What an awesome first week back! We've been practicing on a bunch of skills and learning new concepts in good ol' E-8! What you may ask? How about utilizing information from research in our persuasive/opinion pieces, and citing sources in our writing? Yep, we're getting down with that sort of thing in 3rd grade nowadays! Since, citing sources is something new for E-8 students, a sentence frame might be helpful:
In the __(article, journal, book, etc) , (title) , it says .
Ask your kid, whether translocation of endangered elephants is a good or bad idea. What's their thesis on this? Yep, we're teaching and using all of these domain-specific words in E-8. I remember hearing the term thesis for the first time when I was in high school! My oh my, the times have changed:)
We've also been talking a lot about certain Math Practices this week:
At the beginning of the week we focused on MP7 and MP8; we discussed how we can take a multiplication equation structure and turn it into an division equation when fact families are concerned! We also looked at various patterns and utilized strategies within multiplication to solve for division!
Near the end of the week, we had a discussion on MP1, as we began to deal with math word problems:
Productive disposition refers to the tendency to see sense in mathematics, to perceive it as both useful and worthwhile, to believe that steady effort in learning mathematics pays off, and to see oneself as an effective learner and doer of mathematics (info via the National Research Council).
We discussed how positive self belief as well as how productive disposition can not only be applied when tackling math word problems, but also in all aspects of math, and to a further extent in your daily life as well!
Learned helplessness...that's a tough one to quell, especially when years of conditioning, and perceived "failures" have forced certain individuals into a state of powerlessness. That's why I tell my students that assessments, are just that: to assess what you know and what you need additional support in. It's to gauge how much the teacher needs to support his/her students on an individual\ level, for any subject. It's not to have students form some sort of complex because they're chomping at the bit to find out whether] they have a passing or failing grade. Apologies, I was ranting there for a bit:)
I hope you folks can discuss MP1 at home with your tykes, because, like I said, positive self belief and productive disposition can be applied to LIFE.
I think that about does it! Cheers, and have a good one!
