Week 7
“Competition makes us faster. Collaboration makes
us better.”
-Fyrefly
We’ve been practicing
lots of collaboration and also a little bit of friendly competition. Although
our kids are very good at helping one another, they can sometimes become a
little frustrated when it comes to working in groups. It’s as if they feel that
they can do it faster alone so working in a group becomes doing thier own work
and comparing answers with their group. We’ve had conversations around what it
means to work in a group and what that should look like, sound like, and feel
like! The kids still have a ways to go but I can tell that they are putting
forth the effort and making some progress!
Word Study
Earlier in the week we worked in groups to dive
into some long vowel sounds. Each group was responsible for a different long
vowel sound (a, e, i, o, or u) and had to come up with at least 16 words that contained
that certain long vowel sound. They then cut these words out and arranged them
into groups that contained similar patterns. The kids really enjoyed making
groups and finding patterns. They also made connections between spelling and
vowels sounds! I’m hoping that this connection will transfer to their writing
and spelling practices!
Multiplying
in groups
We’ve also been working in groups to work on the
process of multiplication. I’m having the students still go through the process
of thinking for multiplication. I am requiring them to write out their array
and write out their multiplication problems and explain in words why they chose
to write what they wrote. I believe that if they continue to think about the
process of finding the answer to a problem then it will help as they move
towards fluency. Working in groups also allows students to explain their
thinking to classmates and also to be questioned by students. If they can
explain their thinking and reasoning then they can solve any problem.
Habitat Note
Taking
Note taking is something that a lot of 3rd
graders struggle with, but it’s a skill that they will need for the entirety of
their educational life. As you know we’ve been studying the different types of
habitats. Well we’ve also been working in groups to discuss main idea of texts
centered on these habitats and also what information is most important. One technique
or rather organization of note taking that we’ve been using is the “Step up to
Writing” chart. This chart supplies students with a title, 2 or 3 star ideas,
at least 2 details about their star ideas, and finally a conclusion that allows
them to sum up what they read (reading comprehension). I’ve found this form of
note taking to be extremely helpful for them!
A Little
Competition…
…never hurt anyone! Back by popular demand is “Math
Race”!! This game is so much fun and it helps the kids with fluency and it also
gets them up and moving at a fast pace! With this game there are 2 different
teams (Team 1 and Team 2). There are 2 players racing against one another at a
time. I’ll call out a problem (multiplication, division, addition, subtraction,
or creating an array) and the 2 players must race to the board to write down
the problem along with the answer. It’s pretty entertaining to watch them race
to the board and quickly try to figure out the problem.
We’re looking forward
to another great week together! If you have any questions, comments, or
concerns, please feel free to contact me! I hope that you all have a fantastic
weekend!
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