Sequencing the News

In Mrs. Essenburg's Classroom we have been learning how to put events in nonfiction text in sequence.

We have to be thoughtful readers to figure out which events are the important events that go in order and which events to leave out.

And we started thinking...what are some examples in real life of when we list events in order?

We thought of biographies, and time lines, and getting ready for school in the morning.

Photo Credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom via Compfight cc 

Then we thought--News Shows! On the news, the broadcasters have to tell the story of what happened in order. They start with what happened first, and then go in order--what happened next, then, after that, and finally.

So we decided to become newscasters. We went to the website Newsela, which is a News Website for students. We found some interesting stories, and got to work.

We read the stories carefully. Some of the news stories were tricky to put into sequence because they were written in such a way that it was difficult to figure out the order of events.

We used a graphic organizer to help us determine which events we would put on our newscast and which we would leave out.



We wrote down what we would say and practiced.

Then it was time to record. We have a green screen, so we put it up on the wall. 

Take a look at our news stories! 

We have a story about a disagreement between the UK and the United States on who should keep Winnie-the-Pooh.




We have a story about a blind boy named Richie who won a school spelling bee.




This story is about a German soldier who saved about 500 Jews in Nazi Germany.




Here is a story about a 13-year-old boy who invented a printer for the blind..




Finally, these reporters have a science report about why popcorn jumps and pops.


We have one more news report on the way--we ran out of time Friday at the end of the day to get our last group recorded! Check back to see their report. 

We had a great time reading our news stories, finding the important events and putting them in order, and then getting our news reports ready. We hope you enjoyed them! 

It was a lot of fun using our green screen to help us with our reading skills. We hope to use it again in the near future for other learning activities. What would you like to see us use our green screen for next?

Getting Started with Fractions

We have been working hard on learning about fractions in Room 15.

There is a lot to learn about fractions, so like any new unit, we started with what we knew. We found out we knew quite a lot!

After breaking apart a candy bar together and seeing the fairest way to share it, we made some fraction rules. Here is what we decided.

1. Fractions are less than 1.

2. Fractional pieces need to be the same size.

3. When we compare fractions, it is important that the two wholes we are dividing into fractions are the same size. Otherwise it isn't fair. 1/4 of the first Butterfinger is less than 1/4 of the second Butterfinger!

We did a Skitch Scavenger hunt to see how many fractions we could find around the room. Here are some of the fractions we found.

There are other ways to think about fractions. Another way we are thinking about fractions is to put fractions on a number line.


I'll let the students show you what they've learned (so far--more to come!) about putting fractions on number lines. Here is Kiersten and Ryan.



Here is Tessa and Jaelyn.








We will be working with fractions a lot more over the coming weeks, but we are off to a great start!

Fractions are everywhere! Can you find an example of some fractions where you are right now? Mrs. Essenburg has a bottle of water by her computer. There is about 3/4 of the water left in the bottle. Also, there are 5 pencils in Mrs. Essenburg's pencil holder. 3/5 of the pencils are sharpened and 2/5 of them are not. Can you share an example of some fractions you see?

Putting Events in Sequence

Writers have different ways of organizing their writing.

One way writers organize their writing is by putting the events they are describing in sequence.

What is sequence? Sequence is putting events in the correct order.

When we put events in the correct sequence, we use clue words or time order words. These words help us determine the sequence of events. Some of the clue words we use for putting words in order are:

First
Next
Then
After that
Finally.

We also use time order words when we sequence events, such as:

Before
After
Later
Meanwhile.

We use sequencing when we are writing, especially when we are explaining the steps for how to do something.

We practiced using sequence by writing down the steps for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Everyone knows how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, correct?

After we wrote the steps down we found a partner and had our partner make the sandwich according to the steps we wrote. The rule was that the person making the sandwich had to follow the steps EXACTLY as they were written.

Some of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches turned out great!

Some didn't turn out the way we expected.

That's okay. It just goes to show that it's very important to make sure we sequence events in the proper order!

We also use sequencing when we read. We worked together to find the sequence in some informational articles. We used the app Popplet to organize our thinking as we read the articles and put the events in order.  

Jack and Claire read an article about the actor Christopher Reeve and put the information about his life into a Popplet.



Sara Jean and Bradyn read an article about the Chicago Fire and sequenced the events in order.


Jaelyn and Ruby read an article about the events after the Chicago fire, and put those in order on their Popplet.


Jocelyn and Kaiya read an article about how to make Eskimo Cookies. They did a great job of sequencing the events in order for how to make the cookies! You may have to zoom in to see this one!


Deven and Kiersten read a nonfiction article about how the Special Olympics was started and continued. They put those events in the correct sequence on their Popplet.



Finally, Lexi and Kaydance read an article about how to make a craft using rocks. Here is their Popplet putting the items in the proper sequence.


There are lots of things that go in a certain order, or sequence. For example, recipes need to go in sequence. Historical events, such as the sinking of the Titanic, go in a certain sequence as well. When authors write about things that go in order, or in sequence, they quite often use time order words to help the reader follow along. Can you think of some other things, or events, that would go in sequence? Share your ideas in the comment section below.

Blogging Challenge!

We want to welcome any classes that stop by to visit us during the Student Blogging Challenge!

What is the Student Blogging Challenge?

One of the many reasons to blog is to connect with classes from all over the world. A Blogging Challenge is a wonderful way to do that. We get new and exciting prompts to blog about each week.

Lots of different classes from around the world have signed up to participate in the Student Blogging Challenge. So no only do we get to work on fun and interesting posts, we also get to visit other classes and see the great things they are doing!

Here are some of the classes we will be visiting during the Blogging Challenge.

Mrs. Amri's class in Oregon has already stopped by to visit us and left some comments. Thank you so much for the comments, Mrs. Amri's class! We stopped by to see the great things you are doing and will be visiting again soon.

Mrs. Pratt's 4/5 Class in Adelaide, Australia

Miss Moore's Class in New Zealand

The more we learn about all the different people in the world, the more we learn about the many similarities we all share. 

Classes that are visiting us, feel free to comment either on our main page or on our individual blogs. You can read our individual blogs by clicking on the Kidblog icon at the top of the page. 

For the Student Blogging Challenge we get to blog with other classes across the United States and the world. We will get the chance to have conversations with lots of different students. We will have new fun blogging challenges to try. What are you most excited about regarding the Student Blogging Challenge?

Having fun with Possessive Nouns

Grammar can sometimes have a reputation of not being that interesting.

That doesn't have to be true! Here is one way we made learning about grammar fun.

One of the things we learn in third grade is how to write possessive nouns correctly.

What is a possessive noun?

We know that a Noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

Here are some examples of nouns:

Nouns can be a person--Girl (One of the amazing girls in my classroom.)

Nouns can be a place--Playground (Right outside our door!)

Nouns can be a thing--Violin

 A possessive noun shows ownership. To show that ownership, we put an apostrophe and then the letter s after the noun that owns something.

The girl's sweatshirt. The sweatshirt belongs to the girl.

The playground's basketball court. The basketball hoops are part of the playground. (We're not playing on them much right now though!)

Mrs. Essenburg's violin. The violin belongs to Mrs. Essenburg.

After learning how to write possessive nouns we practiced using possessive nouns with the app Skitch. We found items around the classroom and wrote sentences using possessive nouns. Here are some of our Skitch's.

(Okay, the baby puma wasn't in the classroom. Wouldn't it have been cool though if it was!)

We also learned how to use possessive nouns when the nouns are plural, which means there are two or more. When the nouns are plural, you put the apostrophe after the s. That's the only difference!

Here is a Skitch example of plural possessive nouns.

 There is a lot more than one student here, so the apostrophe goes after the s.

After we learned about plural possessives we worked together to write an ABC Book about possessive nouns using the Book Creator app. Each of us took a letter and some did more than one.

Here is Our Amazing ABC Book of Possessive Nouns made with Book Creator!



The best way to become good at anything--including using possessive nouns correctly--is to practice! Comment below with a sentence using a possessive noun. For example, here's one from Mrs. Essenburg. My computer's mouse needs a new battery.

Your turn!