Zoo Trip Tomorrow

This is just a reminder about our Milwaukee Zoo Field Trip tomorrow.  Each student should bring a backpack and comfortable walking shoes.  Also, warm clothing will be great too.  It's suppose to be a little cooler tomorrow with some rain.  They will be carrying their backpacks with them throughout the day, so if they get warm they will be able to take sweaters, etc off and place them in their backpack.  Please don't have your child bring any money with him or her.  We will not have time to stop in the shops.  I will take lots of pictures tomorrow and post them on our blog sometime during the weekend.

Badger Football Math

Today I gave the students math problems based off of the Wisconsin Badgers football team. Any time the badgers score in their football game Bucky Badger completes push-ups.  He completes as many push-ups as the team has scored in total.  There are three problems they are being asked to solve.  The easiest of the three was the Wisconsin Badgers vs. Troy.  The most difficult games was the Wisconsin Badgers vs Indiana Hoosiers. In this game the badgers scored 83 points.  The problem below was solved by Sophia and Julian.  I will post the solution to other problems as they are solved next week.  Go Badgers!

Bucky Video

Wisconsin versus Troy Stats

The Wisconsin Badger football team beat Troy earlier this month.  They beat Troy 28-3.  It was a nice win for the badgers.  During the Wisconsin Badger football games, their mascot Bucky Badger does pushups after the badgers score.  He completes as many pushups as the team’s total amount of points at that given time in the game.  

First Step:  Watch the “Bucky Video” link above to see him completing push-ups during one of the badger games.  

Second Step:  Your task is to figure out how many total push-ups Bucky did against Troy in this particular game. In order to figure this out you need to click on the “Badger versus Troy  Stats” link above.  

Third Step:  When you get to this link click on the “scoring plays” tab.  When figuring out his total amount of push-ups include only the rows that show a badger symbol.    

Fourth Step: Create a table or anything else on the bottom of this document to show your work.  Good luck and Go BADGERS!  

Fifth Step:  Share your thinking and answer with me.

Possible last step:  If you get the answer wrong you have to complete as many push-ups as Bucky did during this game.  

7+14+21+28 = 70 push-ups

Character Traits

Our class has been working on identifying inside traits of characters in fiction stories.   These are the motivations and feelings of the characters.  This week we read the story, "Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie."  The students were asked to identify different inside traits that the main character Abbie possessed in this book.  They wrote these traits on small sticky notes and then placed them in the book where they could prove their thinking.  Then some students came in front of the class and shared their thinking.

More Science

Over the past week the students have been completing more experiments on their unknown chemicals.  Recently they have mixed them with both iodine and vinegar.  Also, they were sent links to videos on states of matter.  The students have been watching these videos and taking notes on them.  The links are listed below.

Solids, Liquids, and Gas

States of Matter

Changing States of Matter

States of Matter Song

Grand Opening of the School Store

Yesterday was the grand opening of our third grade school store.  Brynn, Brianna, and Jadyn were the first workers for the store.  They did a tremendous job.  The sale was quite successful.  Next week Mrs. Mair's class will be in charge of the sale.  The following week after that Mrs. Greger's class will be in charge of the store.  Then it will be our turn again.  I will choose the workers randomly using popsicle sticks.  If your child is chosen I will email you or contact you by phone early in the week to ask if your son or daughter would be available to work at the store.

Building Number Sense

In math we worked on building our number sense.  The students completed various activities to help them look at numbers in a more flexible manner.  In one activity I placed a number on the back of each of their shirts.  Then they were given a partner.  Through questioning and by taking good notes they had to figure out what the number on their back was.  They had to ask their partners questions using he words greater than, less than, and equal to.  Also, the students were given pictures of schools of fish.  They were asked to find ways to count the amount of fish in each school without counting one by one.  In another activity they were given a large sheet of paper with a number on it.  They had to create that number in as many ways possible.  Finally they played a rounding game.

Final Day of Play-doh Structures

Today was the final day for the students to build their Play-doh and straw structures.  Actually they were given 10 minutes to finish building them at the beginning of STEM.  Next, each group had to explain their thinking behind the design of their structure.  Finally we added weight to the top of their structures until they collapsed.  The group that built the strongest structure was the pink team.  Their team members included Sadie, Katelyn, and Brynn.  In a couple of weeks we will start our next challenge as a class.  It will involve Play-doh again.

Testing

The students have taken three assessments since the start of the school year.  They have taken the reading and math portions of Star360.  These tests were completed on their chrome books.  Yesterday they took the DRA test.  This is a test they take with me.  It's the same test they took in second grade.  The students read orally to me.  Then they complete comprehension questions to show their understand of the story they read.  I will share the results of these assessments with you at conferences in November.

School Store Opens This Thursday

This Thursday will be the opening of the third grade school store.  The third graders borrowed $125 from PTO and will work to pay them back as soon as possible.  Any profits earned will be used for field trips.  If any other money is left over after our field trips we will then decide how to use that money as a group.  Our store will take place every Thursday right after school.  It will close around 3:30 each Thursday.  Each third grader will be asked to help out at the sale.  Usually we will have only 2 or 3 students working during each sale.  There are about 60 third graders at Cooper Elementary School, so I appreciate your patience.  Your child will get a turn in working at one of our sales.  I will contact you early in the week to make sure it is okay with you in having your child participate in a sale before I place them on the work schedule.  Our class started making posters to advertise for our school store today.  Tomorrow we will finish them and post them around our school. Julian's completed sign is shown below.

There’s toys at Cooper School! Come buy them!

School store starts Thursday!

When:Thursday, Sept. 22nd

Where:Main Lobby

Time:Right after school until 3:30.

Playdough Challenge

Today the students started the Play dough challenge.  The challenge is listed below.  They made groups of two or three and began their challenge today.  Tomorrow they will be able to get more Play dough or more straws for building their structure.  Make sure to ask your child what their group will choose tomorrow and why.  It was great to see them problem solving.  I saw a lot of their plans changing as they were building their structures.

Rounding Numbers

Over the past few days the students have been learning how to round numbers.  They have made number lines to help them understand this concepts better.  Also, they have worked on Kahn Academy and ixl to practice this skill too.  If you would like your child to practice at home, he or she could work on the P section of ixl.  They can write down their username and password on a sticky note and bring it home tomorrow.  Also, I added the document I sent them to work on for even more challenging rounding problems below this post.

Wisconsin Cities

Round each city population to the nearest thousand.  Fill in the table below.  Then answer the question below the table.

City	Population to the nearest thousand	Population to the nearest thousand doubled
Sheboygan
Appleton
New Berlin
Green Bay
Milwaukee
Eau Claire

Put the following cities in order from the city with the smallest population to the city with the largest population.  Then find the difference between the city with the largest population compared to the city with the least population.  

Round the populations of Milwaukee and Sheboygan to the nearest ten thousand.  How many times larger is Milwaukee’s population than Sheboygan’s population?  Share your answers below.  Explain your thinking.

Greg Tang

Today I introduced the students to some math games that will help them build their number sense.  These games were created by Greg Tang.  He is a mathematician that has worked on ways to help students develop their number sense.  I added the link below, so you can check out these games.  These would be great games for your children to play at home.

http://gregtangmath.com/

Science

Today our class started our first experiment to figure out the names of 5 unknown chemicals.  They were each given a tray with the five chemicals on it.  Using sight, touch and smell they took notes on them.  Then we shared our notes.  During our next science class they will be adding water to each of these chemicals.  They will observe how each of the them reacts with water.  Right now they know each of the chemicals as a color.  At the end of this unit they should be able to identify the actual names of each of them by using their notes.

OSMO

Over the past two days I introduced the students to OSMO.  It's an interactive tool that can be used with the iPad.  It allows students to problem solve in a more active and engaging way.

Math Teachers

Each day students will be sharing their math thinking with one another.  Yesterday Charlie and Brianna explained their thinking to the class.  They were explaining why they placed certain number onto a number line provided to them.  Both of them did an excellent job teaching the class.  The sheet they were using is shown below.

Name:  ______________

1. Place a dot on the number line where you feel each of these numbers would be.  Then label you dot with the letter that matches the number on the line.  Be ready to explain why you feel the number belongs where you placed your dot.

1. 15 B)  52 C)  79 D)  44   E)  91

  

       2.  Ignore the question below.  Place a dot on the number line where you feel each of these numbers would be.  Then label you dot with the letter that matches the number on the line.  Be ready to explain why you feel the number belongs where you placed your dot.

1. 8 B)  36 C)  23 D) 48

3.  Place a dot on the number line where you feel each of these numbers would be.  Then label you dot with the letter that matches the number on the line.  Be ready to explain why you feel the number belongs where you placed your dot.

A) 235 B)  219 C) 212 D)  247

4.  Place a dot on the number line where you feel each of these numbers would be.  Then label you dot with the letter that matches the number on the line.  Be ready to explain why you feel the number belongs where you placed your dot.

A) 550 B) 225 C) 975 D)  631

Maker Space

Today was the first time that we worked in the Cooper Maker Space.  The students started to create their 3D models of the burned down building that was mentioned in the book, "The Chalk Box Kid."  It was fun to watch the students work together in teams.  There was definitely a lot of problem solving going on.  All of us definitely enjoyed the air conditioning that this room has to offer too.

Science Observations

This week we talked about making observations during science.  We discussed the importance of using our senses to describe our observations.  As a class we talked about using detailed observations instead of words like good and bad.  Today the students observed an unknown chemical by itself. Then they observed this same chemical after water was added to it.  If you get the opportunity please ask your child to share some observations that he or she made during this experiment.  Today, he students definitely learned that science can be messy.