We have a Twitter account for our class. While using Twitter we are learning about other classrooms. We are also communicating using 21st Century tools. The class decided to create a rubric to use, similar to our Fluency Rubric, that told us the quality of our tweets. Check out our TWITTERRubric .
The students have adjusted well to third grade expectations. They have started to appreciate one anothers differences and also understand the importance of doing their best. Our Literacy rotations are a hit! Many students understand that using the iPad in our classroom is a daily occurance. Math, Writing and Social Studies have also started off well. We are learning about communities and what they look like in a ll subject areas in our room. This week students will be learning more about The Pledge and also 9/11s impact on our history. We watched and discussed a video about 9/11 today. The video, produced for kids by Nickelodeon, can be watched by you by clicking here. I felt that this was a great resource to use to lay a foundation for discussions this week in class. Thanks for taking an interest in your child’s education this school year.
I recently was a panelist at the Iowa Education Summit in Des Moines and I sat on the panel with Scott McCleod from Iowa State University. He is extremely knowledgeable about Technology and Education. Recently he released a YouTube video that is sure to inspire anyone connected to our youth. Click HERE to check out the video.
Did you know that we 3rd grader’s get mystery reader’s every week on Friday’s?In Mystery Reader every 3rd grade class comes into Mr.Nidey’s classroom and teachers give us clue’s about who it is. It is mysterious,fun and exciting!Every week a parent or sibling comes and reads a couple of books with a lot of expression.Friday’s are an enjoyable, mysterious and fun days!
By Maia,Grace,Stephen,Kai,Ashley and Alex
This morning we are working on ietherpad. I will have a station of six students at a time working on responding to writing prompts from 8:30-9:50. Check out http://www.ietherpad.com/reading to follow us live!
The Lion and the Mouse Shoot Hoops
During our reading time we have been working on Reader’s Theater. We have three different groups. Next week we will be presenting to a few other classes. We will invite classes to our classroom and we will also Skype with another class so they can watch our performances. We can’t wait!
BTW – You shouldn’t allow your child to wear a Tom Brady jersey to my class after the Patriots beat my Colts! Who’s child is that in the audience?
Think/Read/Share Schedule
Click here to watch us in action!
During our Think…Read…Share time students transition from a variety of literacy activities. You can often find students using reading strategies at their desk. They use strategies such as visualizing, making predictions, making connections, asking questions, sequencing, etc. While students are at their desks others are doing word work with our IPAD. Word Monkey is a favorite app to use while working in small groups. Some of the other buzz in the room that you hear would be students reading to partner or using I Read/You Read to improve fluency and expression. Mr. Nidey expects us to do our best so he can also work with small groups during this time.
“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” – Edward Burke
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Thankfully we don’t have the snow that we had last year! However, the temperatures are falling. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed for the weather. We will go outside for recess as long as the temperature and wind chill is above zero. Yes, that means the teachers get bundled up as well. In fact, Mr. Nidey is often spotted in his snow gear playing Snow Bowls (football) during recess!
Two teams playing to win in Baseball Multiplication!
Today in math we learned how to play Baseball Multiplication. This would be a great game for you to play with your child online at www.everydaymathonline.com to practice basic multiplication facts. Your child knows their password to log in! Have fun playing the game and post a comment to let us know who won.
Today we were able to have three Drake students visit our classroom. The students have been anticipating their visit for a week now. Our guests taught an interactive lesson about passengers on the Titanic. We were also excited about this lesson because we were able to have a class of future educators observe the lesson through Skype while in class at Drake.
Questions for my third grade students: What did you learn about different classes on the Titanic? How did you feel about the end of the lesson? What do you think it would have been like to have been on the Titanic?
Questions for Drake students observing through Skype: What did you learn as a teacher from the lesson? How could you use Skype in your future classroom? Have you ever considered using a blog?
Do you want to find out more about Drake? Check out http://www.drake.edu/
