Math: We took a formative today that required them to apply their knowledge of fractions when given an "ordering" scenario. It proved to be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how all the skills we've learned in isolation can be used to determine which fraction is less than, greater than, or equal to another. Tonight for homework we generated 4 fractions with different denominators. They should order these from least to greatest by using one of both of the strategies we use today - least common multiples or identify factors to simplify/reduce a given fraction. I created a model of this but unfortunately the copier was out of commission during my break today so it'll come home tomorrow.

Language Arts: Our whole group lesson revisited the importance of theme (author's message) from earlier in the quarter. However, this time the context is folktales.

Monster Who Grew Small - Reread their story tonight. They listened to the story on CD today but I didn't have a chance to actually meet with them in a small group.

The Princess and the Beggar - They need to reread their story tonight and complete the visualizing activity we modeled in group today.

Adventures of Spider - I listened to their oral responses in group today prior to reading their RRJs. I was curious as to how their oral responses compared to their written pieces since the written typically lags behind...I'll let you know after I read them. However, during the discussion it was clear the question was taken very literally which is ok to an extent. But, we have spent a lot of time in whole group "digging deeper" for the root cause of a problem which often times revolves around a character trait (greed, jealousy, stubbornness...) that in turn drives the storyline. Well, in this story the surface level reason was because Spider had a rope tied to his waist that went in two different directions - however, the root cause was the fact that Spider was greedy enough to want to eat food at both feasts. His greed is what actually created the problem in the first place. This subtly may not seem like a big deal but their thinking should be making this transition as we move forward...

Jenius - We read chapter three aloud and they need to respond to the following prompt in their RRJs: How did Joe feel about Jenius? Provide evidence from the story to support your thinking.

Two reminders:

Paper Bag Book Report papers need to be signed and returned ASAP. Th due date will not change from January 22nd.

Science Fair participation is strongly encouraged! This is an excellent opportunity to pursue a curiosity in an exciting way...If you decide to allow your child to participate, please return them soon so we can begin to get an idea of how many participants to expect.

We're back but maybe not for long - rumor has it we have some nasty weather on the way...

Math: I was thrilled with our recollection of fraction concepts discussed prior to our break! In fact, we actually began adding fractions with common denominators while we played with mixed numbers in small groups. Tonight's homework is a continuation of our classwork - through #37.

Odd and Ends...

Today we had an unusual day with respect to our schedule. During our normal language arts block we reviewed the city project and identified the city for each student. This project will be a significant focus of the next couple of weeks because it ties in so well with our language arts, writing and social studies content. This is to be completed in school.

As for a "home" project, there is a paper coming home tonight that needs to be discussed and signed - indicating your understanding of a "Paper Bag Book Report" to be presented later this month. In essence, the paper bag is filled with props to help retell the story. They have done this in 4th and 5th grades in the past so we thought we would try it our in 3rd!

Lastly, there is detailed information coming home tonight with respect to a science fair held here at DES. This is an optional but encouraged activity that is primarily completed at home. However, if your child is interested in working on his/her hypothesis but needs some adult support, we can try to accommodate it here at school during recess. As I said, the packet is detailed but the one thing I want everyone to keep in the forefront is that science is about the pursuit of an idea and not as much the end result. It is very important for the scientific process to be carried out in its entirety...perseverance is one trait that certainly drives scientist so we expect it here, too.