Who Wins the Race? Our Third Grade Class.

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As we mentioned last post, Ms. Bishop's third grade class has been studying a book called Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. The kids have used this adventurous, rich tale to learn how to do many different analytic and writing skills.  They are also working on many of the new Common Core standards, as you can see.

Here are some of the interesting ways they are accomplishing these tasks.  Who says learning can't be fun?

In fact, here is a close-up example of one of the articles.  Nice job, Dominick!

The kids learned so much.  We learned so much too.  The only thing we don't know is how their poster got wet!

Common Core Has Many Uses, Part 2

For our last post, which you can see by scrolling down below, we showed one way Ms. Murphy's second grade class practiced the skills outlined in one of the new Common Core standards for second grade.

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 Last time you saw some of their letters to their parents, using evidence and reasons to convince them to grant a request.  This time they are "auditioning" for the advertising business.  Do you find their presentations compelling?

 

What will you buy next time you're at the store?

Compare and Contrast, One Year Later

If you scroll down to the previous post, you will see our report on Ms. Leverett-King's first grade class and their adventures with Common Core State Standard Ri.1.9: Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

A note: For those who don't know, Common Core State Standards are the new guidelines for what students should learn and when.  These standards will go into effect in most states of our nation in 2014.

Well, first graders aren't the only kids who must learn to compare and contrast.  Second graders are learning the same lesson, but with more complexity.  Ri.2.9, the second grade version, asks students to "Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic."  

That's what Ms. Murphy's class did when looking at two of our most famous presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

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First they were presented with different written materials.  Their job was to read them carefully and sort them into similarities and differences.  They were supposed to pick the most important points.  Sometimes what's more important is a matter of opinion, though.

The kids learned to present their findings by making their own Ven diagrams.  Even knowing what a Ven diagram is and being able to use it yourself is a big step forward.  That's what a year can do. 

Here are some of the students' examples: