It has been a bittersweet summer this year. I am cherishing every minute with my daughter and I am working hard to get back into "teacher" mode. Summer is my favorite time of the year and I am looking forward to my family's yearly trip to the Outer Banks in NC...but that week borders on the start of the school year. One thing that I am doing to get ready for the school year is cleaning out and organizing my math centers and games. This … [Read more...]
Interactive Reading Journals/Notebooks: Starting The Year Off Right
A few years ago before the school year started, I stood in my classroom with two huge piles of notebooks. I knew there had to be a way to practice our reading standards and skills while creating a reference tool for my third graders. I had always used a writer's notebook, and I really liked the way I could teach mini lessons and my students could reference the information if they needed to. I looked around online and learned about the concept … [Read more...]
Say What?! Persuasive Paragraph Writing
In our classroom we have been working on writing persuasive paragraphs. This is the first year that third grade is working on persuasive writing so I had to think of some engaging activities to get my class motivated! This is an activity we did that used sentence starters to try to persuade our families to let us get a puppy, a cell phone or let us stay up later. Once students wrote their rough drafts using a graphic organizer, they edited … [Read more...]
Author Study: Eve Bunting
In third grade we are in the middle of our first author study. We chose the beloved Eve Bunting! In our reading anthology we read, "A Days Work" which is a wonderful story with a great message about telling the truth. Eve Bunting always tackles the tough issues, and she is a great author to use to teach about theme and the message in … [Read more...]
Pumpkin Observations/ Seed Estimation
I haven't posted in a while because I have been so busy and I have had a lot going on! Halloween was last Thursday and it was a "charged" day in third grade to say the least! At our school, they students aren't allowed to dress up, so that helps a little when it comes to keeping the kids calm. I love to bring pumpkins into the classroom and do a whole "pumpkin" themed day! I used this activity pack from my TpT … [Read more...]
Multiplication Fact Practice
Today in third grade we moved on to the x4's. So far we have done the x0, x1, x2, x3, x5, and x10s. After our whole class lesson and individual practice, I wanted the kids to get a chance to practice their facts in a fun way. Since flashcards can be boring to a third grader, I decided to create a "game" for fact practice. First I downloaded free game boards from The School Bell. I had students color them in when they … [Read more...]
