Back at it!

Wow, did we come back from Thanksgiving to rock out this week! During both writing and reading we learned strategies for summarizing text, both fiction and nonfiction. Together we summarized King of the Parking Lot, and then students broke into pairs to summarize either Skeletons Inside and Out or Movers and Shapers. We focused on selecting only the most important details, including key words from the story, and incorporating transitions in order to compose a fluid piece of writing. We will share these Monday, and I can't wait to hear them!

Unit 3 in math is HEAVY in fractions. We have worked extensively on identifying and creating equivalent fractions, converting tenths to decimals, and relating fractions to tenths and hundredths. Below we are playing a game called Fraction Match, which is a lot like Uno...only you lay cards based on the same denominator or being equivalent rather than being the same color or number!

These two were GREAT helpers...they went through all my place-value manipulative boxes and reorganized them. Super helpful!!! Thanks, boys!!!

Summarizing (book report) Models

Wow! I have missed my regular blogging so much this year, as I shared with several parents at conferences. Thank you so much for your patience with that as I'm sinking the vast majority of my time into developing Common Core based curriculum activities and transitioning to 4th grade. As promised, here are the photographs of the summary models that we created together last week. You'll notice that these are scored with a "2" and a "4," which is the same grading system I introduced on the report card during conferences. During class we have had several conversations on what does a "4" really look like, and what level of work do I need to strive toward to increase my level of understanding to match. I believe students need to understand what a "4" really is in order to achieve that level of understanding. 

So...how does that translate to our book report? Here is the form...you'll notice that the top portion (graphic organizer) is identical on both, because the information in the story doesn't change and this is where we organize our basic details. The difference in the "2" and "4" is in how in depth you go with that information. Keep in mind, the goal is to write only the most important information about the characters and story while being in-depth, but not rambling. We decided that if we wrote around 3 sentences for each section of the organizer, that a 15 sentence summary would be just about right to allow us deep thinking and quality writing. 

Hope these examples help! This book report is due next Tuesday, December 3rd!