Monday, August 31, 2015

Rounding Numbers :: Video Tutorial

In class, we have been working on rounding numbers!  
Here are the rules for rounding:

Radical Rounding Rules!


1. Underline the place value position to which you are rounding.

2. Write which two tens or two hundreds the number is between.

3. Draw an arrow to the neighbor on the right.

4. Think:  ♬ ♫  "If the neighbor next door is 5 or more, round up, round up!" ♫ ♬ 
     (If the neighbor is a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 round up. If the neighbor is a 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 round down.)


5. If it's not 5 or more, round down!

6. Circle the correct estimate/answer.


Here is a video tutorial we made last year to demonstrate the rules for rounding!


Watch the slide show and try the quiz to practice 
your rounding skills!



Rounding Numbers! on PhotoPeach

Rounding Numbers! on PhotoPeach 





************
How did you do on the rounding quiz?

How about asking a rounding question
 in your comment?

Once others write comments, look for question you can answer!

Friday, August 28, 2015

Place Value Places!

In class, we have been reading about the Three Little Pigs. So far, we have read two books about them. First, we read The Three Little Pigs by Mark Teague.  



Today, we read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! It was a very funny book told for the point-of-view, or perspective, of the wolf. In both stories, the pigs build homes or dwellings. For math, we built our own structures using ones, tens, and hundreds. It was a fun way to practice place value!


All Photos by Mrs. Yollis

Here is Mrs. Yollis' sample. 

On the left side of the card is each part of the house and the number of units used. (Example: 20 units were used on the roof, one hundred on the front.) On the right side of the card are three sentences. The first sentence describes the house. The second sentence tells how many hundreds, tens, and ones were used. The third sentence tells wheather the total number of units was odd or even. 







Which dwelling do you like the most and why? 

What is the value? Is it odd or even? 



 William's  boat house (308 units)



  Hailey's one-story house (154 units)





Sawyer's mansion (505 units)




  Ari's ordinary house (274 units)





  Abigail's modern house (287 units)





  Angelique's house (449 units)







  Bailey's two-story house (394 units)






  Aaron's enormous skyscraper (400 units)




Kostaki's original modern (293 units) 






Kate's ordinary house (188 units) 





Stella's ordinary house (164 units) 







                       Rayhan's  ordinary house (234 units)





Michael's pool house (484 units)






Jock's house   (324 units) 





Andrew's skyscraper (387 units) 







Maddie's rustic modern with chandelier  (317 units) 






Keya's pretty house (147 units) 







Ana's barn (158 units) 





Lily's desert dwelling (241 units) 






Heloise's barn  (271 units) 






Karissa's unusual house (200 units) 









Abby's  barn (246 units) 




One house was quite complicated, and it took three people to calculate the grand total. Way to persevere! 



Some structures are still under construction and will be published soon!



What was the value of your house? Was it odd or even?

Whose dwellings did you like? 
What were the values? Were they odd or even

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Back to School Night 2015-2016

Normally, Mrs. Yollis' class looks like this.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis





Tonight, the classroom looked like this!


Photo by Mrs. Yollis 



It was Back to School Night!
Parents came to hear about third grade!
Lots of information was shared about classroom expectations, curriculum, and resources. 



The centerpiece of the classroom is the blog. Mrs. Yollis shared a video she made about the value of blogging. Here is that video.








Blogging Buddies from Miss Jordan's class in Australia joined in via Google HangOut. The Australians gave a fabulous overview of the benefits of blogging. 


The parents were so impressed with your presentation! 






Parents left thoughtful notes for their child. With Dry Erase pens, you can write right on the desk! Everyone loved it!















*      *      *      *      *


What are you excited to learn about this year?





Parents, how is third grade different from when you were in school?

Organizing Our Library!



The first day of school was last Wednesday. We are getting into a learning routine and together, we are slowly setting up our classroom. 


Photo by Mrs. Yollis 
As we kick off the  Daily 5/ CAFE, we have been working on our reading stamina. When Reading-to-Self, it is important that each student: 

1. Read the whole time.
2. Stay in one spot.
3. Read quietly.
4. Get started right away.
5. Work on stamina. 






Each day, we have a few rounds of Read-to-Self, and we chart our growth in minutes. We are up to 15 minutes of Read-to-Self time!








Today, we organized our class library!

We took all of the books out of all of the boxes and sorted them by genre. Genre is a fancy word that means we sorted them by kind or category. Some categories were: 



FICTION
realistic fiction, mystery, fantasy, poetry, adventure, sports, and picture books

 




NONFICTION
informational text/science, informational text/animals, informational text/social studies, biographies, how-to books, math, and field guides 



Some books were sorted by series because we had at least FIVE in a series. 





Finally, it was time to shop for books! Students were allowed to take a reasonable amount. 

What makes for a reasonable amount of books for one week? 









Students enjoyed working on their reading stamina. In our room, the Learning Lounge, you can read in a variety of places!



Read at a table.





Read on the rug. Read on a bean bag.





Read in our class library.





How did you contribute to the great library sort?



HOMEWORK Due by September 4, 2015

Leave a comment about the book you are reading that provides:

1. Your book's title (Remember to capitalize book titles!)

2. The book's author  (Remember to capitalize names!)

3. The genre of your book. (realistic fiction, historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, nonfiction, biography, history, or another genre) 

4. Any additional information you would like to share about your book. (How many have you read from this series? What reading comprehension skill are you working on? Any predictions you'd like to share?)



We look forward to learning about you as a reader! 

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Welcome Back! 2015-2016


Welcome back to a new school year! 




Today was our first day of school!


Like Buck, we jumped right in and started our adventure! 


Photo by Mr. Yollis 


In the morning, students and families lined up to meet the teacher and hear a few opening remarks from the principal. 




In class, we had a lot of fun talking about geography. Students placed push pins in locations they have visited or would like to visit someday.



Sometimes two push pins were required. Sometimes placement on the WORLD map and the map of the UNITED STATES was needed.





When Mrs. Yollis held up the globe, Sawyer remarked that she looked like the Roman god, Atlas! What do you think? 

Photo by Lily

After recess, we opened up and categorized all the supplies. Later, students had fun "building" using the supply boxes, the Kleenex boxes, and the paper towels. 






Wow, that tower is looking good!
Great team work! 




Oh well, try again!



A fascination with glue dominoes ensued! Look at all the different trial and error methods that were used to get just the right effect!

Too close. 




A variation on the floor. 





Last year's glue bottles were added. 






Finally, the group achieved success! Their perseverance paid off!


Check out the next four photos! 







Great work! 

What is perseverance



While others built, some students chose to do a geography puzzle. 


Parents & Students

 Here are some links for you to peruse as we start our year of learning together:


A. This blog is the centerpiece of our classroom community. It is a wonderful space for sharing and learning together. Here is a link to an article I wrote about the benefits of classroom blogging. I hope you'll have a chance to read it before our Back to School Night.




B. We also have a class Photo-of-the-Day blog! Anyone is welcome to contribute a photo or comment throughout the year. Join our 365 Photo-of-the-day project! :-)



☼     ☼     ☼     ☼     ☼



Like Buck off a dock, let's jump right into blogging!





Students, please leave a comment telling us about yourself. What did you do over your summer break? What adventures and experiences did you enjoyed?

If you are one of our blogging buddies, please introduce yourself to my new class. Where are you from? What have you been up to?

Remember to proofread your comment with a parent before you publish!