The US Southeast Region

We are learning all about the regions of the United States in Social Studies. Here is one of our favorite videos about the United States.  We have watched it twice now and we keep asking for more, so here it is on our blog so it is easy to find!



We are having a lot of fun "traveling" around the United States visiting different parts of our country. We are not only learning great things about the United States but also some very important nonfiction reading skills.

This week we are visiting the Southeastern Region of the United States. 

We always start out learning about the land and water of the area. For this region we tried something a little different. 

After reading our nonfiction selection and highlighting important details about the land and water forms, we used a new technology tool called Thinglink.

Thinglink is a tool that lets you take an image and use icons to annotate that image. We used an image of a map of the southeastern United States. This let us show exactly where some of these important parts of the Southeast region are located.

It was a good way to have a better understanding of exactly where these landforms are located. Reading is great, but creating something after we read about it helps us remember it better. We had to go back to the text and check the map and think about where all of these land forms and bodies of water are located.

We might even be able to use this information in our next Mystery Skype!

Here are three of the thinglinks we created of the southeast region. This was our first time using this tool and we did a great job! Just roll over each image with your mouse.











Have you ever visited  the Southeast Region of the United States? Maybe one of the visitors to our blog lives in this part of the United States! What is your favorite thing about this region? We would love to hear about it in the comments.

Fact and Opinion

In Mrs. Essenburg's class we have been learning about fact and opinion.

The first thing we did was learn what a fact is and what an opinion is.

I'll let Kaydance tell you what a fact is:

listen to ‘fact’ on audioBoom

And Ryan can tell us what an opinion is:

listen to ‘opinion’ on audioBoom

We came up with lots of examples of facts and opinions!

Our next task was to find facts and opinions in what we were reading. That was a little more difficult. 

We looked for clue words to help us find opinions. The clue words that helped us were words like best, worst, think, believe, and should.

For facts we looked for things we knew we could prove, such as events that happened, numbers, dates, etc.

We practice with fiction and nonfiction text.

One activity we did was read the nonfiction text Amazing Animal Tales, all about animals who saved the lives of people. 

It was a bit more difficult finding opinions in nonfiction text, but we did it! We created movies to show the facts and opinions we found. We also made sure to explain how we knew our statement was either a fact or an opinion. We used the app Shadow Puppet to create our videos.

Here is the video that Andrew and Ruby made:



Here is Kaiya's video.




Here is the video that Tessa and Sara made.



Here is the video that Claire and Bradyn made.



Here is the video that Deven and Kiersten made.



We had a lot of fun creating videos about facts and opinions. We would love to hear some facts and opinions from you! Can you share some facts you know or some opinions that you have in the comment section below?

Using the Distributive Property

A while ago we posted about how we are learning about the distributive and commutative properties in multiplication. We had a lot of fun learning about the properties, but the reason we learn about the properties of multiplication is so we can use them to help us understand math and solve problems.

We have been showing the distributive property in lots of ways. 

One way we showed the distributive property is by making arrays, like this:

Another way we showed the distributive property is the way we usually think of when we think of this property, an equation:  

8 x 7 = (4 x 7) + x 7). 

The distributive property helps us with our number sense, because we when we break numbers apart it helps us understand how numbers work.

We made some videos showing our thinking as we used the distributive property to solve math problems. We used the apps Doceri and Educreations to make the videos.

Here is Claire's video.





Here is Jocelyn's video.


Jocelyn from Jane E Essenburg on Vimeo.

Here is Sara's video.


Distributive Property 1 from Jane E Essenburg on Vimeo.

Here is Bradyn's video:


Bradyn from Jane E Essenburg on Vimeo.

Here is Tessa's video:



Here is Deven's video:



We will continue representing the distributive property in different ways as we learn more about multiplication. Breaking numbers apart is an important skill and will help us solve more difficult problems. We will also continue to work on explaining our thinking as being able to explain what we are doing shows understanding.

Do you use the distributive property when you solve multiplication problems? Or do you use a different strategy? We would love to hear about it in the comment section below.

Synonyms and Antonyms

In Mrs. Essenburg's class we are learning about synonyms and antonyms. We learned that using synonyms and antonyms are a great way to make our writing come alive.

What are synonyms and antonyms?

Synonyms are words that are very similar in meaning.

For example, frightened, scared, terrified, and spooked are all synonyms. They all mean pretty much the same thing. When we write, it is a good idea to think of synonyms so our writing is more interesting and we don't use the same words over and over again.

Antonyms are words that mean the opposite.

For example, an antonym of confident might be unsure. An antonym of messy might be tidy. An antonym of normal might be uncommon.

We brainstormed a list of synonyms and antonyms and then used created some examples for you. We used the app Haiku Deck to make our examples.

Here are some of our synonyms we made on Haiku Deck:


Copy of Antonyms - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Copy of Title - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Angry - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Raise - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Here are some examples of antonyms we made on Haiku Deck:


Copy of Antonyms - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Title - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Big/little - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Coming up with synonyms and antonyms is fun! Below is a list of ten words. 

Empty
Slow
Wide
Shallow
Soft
Heavy
Delicious
Silent
Smile
Sleepy

Can you think of either synonyms or antonyms for these words...or maybe both? We would love to hear your ideas!

Comment below with one or more of these words and a synonym or antonym to go along with it. Remember to leave a quality comment!

Reading is Thinking

In Social Studies we are learning about the regions of the United States. The first region we learned about was the Midwest. We started there because that is the region we know the best because we live in it!

Wikimedia commons

The states in the Midwest region are Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

We have been learning about these great states and also working on strategies for reading informational text.

One of the things we've been learning about is the products and natural resources of each region. 

We learned that natural resources are the materials we get right from the earth. These are things like sand, soil, water, or trees.

We learned that products are things we can make from natural resources, such as glass, corn, energy, and paper.

Sand is a natural resource. It comes right from the earth.

Public Domain Images

It can be made into glass, which is a product we use.

Wikimedia Commons

We used our iPads and the app Dream-X to make a web, or a Mind Map, of the products and natural resources of this region. We got right to work reading the text and creating our webs.

After working for awhile we got together to take a look at what we had so far.

When we looked at the Mind Maps we created, they were telling us that soil is a natural resource, and wheat comes from soil, and corn comes from wheat, and iron ore comes from corn, and...

Wait a minute. That doesn't sound right!

Public Domain Image

Hooray! We had a golden opportunity for a lesson discussing what it means to think when we read. Too often we read quickly and don't take the time to make sure we understand something, especially when we read a text packed with information, like this one.

We took a good look at our webs and asked some questions. What does it mean that products are made from natural resources? How will we show that on our web so it makes sense? What information is important and what isn't? Does it matter where we put the words on our web?

We read the selection again, more carefully this time. We made some changes.

When we were finished, we shared our Mind Maps with each other again. They made a lot more sense because we read very carefully and then thought very carefully about how to share the information we learned.

Here are some examples of what we made!

These webs made a lot more sense! We shared them with each other, and we noticed that there were minor differences between them, but that we all had the same natural resources and the same products made from those resources.

We have learned a lot about the MidWest over the past week or so. We shall soon be turning our attention to the Northeast United States.

Before we do so, we are going to do one last activity for the Midwest. Each of the midwestern states is special in its own way. If you were going to go on a vacation to one of the Midwest states (not Michigan!), which one would you choose and why? Let us know in the comment section below.

Commutative and Distributive

In Mrs. Essenburg's class we have been busy learning about multiplication. In addition to learning the facts, we are also learning how to think about multiplication.

One of the things we've been learning is about the different properties of multiplication. Understanding these properties will help us as we move into more complex multiplication problems.

One of these properties is the commutative property.

The commutative property states that when you multiply you can switch the factors around and it doesn't change the product.

For example, 3 x 8 = 8 x 3

When we first learned this property, we made it. We showed it with unifix cubes, like this.

After that, we drew pictures to show the commutative property.

 

Understanding the commutative property is very helpful, because counting four groups of five is a little easier than counting 5 groups of 4! Knowing that you can switch the factors and still get the same product makes it easier to figure out different problems.

The other property we have been learning about is the distributive property. This one is a little more complicated, so we spent more time on it. 

The distributive property states that for any multiplication equation you can break a factor into two pieces, then add those two pieces together, and it will equal the multiplication equation you started with.

For example, 7 x 4 = (3 x 4) + (4 x 4)

Again, we started out by making the distributive property.

At first, the distributive property looked a little confusing, because we weren't used to solving these types of problems, but it helped a lot to make the problems so we could see what was happening. After that, we started drawing them out.

However, the best way to be sure that we understand something is if we can explain it to someone else. So, to make sure we understand the distributive and commutative properties, we made something called a paper slide video. Check it out below.

We will continue using these and other properties of multiplication this year.

We learned about the distributive and commutative property first by making examples, then by drawing examples, and finally by explaining examples. Did we explain these properties well enough for you to understand them? Can you comment below with an example of either the commutative or distributive properties?

Subject and Predicate

The third graders in Mrs. Essenburg's class have been learning about subjects and predicates in sentences. 

Every sentence has to have a subject and a predicate. If you don't have both a subject AND a predicate, you don't have a sentence!

What is a subject? 

 

 A subject is the who or the what of a sentence. It is what the sentence is about. 

Let's look at the subject in some sentences. We will color the subject red.

For example, this is Mrs. Essenburg's son, Joey. If I were writing a sentence about him, he would be the subject of the sentence.


Joey is standing in the doorway.

These are Mrs. Essenburg's cats, Lucy and Troy. If I were writing a sentence about them, they would be the subject of the sentence.

Lucy and Troy are sitting next to each other.

Here are some students in Mrs. Essenburg's classroom. If I were writing a sentence about them, they would be the subject of the sentence.

The girls are working on the iPads.

What is a Predicate?

The predicate tells what the subject does. Another word we use for predicate is the verb. We know what verbs are! We made a great video about verbs.

Let's use those same pictures and sentences, and this time look at the predicate. We will color the predicate blue.

Here is Joey again.

Joey is standing in the doorway.

Here are Lucy and Troy.

Lucy and Troy are sitting next to each other.

Here are two of Mrs. Essenburg's students.

The girls are working on the iPads.

See how the predicate shows what the subject is doing?

If you are writing and your sentence does not have both a subject and a predicate, it is not a sentence.

Here are some mixed up subjects and predicates. Can you find the subject and the predicates that go together and write the sentence in the comment section below? Remember that sentences also MUST start with an uppercase letter and they MUST have punctuation.

Remember, these subjects and predicates are all mixed up! Can you create a sentence from the words above that has a subject and a predicate, starts with an upper case letter, ends with a period, and makes sense? Post it in the comment section below! 

Feel free to make a different sentence with words of your own, but make sure your sentence is complete.

Wonder Hour

We are doing something this year called a Wonder Hour.

What is a Wonder Hour? It is an opportunity, once a week for about 45 minutes, to work on a project of our own choosing.

Yes! A chance to learn about something that we have always wanted to learn about.

We have spent the first few sessions this year brainstorming things that we are curious about, that we are wondering about, and that we have always wanted to know. It wasn't always easy, because sometimes we couldn't think of anything. Other times, we weren't sure how to put it in words.

Any time someone wondered something in class, we wrote it on our Wonder Wall. Our Wonder Wall continues to grow. At the beginning of the year we had just a few wonders up. Now it looks like this:

Now this week we are starting to choose our first wonders to start to learn about. We are going to research this wonder and create a project to share with the world. We had to to take our Wonder and write it in the form of a question to research

That wasn't always easy either. Some of our questions, while great, were not the type of questions that are the best for research.

For example, When was the Empire State Building built? is a great question, but it is not a good one for research, because we can answer it very quickly.

However, What is the story behind the Empire State building? is a great question to research, because it will take some time and planning to find the answer, and there are lots of ways to make a final project about that question when we are finished.

On Monday we chose our first question to research.

Created with Padlet

There are a few people who are still thinking about their Wonder, and the Wonders might change as we get started, but we are ready to start. This is a grand adventure for both teacher and students, and we can't wait to see where this road takes us.

We would love to hear what YOU wonder about! If you could spend 50 minutes once a week learning about what you are most interested in, what would YOU choose? Please share in the comment section below.