The Campfire Chronicles

Brianna is our Scout of the Week because she set a good example to others during our independent work time (centers) this week. Because Brianna worked so carefully on her "Build-a-Sentence" center, she was able to check and sign off that center for the other students. If someone needed help with it, Brianna showed them how to do it. She was very patient and kind.

In her Book Club, Brianna enjoys thinking about and discussing the books we read, as well as listening to what her peers have to share.

Well, maybe not "on" stage, but very close! This week the third graders of LWW visited the Anderson Center at Binghamton University. We watched a multicultural dance troupe perform dances from all over the world.

The dancers performed 11 different dances. In addition to cultural dances from Scotland (a Scottish Sword Dance), India, and Africa, there were dances to American music (including Michael Jackson) that demonstrated tap dancing, ballet, and jazz. One ballet focused on the difficulty of making choices. Another dance, inspired by September 11, was about people helping one another.

Mike's dad and Tiano's dad were wonderful chaperones. Also with us were Miss Allio and Mrs. Cash who provided great assistance. The support of our adults allowed us to have a very safe and fun time!

Sat. 3/9: 2-3 p.m. (NBC)

3/9 - 3/16: 6 - 7 p.m. (every day on A & E - cable channel 38).

Cheerleaders and athletes from the UE High School came to LWW on Friday for a pep rally in support of PARP (Parents as Reading Partners). Afterward, they handed out free books to each of the students.

Who is Dr. Seuss? His name is Theodore Geisel and he was born on March 2, 1904.

In 1936, when he was 32 years old, he wrote his first book and titled it And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

In 1955, Theodore wrote a book to promote literacy in schools. His publisher gave him a list of 400 frequently used words and asked him if he could write a book with only 250 of those words. Theodore did it with 220 words and he called it The Cat in the Hat!

In 1960, someone bet Theodore that he couldn't write a book with only 50 words. He did it! It is called Green Eggs and Ham!

Theodore died in 1991. He wrote over 40 children's books in his life. Every year, on his birthday, we celebrate "Read Across America Day"!

When we are making a Story Map for a book, the first thing we do is identify the problem in the story. When we are listing the events in the story, we don't want to list every single thing that happens on every single page. We ask ourselves: "What happens next that helps solve the problem?" When we identify the solution, we make sure that it "matches the problem" - that it answers the question.

In math, when we were working on Problem Solving Strategies for problems that had too much information, our Story Map graphic organizer was helpful to us!

1. PROBLEM: First we identified the question. We underlined the "most important word" in the question. That word will tell us what the number in our solution refers to (6 inches, 6 cups, 6 toenails, 6 what?)

2. EVENTS: Next we asked ourselves: "What information helps us solve the problem?" If the information doesn't help us solve the problem, we don't care about it! We only list the information that helps solve the problem.

3. SOLUTION: For our solution, we first write out the number sentence (either an addition, subtraction, or multiplication sentence with numbers: 2 X 6 = 12). Then we write the answer to our question using a complete sentence. To do this, we look at the question and turn it around into a statement. We make sure that we include our "most important word" so that our "solution matches the problem."

Tip to remember: In a multiplication number sentence, the first factor is the number of groups, and the 2nd factor is how many are in each group. (For example, 2 X 6 = 12 is read: "2 groups of 6 equals 12." There are 2 groups, and there are 6 in each group.)

Two of our Book Clubs worked on the stories, Bony-Legs and Aunt Eater Rides the Train, this week. Another of our Book Clubs worked on Uncle Jed’s Barbershop. When we turn a Story Map into a one-paragraph Summary, we write sentences in this order:

1. An introductory sentence that introduces the book and what the author wants us to know about it.
2. The problem.
3. The events (in order) that help solve the problem. We use “transitional words” such as “next, then, after that, later” to help show that the events are happening in order.
4. The solution (Make sure that “the solution matches the problem.”)
5. The concluding sentence. This sentence has an important job. It has to tie back to the introductory sentence.

Since we can copy the problem, events, and solution right off of the graphic organizer, writing a paragraph is the easy part! Most of the “thinking” went into making the Story Map! When we are writing our paragraph, the only sentences we have to think a lot about are the first one and last one!

                

Look below to see how we turned our Story Maps into one-paragraph Summaries!