Wednesday: Today we compared two texts about Marian Anderson. It was interesting to see that the two texts had some information that was the same and some that was quite different. We’ll be comparing two biographical texts independently later this week. During Math, we talked about problem solving steps. After we read a word problem, we ask ourselves, “What is this problem asking me to do?” Then we underline important information in the problem. Next, we write an equation that represents the problem and finally, we solve the problem, showing our work. In the afternoon, we created a theme poster for When Marian Sang. We decided that HOPE, STRENGTH, EXCLUSION and TALENT are all big ideas in the book. Then we wrote sentences about each big idea, answering the question, “What’s the author telling us about this idea?” We also compared two texts about BTS, one from TFK, one from Forbes.com. We learned that BTS is generous, but they also are quite wealthy. Interesting to compare the purposes of the two texts. The Christopher Mouse literature circle met and had an amazing discussion about pet ownership, honesty, and deals involving trades and money. Today was glorious.
Thursday: We started work on our IMPORTANT PEOPLE paragraphs. Each Thirdlander read 2 texts about a famous person, then they constructed a double bubble map to compare the information in both texts. We’re starting to write. We made Valentine’s Day cards for senior citizens. This was a student council project. We practiced our vocabulary word during Reading Workshop. We also worked on zines about BTS, with information from two articles about them.
Friday: Two literature circles met today and had fantastic discussions: Poppy and Because of Winn Dixie. We made bags for our Valentine cards. In the afternoon, we did some work with perimeter and area using different polygons. We ended our day with a fantastic Valentine’s Day party, full of games, tasty snacks and cool crafts. Thanks so much to the parents who sponsored the party and to all of you for being incredibly supportive. THIRDLAND ROCKS!
