Learning To Go Mr. Avery's Class on the Web 

We’re almost there! Just a couple more snowflakes and we’ve reached our goal and earned our special day. As a special reward for demonstrating good work habits, students are invited to wear pajamas to school Friday. Please keep in mind the following guidelines for appropriateness and safety:

1. Kids will be going outside, so dress for the weather: PJs with tops and bottoms are best. Sweats work equally well, or a combination of the two.
2. Sneakers or regular footwear are a must for coming to school/going home/recess. Kids are allowed (not required) to bring slippers–but keep in mind they’ll be wearing them all over school, including the bathrooms!
3. No toys, stuffed animals, or accessories, please.

On Friday, we will celebrate by making crafts; practicing summarizing skills using Hans Christian The Snow Queen; singing together at an all-school sing-a-long; and more!  Thanks for the countless ways you support your child’s learning. These kids are so well cared for physically, emotionally, and academically and I’m proud to be sharing their journey with you. I wish you the happiest of holidays, and all the best in 2020!

We’re wrapping up our study of Opinion Writing in style! Here are some from 1) Ved and 2) Nicholas, on why kids should have and iPhone; and 3) Oliver, and 4) Sophie on why they shouldn’t: 1) My first reason is, if you’re lost your parents can track you down. For example, if you’re lost in the woods your parents can find you because your iPhone has a tracking chip. 2) My second reason is, in an emergency they can dial 911. For example, if there was a fire you can call 911 for help from the firemen. 3) My first reason is, they could play games all day. For example, if they run off and play on it all day they will not get any smarter. 4) Kids might fool around and dial 911. If they call 911 when it’s not an emergency they can get in really really big trouble. Great job stating opinions and supporting them with evidence!

In math this week, students will be applying their new knowledge of multiplication and division when solving word problems. This week’s math homework asks them to draw pictures or symbols to show their work when solving these. One method we’ve taught them is to draw circles and stars, like in the picture below:

These can be used in division, too. Here’s how: when you know the total and the number of groups and you want to find the number in each group, draw circles for the groups and deal (like playing cards) stars to each circle. In the above picture that would look like this: 8 ÷ 2 = 4. Kids would draw 2 circles and then put one star in the first circle, then the second circle, then repeat until you have “used up” the 8 items. This shows them there are 4 in each group.

Now let’s say you know the total and the number in each group, and want to find the number of groups. In the above example that would look like 8 ÷ 4 = 2. In this case, you draw groups of 4 until you “use up” the 8 items.

The ‘circle and stars’ idea comes from a game that kids can play at home with any numbers: Circles and Stars

Here’s us in action, using nonfiction text features to make sense of expository text!

 

This week I will be starting a snowflake jar (like a marble jar) in class for earning points toward a class celebration the Friday before vacation. I’m looking to encourage habits of mind, especially good cooperation skills and self-regulation. Each day the kids will evaluate themselves with my help, and snowflakes will be added for each accomplishment, helping us reach our goal.

Our celebration will be on Friday, December 20. Kids will be invited to wear pajamas at school (more on the details to come), and we will spend the day honoring each other’s accomplishments so far. In addition, we’ll have a winter sing-a-long with the whole school; create winter crafts; write a narrative to accompany Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman; and more!

Report cards will be coming home next week. A few notes about grading: Gone are the days of letter grades, and the system now works a little differently. A “3” is Achieving the standard, and that is similar to an “A” grade. A “2” means students are making continuous progress and/or can do it some of the time, or with help. A “4” is rare: it means students are working one grade level above grade 2 benchmarks. A “1” is even rarer: should any student have been heading there, we would have communicated it well before now (and no one is)!

To be achieving on this term’s report card, students should be reading on level 20K, and reading fluently while comprehending text on whatever level they may be at. In writing they should be able to write complete sentences; to show evidence of correctly writing opinion and informative pieces; and to write with spaces, correct upper/lowercase letters, correct punctuation, and mostly correct spelling. In math, they should have passed math facts level 10; they should be able to make sense of and solve problems in daily work and on tests; and they should be able to accurately add and subtract 3-digit numbers with regrouping.

Our next area of study in math is multiplication. The focus for instruction is on recognizing that multiplication means adding equal groups of a set. Students will use objects, pictures, and symbols in order to show this addition. Then they will be taught the algorithm ___ x ___ = ___, in which the first number refers to the number of groups and the second number refers to the amount of objects which get added. For example, in 5 x 2 = 10, students should recognize that this means there are 5 groups of 2 objects which are added together to get 10 (illustrated below). At this time, there is no expectation that kids do this in their heads, only with support of objects and pictures.

 

In Writing this week, kids will state opinions and support them with reasons followed by explanations. Our topic is “The Perfect Pet” and is based on the book of the same name by Margie Palatini. Here it is being read aloud:

Peter T via Compfight 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I spent some long delayed time catching up with friends and family. I had much to be thankful for, including this great bunch of students and families!

We’re 1/3 of the way to grade 3! Students will be taking end-of-term assessments in writing, reading, math, science, and social studies. Report cards are due to come home just before the December break.

Our reading focus is on learning to use nonfiction text features to make sense of informative texts. Think about a magazine article you’ve recently seen. As accomplished readers, we never just dive in and hope we understand by the end of it; yet, that’s often what kids will do. Instead, we read and think about the title, headings and subheadings, pictures, diagrams, captions, maps, and all the other things that make concepts more comprehensible, all while relating them back to the main idea. This week we will learn many of these features, go hunting for them in text, and use them to improve comprehension. This Reading Mama’s blog puts it well (and is a good source for learning many elements of reading): http://thisreadingmama.com/comprehension/non-fiction/non-fiction-text-structure/  And you can practice using nonfiction text features to improve comprehension with your child by using magazines, websites, informational books, and at http://kids.nationalgeographic.com.

The kids are doing great things with opinion writing! Here are some reasons and examples on why animals should not be kept in zoos from: 1. Sami, 2. Gianna, and 3. Aayra: 1. To begin with, it’s like jail. For example, they’re locked in a small space without any freedom. 2. Another reason is, in a zoo animals just walk around in circles their whole life. For example, they have nowhere to go and they are used to big spaces. 3. Another reason is, if all animals were in zoos, there won’t be any in nature. For example, they are taken away from their herds. Great work!

This week we are learning to solve 2-step math problems. Consider the example in the picture below. It requires an extra step before finding out the total. Kids are being taught to read and understand the problem and tackle each step in order:

A “thank you” to Job Corps who sent representatives in to read to kids via the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury!