Geometric and Numeric Patterns

I know...I know...I am breaking the rules by making two posts in one day, and making them so close together. However, I didn't want to put too much stuff in one post and make everyone confused. These past couple of weeks, we have been studying geometric and numeric patterns. This has been interesting because the way in which I have taught geometric patterns this year is different since our state standards have changed. I wanted to give my kids an assessment on our patterns without making them sit down with a worksheet, so I came up with this neat little trifold chart. I put 3 problems on index cards, taped them in the three sections, and let them go to town. They did such a great job of supporting one anther and I was able to see where we still need some help.

Me on the Map

Trying to get my kids to understand that Alabama is NOT a county has been like pulling eye teeth, so I decided to do my own version of "Me on the Map". Since I don't have the book, there was a lot of making things up as I went along. However, I would like to give a big shout out to Google Earth for helping me make everything more visual. With each step, we would type in our "destination" and Google Earth would zoom in. This really helped everyone go from big picture down to little picture. By the end of the mini unit, everyone is now able to tell me that we live in the STATE of Alabama which is part of the COUNTRY United States of America. 

While trying to get this completed, I undertook a giant task for one of my graduate classes...I brought it to work with me. Since one of our schools was damaged from storms recently, my class project was to organize a supply drive. Well my school went through something similar last year so my school did extra well collecting--this made me very stressed trying to get everything loaded to take to my contact person. Here are pictures just from MY grade level (I had 5 other grade levels to load too). The kids had so much fun bringing in the stuff and really wished the children in the other area well; it melted my heart.

Magnetic Numbers and The Hundred Dresses

I know that I have been absent for a little while, but things have been crazy around here! All of us third grade teachers are trying to get ourselves ready for hard core interventions before state testing. We have such a long way to go in such a short time.

In order to get all of my kids split into the groups that they needed to be in for math, I gave them a super quick assessment that I could check in 2 seconds. Then I was able to divide them into groups based on their needs and assign them to a teacher for interventions. The students that are not assigned a specific group are left for practice stations. I used my magnetic numbers that I made on my white board to keep track of which group they're in. The same thing was done for reading.

I LOVE my magnetic numbers for groups!!!! My kids are able to just take a quick look at the board and know where they're supposed to be without me having to repeat myself. It's like magic. First I bought a set then I got smart by making my own. Why didn't I do that in the first place??? Ha ha ha.

With all the testing murmurs going through the air, I wanted to get started reading another book. I decided to read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. I have to read books that have wonderful lessons, and this one really fits the bill. Never have read this book before, I didn't know what to expect for the kids. But they really are thinking through the characters' actions. I am hoping that they will see the whole message of the book. They are not always to taught how to treat other people that are different from themselves; therefore, I wanting these past and future book discussions to really stick! Fingers are crossed.