as Bob explains the game he created with Jake and John.

Mia R., Isabelle, Margo and Julia work together to present their math game, "Shark Attack."

Team Jordan listens in as Kole describes his groups's game that is outer space-themed.

Everybody loves Jeopardy!

This week we also enjoyed working in small groups to perform a reader's theater. This reader's theater was based on an Algonquin folktale, it tells how after a terrible winter, Glooskap found summer. We are learning how folktales are stories told orally and handed down by generations.   

The students divided the roles in a story and practiced their lines.

 What a great way to become more fluent. They even made props and a setting backdrop!

As always, my players over came their fears and acting in front of their peers.

Thank you Glooskap for finding summer!  

We can recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

Great GRIT Gar

We enjoyed hearing about the the importance of GRIT from a former Team Jordan member, Gar Rudnyai.  He is now a 6th grader who is running his own business. He told us about how writing as well as determination has helped him reach many of his goals. 

 Last summer, Gar  was feeling a little bored and decided he wanted to earn some money. Since he loves hockey it made sense for him to build an online business based on floor hockey.  He told us that if you want to create a company it's important to think of something that solves a problem. 

 His problem was being bored and missing hockey.  Other players must feel the same. So, Gar came up with a solution.  

To learn more check out his website.

 Click the link below-

Barn Burner Hockey

It was great to see one of my former players achieving success, learning from failures, and setting and reaching his goals.  I'm thankful to Gar for taking the time to come to our class to share how  much Steward School helped to prepare him for success.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for Gar and for all my players!

December Update & Enrichment

What can you look forward to in the month of December? Opinion & Persuasive Writing We will be working on learning the difference between fact and opinion.  We will learn what writer's do to persuade their audience.  We will also examine how persuasive advertisements and write our own. Reading Traditional Literature   We are studying fables, myths, tall tales, folktales and more.  We will work on answering the question-How do made-up stories with imaginary characters teach important things about real life? Multiplication Matters We are working towards mastery of our multiplication facts.  Division is the opposite of multiplication and therefor by knowing our multiplication facts we can divide.  We will continue to develop deeper understanding of this relationship as well as strategies for solving math stories that involve these operations. Thank you for supporting your child at home by practicing with them at home.
One of our math standards is to Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division. We will be able to Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. 1 Social Studies We are going to wrap up our unit on the Wampanoag and Pilgrims before the winter break.  First we learned about each group separately.  Now we are learning about the relationship of these two groups. We have been enjoying reading and discussing the hardships that the Pilgrims faced on the Mayflower.  

Kidblog 
Information will be coming home this week with your child.  We have already begun to blog at school using our new laptops!  Enrichment Click here to get our-  December Enrichment Happy December!

A Thankful Teacher

I am thankful to work with students who understand the importance of GRIT.

We used Guts, Resilience, Innovation and Teamwork while creating our own version of a wetu.  Wetus were the spring and summer homes of the Wampanoag tribe. We have been learning about the Wampanoag as part of our study of Massachusetts.

The task that we undertook was to try and use recyclable material and "natural resources" found in our classroom that would be comparable to the resources that the Wampanoag would have used.  Instead of branches we used newspapers.  

                             

  

                                

                    

                    

                     

              

After a lot of trial and error the boys and girls figured out how to make it work.  They used meter sticks to reinforce the structure. They also used cardboard to form a sort of foundation.  

I think we have some future engineers and project managers in our midst. 

What did you learn by about the Wampanoag and GRIT while creating a Wetu in class?

Read on to see how students responded. to this question.

We showed GRIT by working together and sharing ideas.  I learned about the Wampanoags and how they built Wetus.  It was hard building the Wetu.  We used cardboard and News Paper, tape and meter sticks.  I liked it and want to do it again.

I learned that with GRIT anything is possible.  If you don’t think it will work you should wait and see! As long as you put your mind to it, it will work.

I learned the Wampanoag used tree bark and grass to cover their homes.  Also, they build near streams to hunt deer and to drink and fish.  It was challenging, but I liked it.

I used GRIT when everything was falling down.  I helped and preserved to make ideas and bring it back up.  It was difficult to come up with ideas. I learned that the Wampanoag didn’t just build their wetu instead they worked together.  

I showed GRIT by being a good friend, not giving up, being innovative, standing and trying.  I learned from the Wampanoag while building the Wetu they had to make a house or else they bad no shelter.

I used GRIT by using teamwork to build a Wetu with my class.  I learned that it was harder than I thought it was going to be it was really hard.  It probably took them hours to build it.

When I was building the Wetu I realized it takes a lot GRIT for the Wampanoag people.  I thought that it was very challenging to build the wetu and couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to survive back then.  When we first started I felt like quitting but I forced myself to keep going.  I also learned how important streams and rivers were to the Wampanoag people. At first, I thought it was impossible and didn’t know how things were going to turn out.  

Do you know what GRIT is?  Well I do and I learned a lot about it today.  Our class showed lots of GRIT building a nice wetu.  It took us two hours to make.  Now I know how hard it was for the Wampanoag tribe to live their life.

I used GRIT by building Wampanoag Wetu and not giving up. I learned building a Wetu was hard. It was hard to build it but it was fun. 

I loved making the wetu. I showed resilience because I didn’t give up we all used teamwork.  The Wampanoag worked really hard too.

It was really hard and it took more than an hour and a half. It was hard but we did it.

I showed GRIT by not giving up and by being creative.  I learned that building a wetu is very hard but fun.

We used teamwork by working together to accomplish the wetu.  I used resilience by trying and trying to stand up the wetu.  I used guts because I wasn’t afraid to keep trying.  I used innovation by creating it because I had never done it before. 

While working on this project students demonstrated Speaking and Listening Skills. 
The grade three standard is below.
1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.
Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

Character Reports & Enrichment

Enrichment Homework

Here we see Bob showing his seed collection.  You know they come in all different sizes and colors.

What would I do if I was the teacher?

One thing Matthew would do is have a class pet. He also thinks one hour of recess would be perfect!

Project Based Learning

The first thing we had to do was choose a book and character to focus on.  So, we went on a little field trip to our school library.  Mrs. DeFrank helped us to find realistic fiction stories at our reading levels and interests.  Then each child got to pick a just right book. 
Each day, after a mini lesson around one of the following: character traits, story elements, note taking strategies or comprehension strategies, students worked on their individual projects.  During this time we focused on the standards below.

Reading: Literature
Key Ideas and Details

3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Corresponding College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standard

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Note on range and content of student reading


To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts. Through extensive reading of stories, dramas, poems, and myths from diverse cultures and different time periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge as well as familiarity with various text structures and elements. By reading texts in history/social studies, science, and other disciplines, Students build a foundation of knowledge in these fields that will also give them the background to be better readers in all content areas. Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. Students also acquire the habits of reading independently and closely, which are essential to their future success.

Check out these amazing pictures to see Team Jordan at work.

While publishing our reports we practiced necessary word processing skills.  Don't forget to save!

While each student shared in a variety of creative ways, the other kids took notes in their learning logs.

Some of us were nervous, but we showed guts and presented.  We showed our fears that we are bigger then they are!

Some of us took on the personality of our characters.

We asked our audience if they had questions and, then we answered them.

We were expressive and our own personalities came out!

In the end, we all had a published report, visual and the experience of sharing our work in front of an audience.  These are all 21st century skills that we are working on in third grade. 

When I asked the students if they enjoyed doing all this thinking, writing, creating, and planning they said, "YES!"