Decomposing Arrays and Multiples of Ten

Our students' knowledge of multiplication has come so far in so little time. We worked on finding the total number of squares (or area) in an array. An array is a multiplication model used to work toward independence and mental math strategies. 

Students discovered that by decomposing the array into smaller arrays, they could more easily find the product. We also encouraged them to record using correct algebraic notation. You'll notice in this piece of student work that 4 x 3, said, "four groups of three," can be decomposed into (2 x 3) + (2x3) = 12.

More recently, we've been exploring larger numbers, too, and recognizing relationships. The chart below was created by my co-teach partner, Ashley, during a lesson to emphasis why students have been seeing the pattern of a 0 in the ones place. Zeros aren't merely added to the ones place, rather they are in the ones place because they are a multiple of 10. Multiples of 10 have a 0 in the ones place. A student could see that 5 x 60 = 5 x 6 x 10. This helps them see why the pattern occurs.

New Team Planning

Today, we kicked off the first of our New Team Planning Meetings with the incoming 3rd grade team. We believe, the meetings, unique to the way we prepare for the upcoming school year, are vital for team cohesiveness. It is not uncommon at The Creek for teachers to transition between grade levels, therefore teams always have new members. We believe, as the quote on our agenda stated that “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” The pre-planning allows everyone to get to know each other, obtain a clear vision for the expectations and demands of that particular grade level, and ask questions and receive immediate answers. This one day gets everyone off on the right foot and brings a sense of calm.

Our morning began with a team building activity designed for teachers to learn more about one another and get the day started with a few hearty laughs. Then, the first topic of business was selecting a Team Leader to represent the interests of the grade level teachers at the shared decision making table and provide leadership to the grade level throughout the year. In third grade, the team nominated and appointed Vicky Cole to this position. After that, the team discussed Committee Chairs for positions like Target Team observers, Spirit, Technology, Play, etc. The third grade team was eager to volunteer and it was evident to me that many teachers were willing to fulfill leadership positions on the team. Always a good thing to ensure team cohesiveness!

Our next order of business was reviewing and clarifying the grade level's non-negotiables list as outlined by the America's Choice School Design and our CCE School Improvement Plan. I will post this complete list at the end of this blog post, if you wish to review the items this team has agreed to follow.

Third Grade teachers are departmentalized by subject area, therefore for the next part of our agenda we broke into two groups, the ELA department & Math/Science/Social Studies department. In each group, we conferred about the New Generation Standards, talked about inventories, common assessments, homework, grading, and diagnostics. In addition, in ELA, we spent much of our time on looking closely at our ELA Pacing Guide and revised it based on consensus for the 2010-2011 school year. This part of the agenda certainly brought clarity to each of the team members.

The professionals then went out to lunch together. This well spent time brings a lot of opportunity for conversation and collegiality, and is an important part of the day that should not be overlooked.

Afternoon dialogue focused on penning a grade level Supply List, and then on our digital resources. Led by Cheryl Chascin, teachers updated their On Course Teacher WebPages, and then logged in and explored Discovery Education.

The end of the agenda reminded teachers, “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” And, I think they would agree that today, they planted many seeds they will reap the harvest of next school year.

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Non-negotiables

Subjects

--One hour Readers’ Workshop
--One hour Writers’ Workshop

--15-20 minute Interactive ELA Skills Block

--One hour Math Workshop
--15-20 minute Interactive Math Skills Block

--45 minutes of Science / Social Studies

Homework

--No more than 45 minutes nightly (Monday through Thursday), no homework on weekends.
--Coordinate the assignment of projects with members of the team. Revisit and align projects to New Generation Standards. Project assignments may go home on weekends, but only to provide students and parents additional time to secure materials. Project work counts in the 45 minute homework time limit. Research may count as reading time.
--Students are encouraged to be actively involved in extracurricular activities, spending a limited time on homework while building rituals and routines around study skills.

Million Word Standard

--Each student is responsible for reading a million words a year.

--Evidence will be logged through a book log. (Book logs can be paper/pencil, digital, school based or home based)

Artifacts
--Standards, for the daily lesson, should be displayed and printed large enough to be read by students from their seats.
--Book of the Month attractively displayed and accessible.

--Data Notebooks (Diagnostic Profiles, DRA’s, PMP)

--Portfolios in Writing, Mathematics, and Science
--Word Walls
--ELA: mini-lesson charts (teacher made), writing rubrics, Reading Response Journals or Notebooks, and Writing Notebooks or Seed Journals--Math: teacher made charts, 100’s chart, number lines with negative and positive numbers, manipulatives, and strategy charts
--Science: teacher made charts; Scientific Method posted; evidence of an inquiry based laboratory; and Science journals, notebooks or portfolios--Student work posted (on the walls in the classroom, preferred, but if space is limited hallway display is acceptable)

Standards- Based Bulletin Boards

--SBBB will be displayed by the deadline date and should include: Standards, Task, Circumstances of Performance, 4 pieces of student work, and teacher commentary. Student commentary is optional.

--No SBBB are due in August, December, March, or May. April's board should be work over time.

--Co-teachers in departmentalized grade levels will alternate between ELA and Math/Science/Social Studies.
--Teachers are encouraged to produce a variety (subject area and work product) of different SBBBs across the grade level. Each should be original and creative.

Standard Snapshots

--Go home with report cards on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd nine weeks.
--Should be created collaboratively with an emphasis on discussing student work.
--Each student’s piece of work will be attached to the snapshot to be sent home on the specified date.

--ELA team will produce three Snapshots (reading or writing); Math/Science team will produce three Snapshots (math or science).

Pacing Guides

--District Learning Schedule in Mathematics

--District Learning Schedule in Science

--ELA CCE Pacing Guides, prepared using the Scope and Sequence in our district adopted Houghton-Mifflin Text and the Sunshine State Standards

--Author Studies, as outlined in our SIP, will be delivered following the pacing guide schedule.

On Course Grade Book

--Homework grades are for habits and process, not accuracy or content.
--Projects will not be graded if they are completed at home.

--5 or more grades in each subject area, every grading period.

--Subject area teachers MUST agree on what is being graded and how the grade is derived. Parents must be informed.
--Grades should be posted to the grade book within one week.

Communication with Parents

--Weekly newsletters
--Written notes in planners or email

--Blogs are highly recommended but optional.

Grade 3 Readers' Workshop Lesson

Last Wednesday morning, Christy Constande and Vicky Cole hosted 20 CCE colleagues during our Vertical Demonstration Day on co-teaching and small group instruction. They began their one hour Readers' Workshop by introducing Reading Standard 2: Getting the Meaning, and explaining to students that today they would analyze text to gain meaning. They referenced their previous lesson on opinions and inferences, and explained that authors leave breadcrumbs as clues throughout text that readers are supposed to gather as they read to gain understanding.

For their lesson, they used an excerpt from a read aloud book, Book Fair Day, and modeled how to note details that are stated directly in the text,"seen" text. Then, they taught students to extend that thinking by taking notes about what they know but that is not stated in the text, the "unseen." Putting these two pieces together, the students were then challenged to make and write down an inference.

During active involvement, the students had the chance to practice this new strategy in their reading journal using one of three excerpts the teachers provided to each pair. Teachers conferred with the students to help them during active involvement and two students shared their thinking.

In the link portion of the lesson, Vicky and Christy asked students to use this strategy today during their independent reading to gain meaning of the text.

As students transitioned to the Work Session, the teachers called two small groups, one to the front of the room, and one to the back. Vicky, based on analysis of their diagnostic data, taught a twelve minute small group lesson to five students on noting details. Then, she circulated to assist students that were working independently. She read the students' work during the "drive bys," and selected student samples for closing session.

At the same time, Christy taught a twenty five minute inferencing small group with the book, When the Relatives Came, to a group that she had anticipated would struggle with the concept of making an inference. This gave the group members an opportunity to practice the strategy with direct feedback and scaffolding from the teacher.

During the Closing session, Vicky facilitated while two students shared their work from their independent session. Then Christy shared student thinking from her small group. They reminded readers that today and every day they should always consider the "seen" and "unseen" breadcrumbs left as clues in the text by authors, and that they needed to gather the breadcrumbs to make inferences in order to gain a deeper understanding of the text.

After the lesson, the twenty observers gathered in the conference room to discuss the lesson and share ideas. Vicky and Christy joined the debrief to share their reflections and answer questions. The observers said they appreciated watching a demonstration lesson where they could see the students stuggling to grasp a concept; They liked that the teachers used authentic text to model their thinking; They enjoyed watching how both teachers brought their own experience into the lesson; They appreciated the depth at which the teachers modeled for students during the think aloud.

In addition, the teachers complimented Mrs. Constande and Mrs. Cole on their established rituals and routines, the ease at which transitions occurred, and the systematic data driven way they formed small groups. They liked the accountability during work period because the teachers provided a tool for students to record their thinking. They discussed that it is very evident that the teachers plan well together and equally take responsibility for their lessons.

The teachers then asked Vicky and Christy how they felt about co-teaching versus teaching alone, and whether they preferred the departmentalized co-teach or the all day co-teach. Furthermore, they wanted to know when they planned together and what they brought to planning when they met. They wondered, "Is the pm class instruction different than your am lesson?" The teachers spent about a half hour with us answering questions and sharing their ideas.

In watching this dynamic duo, you can tell that they do a fabulous job planning lessons together that are thoughtful, well organized, and take student thinking to the next level. You can see their reasoning behind their small group instruction and the organized manner in which it is approached to make sure every student gets what they need. If you want to see co-teaching and small group instruction in action, this is certainly a model classroom to visit whether you do it in person or virtually.

Untitled from Melanie Holtsman on Vimeo.

Grade 3 Snapshot

I took a stroll through Grade 3 today. The grade level consists of 4 co-teach classrooms and 2 departmentalized teams--eight classrooms in all.

Math Workshop Work Period was in full swing in three of the rooms, and it was evident that the Grade 3 team is on the same page when it comes to math instruction. They were all working in the MI unit, Landmarks in the Hundreds, and were all teaching about factors of a number. One classroom was working on a student sheet solving factors of 36, and another classroom was solving for factors of 24. In the classroom where students were solving for factors of 24, the teacher had a small guided math group pulled to a corner of the room working with them to solve their factors. The rituals and routines were well established because the students remaining at the tables continued to work diligently although the teacher was working with a small group.

As I entered the third math classroom, soft music was playing, and there was a slight hum of students at work. They were diligently working on using 100 beads or macaroni to decide how to break 100 up into equal groups. The guiding questions/statements glued to the bottom of their sheet were:

• How to break 100 up into equal groups.



• What are the factors of 100?
  


• Write an equation to represent this picture of 100.

The teacher had also provided them with a very helpful tool, a Self-Assessment Rubric, to ensure that each student had the elements the teacher expected in the assignment.

In the fourth room, students were gathered on the floor participating in EDC, Every Day Counts Calendar Math. The students were working with the teacher to build coordinates on a graph.

Not only did I focus on instruction, but I also looked for evidence of current teaching charts, word walls, and portfolios. These specific artifacts are important evidence of math learning and extremely helpful for student reference. In some of the classrooms the artifacts were in place, and in others my hope is that the teachers are moving toward this goal.

Below you will find a slide show of the photographs I captured while in these math classrooms. You will notice that some of the teaching charts are an excellent reference for students.

Two classrooms were in Readers' Workshop. In the first room, Opening Session of Readers' Workshop included a read aloud from our October Book of the Month, Grace for President. The students were gathered on the floor, their Reader's Notebooks in hand, feverishly taking two column notes comparing the characters of Grace and Thomas, when the teacher paused in her reading. During the read aloud the teacher also stopped appropriately to question students on unknown vocabulary and to ask questions that offered students a chance to infer. It appeared that this was not the students' first introduction to this text.

In the other classroom, the students were taking a Reading Comprehension Assessment, and soft music played in the background. This cold assessment was a non-fiction article on Native Americas. Both teachers in this classroom were working with a small group of students. The mood in this room was calm and relaxed, and students each worked at their own pace to complete the assessment. Teachers use these cold assessments to assess student's progress with all reading standards, and to prescribe whole group and small groups instruction.

The other ELA classroom was in Writers' Workshop Work Period. I sat down next to one student and asked her to explain to me what she was doing. She eagerly pulled her Author Study folder from underneath her Writers' Sourcebook and explained that all her material was keep together in this folder. She explained, "First, the teacher did a read aloud of two Allen Say books, Music for Alice and Kamishibai Man." "Then, I completed a venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two books." "Now, I have to write a Response to Literature." She explained that her Response to Literature Rubric helped her to make sure she included all the standards in her writing. She told me that she would write some of her paper, reread it, and then check her rubric to make sure it was "all there", as she described it, before she moved on. The rubric included the elements of the RtL standards, an I think... column, and a My peer thinks... column. I can't wait to return after she finishes so I can read her Response--I am confident that it will meet the standard with the tools the teacher has given her! As I conferred with the student, the teacher continued conferring with students throughout the room about their writing.

In the ELA rooms I also looked for specific artifacts including reading and writing portfolios, word walls, and current teaching charts. Again, some of the teachers showed ample evidence in their classrooms, while others were working toward this goal.

Unlike the math instruction, the alignment between ELA instruction in each classroom was not clear to me. I'll have to check the pacing guide tomorrow to try and get a clear picture of the genre study currently occurring. Having teachers within the same genre of study, though their lessons may vary, is important to compare work across the grade level, and offer consistent instruction between classrooms.

In the eighth room I visited, I caught the tail end of a Science Workshop lesson on condensation. The teacher was holding a jar, previously dry, over a hot plate with a boiling pot of water. As the steam rose from the boiling water, it collected in the jar, and began slowly raining back into the pan. This demonstration had students predicting why the jar had previously gone from dry to wet, and why the water then began to drip back into the pan. The co-teacher and I spoke briefly and she said I should have come in a few minutes before--I would have walked into the middle of an ice tossing contest. Why? Because the teacher was showing that a solid form of water could become a liquid quickly. I'm sure students appreciated this demonstration much more than simply reading it from a science textbook. :) The slideshow below shows this lesson. Enjoy!