Monday, October 27, 2014
Social Studies Vocabulary
Social Studies Vocabulary for Native Texans quiz on Friday!
Hunter and Gatherer- People who got Al they needed from the land.
Indian- The name mistakenly given to the native people of North and South America by European Explorers.
Sedentary- People who stayed in one place, such as a village, most of the time
Pueblo- Multiple dwelling made of adobe, usually against a cliff face
Jump site- A place where Indians herded buffalo over the edge of a cliff in order to kill many at once
Nomad- A tribe that moves from place to place, usually seasonally
Travois- A transport device made of poles and pulled by an animal
Adobe- A sun-dried brick made of clay and straw
Hunter and Gatherer- People who got Al they needed from the land.
Indian- The name mistakenly given to the native people of North and South America by European Explorers.
Sedentary- People who stayed in one place, such as a village, most of the time
Pueblo- Multiple dwelling made of adobe, usually against a cliff face
Jump site- A place where Indians herded buffalo over the edge of a cliff in order to kill many at once
Nomad- A tribe that moves from place to place, usually seasonally
Travois- A transport device made of poles and pulled by an animal
Adobe- A sun-dried brick made of clay and straw
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Information!!! October 27-31
Good evening!
Yellow folders went home on Friday with graded papers included inside of them. Please sign and send back.
Also last week student's received reading logs for our 80 minute a week AR reading for the Book It program. If students read each night of last week for 20 minutes a night Monday-Thursday nights, and read this week Monday-Thursday for 20 minutes a night, and bring their reading logs Friday Oct. 31 to turn in they will receive a free personal pan pizza coupon as part of the Book It reading program through Pizza Hut. They also earn a 100 homework grade for completing the log.
This week is also Red Ribbon Week! Tomorrow is Wear Red day! Stay tuned for further postings about what students will dress up like the rest of the week.
This week in class we will continue to work on TEKS 4.11C which includes Cause and Effect and Sequencing. Students seemed to struggle with these two skills last week so we are taking the time to go over them again to make certain they are prepared for these types of questions on the STAAR test.
We are also working on Guided Reading and Literacy Circles. Students are really eager to work on their leveled novels and I love hearing them read!
One more thing to be looking for... I am currently attending graduate school to receive my Masters in Educational Leadership. As part of my master's completion I am studying the effects of technology in the classroom. I will be posting a survey as well as sending home a paper copy for you parents this week to fill out. They are anonymous and are simply asking for your opinion of technology in the classroom and how it helps you. Please take the time to fill this out if you can so I assess the effectiveness of all of the technology I have been implementing. I would appreciate it very much!
Once again I thank you all for all that you do and for the great kiddos you let me borrow every day! :)
Yellow folders went home on Friday with graded papers included inside of them. Please sign and send back.
Also last week student's received reading logs for our 80 minute a week AR reading for the Book It program. If students read each night of last week for 20 minutes a night Monday-Thursday nights, and read this week Monday-Thursday for 20 minutes a night, and bring their reading logs Friday Oct. 31 to turn in they will receive a free personal pan pizza coupon as part of the Book It reading program through Pizza Hut. They also earn a 100 homework grade for completing the log.
This week is also Red Ribbon Week! Tomorrow is Wear Red day! Stay tuned for further postings about what students will dress up like the rest of the week.
This week in class we will continue to work on TEKS 4.11C which includes Cause and Effect and Sequencing. Students seemed to struggle with these two skills last week so we are taking the time to go over them again to make certain they are prepared for these types of questions on the STAAR test.
We are also working on Guided Reading and Literacy Circles. Students are really eager to work on their leveled novels and I love hearing them read!
One more thing to be looking for... I am currently attending graduate school to receive my Masters in Educational Leadership. As part of my master's completion I am studying the effects of technology in the classroom. I will be posting a survey as well as sending home a paper copy for you parents this week to fill out. They are anonymous and are simply asking for your opinion of technology in the classroom and how it helps you. Please take the time to fill this out if you can so I assess the effectiveness of all of the technology I have been implementing. I would appreciate it very much!
Once again I thank you all for all that you do and for the great kiddos you let me borrow every day! :)
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Monday Homework
No video tonight!
Students do have vocabulary homework but it isn't due until Wednesday.
Help them study though!
We are learning the Greek word parts -cycl which means "circle" and -meter which means "measure."
Learning the ancient roots of words helps students understand the often confusing English language better because our language is one of the only ones that "borrows" from other languages.
By recognizing that cycl in a word has something to do with the word "circle" and that meter has something to do with "measure" students are better prepared to comprehend the meaning of many words they may encounter in their reading.
Students do have vocabulary homework but it isn't due until Wednesday.
Help them study though!
We are learning the Greek word parts -cycl which means "circle" and -meter which means "measure."
Learning the ancient roots of words helps students understand the often confusing English language better because our language is one of the only ones that "borrows" from other languages.
By recognizing that cycl in a word has something to do with the word "circle" and that meter has something to do with "measure" students are better prepared to comprehend the meaning of many words they may encounter in their reading.
Week of October 20-24
A little behind this week so bear with me guys!
This week we are discussing TEKS 4.11C.
This TEKS talks about the organization of non-fiction text or as we have said in class Non-fiction text structures.
In third grade we are focusing on three types of non-fiction text structures:
Cause and Effect
Sequence
Comparison.
Cause and Effect- The cause is what makes something happen and the effect is what happened or the result of that event.
In class we discussed one way of an author using this text structure to organize a non-fiction text about the water cycle.
The author could start by saying that the rain is Caused by condensation in the clouds, and because it rains it Causes puddles on the ground. The heat from the sun Causes evaporation and the puddle to disappear.
Sequence- sequence is a simple way for author's to organize information. They are simply putting things in order! Author's of non-fiction text like to throw in recipes, directions for how to do something, and sometimes lists with sequence text organization.
Sequence has signal words to look out for like "first" "next" and "finally" to name a few.
Comparison- Comparison we have already talked about a lot as we studied the fiction TEKS the first six weeks of school. It's simply telling how to things are alike and how they are different.
One way we discussed author's could use comparison to organize text was the following example...
If an author is comparing a squid to an octopus they can write one paragraph comparing the two creatures and a second paragraph stating their differences. This would make the text easy to follow.
I hope this helps you understand what we are learning this week!
Thanks for all you do!
This week we are discussing TEKS 4.11C.
This TEKS talks about the organization of non-fiction text or as we have said in class Non-fiction text structures.
In third grade we are focusing on three types of non-fiction text structures:
Cause and Effect
Sequence
Comparison.
Cause and Effect- The cause is what makes something happen and the effect is what happened or the result of that event.
In class we discussed one way of an author using this text structure to organize a non-fiction text about the water cycle.
The author could start by saying that the rain is Caused by condensation in the clouds, and because it rains it Causes puddles on the ground. The heat from the sun Causes evaporation and the puddle to disappear.
Sequence- sequence is a simple way for author's to organize information. They are simply putting things in order! Author's of non-fiction text like to throw in recipes, directions for how to do something, and sometimes lists with sequence text organization.
Sequence has signal words to look out for like "first" "next" and "finally" to name a few.
Comparison- Comparison we have already talked about a lot as we studied the fiction TEKS the first six weeks of school. It's simply telling how to things are alike and how they are different.
One way we discussed author's could use comparison to organize text was the following example...
If an author is comparing a squid to an octopus they can write one paragraph comparing the two creatures and a second paragraph stating their differences. This would make the text easy to follow.
I hope this helps you understand what we are learning this week!
Thanks for all you do!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Yellow Folders
Yellow conduct folders did come home Friday with graded papers inside of them... be sure to check for them, sign them and return them. Thanks so much!
Also... the third and fourth grade Awards Assembly will take place on tomorrow at 9:45.
Also... the third and fourth grade Awards Assembly will take place on tomorrow at 9:45.
Week of October 13-17
Good morning!
This week we will be covering TEKS 4.11B- Fact and Opinion!
Students will be learning that a Fact is something that can be proven to be true. You can prove it by seeing it, researching it, or measuring it.
One difficulty students normally have when determining a Fact is that some Facts can be proven to be not true. For example I can say: Mrs. Harville is 6 feet tall. This can be proven to be false by measuring Mrs. Harville's height. What students fail to understand is that just because a statement is proven false such as this one, doesn't make it necessarily an opinion... it is simply a false fact! Students need to be aware that just because a statement is not a true statement it doesn't necessarily mean it is an opinion.
An Opinion is a statement about what one person Thinks, Feels, or Believes.
For example: Fridays are the Best day of the week! This is an opinion because someone else might feel that Saturdays are the best day of the week.
Opinions have key words that students can look for such as: best, beautiful, most, worst... and so on.
Facts and opinions are very commonly found in advertisements. For homework on Wednesday students will have to watch a few cute commercials posted and find 3 facts and 3 opinions from each one. As you may be watching television at home or reading the newspaper help your child point out the facts or opinions they might see or hear. This can be an ongoing process through the school year that could cement their foundation of knowing the difference between the two and you can also make it a fun game!
Thanks for all you do!
This week we will be covering TEKS 4.11B- Fact and Opinion!
Students will be learning that a Fact is something that can be proven to be true. You can prove it by seeing it, researching it, or measuring it.
One difficulty students normally have when determining a Fact is that some Facts can be proven to be not true. For example I can say: Mrs. Harville is 6 feet tall. This can be proven to be false by measuring Mrs. Harville's height. What students fail to understand is that just because a statement is proven false such as this one, doesn't make it necessarily an opinion... it is simply a false fact! Students need to be aware that just because a statement is not a true statement it doesn't necessarily mean it is an opinion.
An Opinion is a statement about what one person Thinks, Feels, or Believes.
For example: Fridays are the Best day of the week! This is an opinion because someone else might feel that Saturdays are the best day of the week.
Opinions have key words that students can look for such as: best, beautiful, most, worst... and so on.
Facts and opinions are very commonly found in advertisements. For homework on Wednesday students will have to watch a few cute commercials posted and find 3 facts and 3 opinions from each one. As you may be watching television at home or reading the newspaper help your child point out the facts or opinions they might see or hear. This can be an ongoing process through the school year that could cement their foundation of knowing the difference between the two and you can also make it a fun game!
Thanks for all you do!
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Monday, October 6, 2014
Week of October 6-10
Good morning!
This week we will begin to wind down our study on fiction texts and introduce non-fiction.
Non-fiction means a story is true, based on factual information.
There are two types of non-fiction texts we will be discussing this week.
The first is biography- the story of a person's life as written by someone else. You learn about the person through the point of view of the writer of the biography They tell about real people and real events.
The second kind of non-fiction we will discuss this week is autobiography- it also tells the story of a person's life but the person telling the story is talking abut themselves. You get the point of view of the person who lived that life. You can learn things about the person that only they know.
This week we will be comparing the events of a fiction story to the life of the author who wrote it.
Questions we will ask ourselves: Did the author experience similar events in their life as the character they wrote about? How does this story relate to the author's life?
We will also compare a fiction story about a topic to a non-fiction story about the same topic. For example an informative article about the stars compared to a fictional story about the stars.
We will also be working on context clues this week. Students will have homework over context clues tonight due Wednesday.
Thanks for all you do!
This week we will begin to wind down our study on fiction texts and introduce non-fiction.
Non-fiction means a story is true, based on factual information.
There are two types of non-fiction texts we will be discussing this week.
The first is biography- the story of a person's life as written by someone else. You learn about the person through the point of view of the writer of the biography They tell about real people and real events.
The second kind of non-fiction we will discuss this week is autobiography- it also tells the story of a person's life but the person telling the story is talking abut themselves. You get the point of view of the person who lived that life. You can learn things about the person that only they know.
This week we will be comparing the events of a fiction story to the life of the author who wrote it.
Questions we will ask ourselves: Did the author experience similar events in their life as the character they wrote about? How does this story relate to the author's life?
We will also compare a fiction story about a topic to a non-fiction story about the same topic. For example an informative article about the stars compared to a fictional story about the stars.
We will also be working on context clues this week. Students will have homework over context clues tonight due Wednesday.
Thanks for all you do!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Six Weeks Test
I've graded the six weeks test and I must say I am impressed! Students worked very hard today!
Most students seem to have a good grasp on the material we have covered so far. Not all have mastered it, but that is fine! We have time!
I would like to ask parents to keep in mind when scores come home that there were only 8 questions on this test specifically geared to see if students could apply the skills we have learned. So if they come home with a 63, 75, or 88 consider that great! 88 means they missed one, 75 they missed two, and 63 they missed three... if this is the case for your student that means that those particular skills questions are what we will be continuing to work super hard on to improve on. In reading we spiral our skills all year adding new ones but continuously reviewing the previous ones as well so students will be retested on anything they struggle with in the next six weeks test. I will be constantly assessing them in class during guided reading groups and practice passages though watching for growth.
I hope that you are seeing the progress and enthusiasm for reading at home that I am seeing at school! It's an exciting year!
Remember we have a vocabulary quiz and an early release tomorrow!
Thanks for all you do!
Most students seem to have a good grasp on the material we have covered so far. Not all have mastered it, but that is fine! We have time!
I would like to ask parents to keep in mind when scores come home that there were only 8 questions on this test specifically geared to see if students could apply the skills we have learned. So if they come home with a 63, 75, or 88 consider that great! 88 means they missed one, 75 they missed two, and 63 they missed three... if this is the case for your student that means that those particular skills questions are what we will be continuing to work super hard on to improve on. In reading we spiral our skills all year adding new ones but continuously reviewing the previous ones as well so students will be retested on anything they struggle with in the next six weeks test. I will be constantly assessing them in class during guided reading groups and practice passages though watching for growth.
I hope that you are seeing the progress and enthusiasm for reading at home that I am seeing at school! It's an exciting year!
Remember we have a vocabulary quiz and an early release tomorrow!
Thanks for all you do!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
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