Persuasive Writing

Last week, we began looking at persuasive writing. We had lots of lively discussions about ways we try to persuade others to our way of thinking.  We agreed that the key to persuasive writing is to use the most compelling reasons you can come up with and to know your audience. After all, asking your folks for an expensive toy isn't gonna get you a "yes" if you lead with "it'll be fun!" . We emphasize that we avoid statements that might plant seeds in the readers mind that will cause them to dismiss our suggestion.   

Introducing this form of writing is always lots of fun! This video is from 2019..."Come to my way of thinkkkking!" 😂

I have a seven-step formula to help students to be successful with this type of writing.  

Here is a video of the Powerpoint I created for my lesson and sadly, the volume is really, really low (perhaps that's a good thing!). 

After this, as hard as it is to believe,  we'll move on to one of our last forms of writing to learn: the narrative.  

Food Drive Fridays!

As part of our Lenten promise, the students in Room 208 have decided to commit to acts of service throughout this 40-day journey.  On Fridays, we decided we'd bring in a non-perishable food item to be donated to our local food bank.  

It's no secret that in this class we: 

Read together! 

Are very, very thoughtful! (insert heart eyes emoji) 

Have great imaginations! 

Work together! 

Learn from each other! 

Problem solve! 

We eat together, just like a family! 

When we need help, we ask for it! 

So with all this in mind, we are pretty excited to take the great things we do together and look outward!  We are also going to be doing random acts of kindness within the school and home community, along with finding ways to be more eco-friendly as part of our promise.  

I love that this initiative is one that we came up with ourselves through a class meeting. When talking about what to "give up" for Lent earlier in the week, we started exploring other ways we can make an impact as community members, and before we knew it, we had quite the list of actions we can take as a little family to make a BIG difference in the lives of others! 

The Quarter File

I recently created something called the "Quarter File" and we started working on it last week. I'm really excited to teach the boys and girls all the ways we use quarters in our lives. We're going to have a five-day mini-Math unit right before we start Unit 6 (Measurement).

Understanding quarters and fourths can really give students a leg-up in terms of their problem solving skills.  For example, when you understand that 250mL is 1/4 of a litre, you'd have no trouble with the problem below:

Jack drank 1L of chocolate milk. 
Owen drank 250 mL of chocolate milk.
Who drank more and how do you know?  

An understanding of quarters helps kids easily solve problems like this too: 


Jack worked on her homework for 1/4 of an hour. 
Owen worked on his homework for 1/2 an hour. 
How many minutes did each person work on their homework for?  

I had mentioned to the class earlier in the year that quarters seem to come up a lot in Grade Three (e.g. a 1/4 of a circle, what's a 1/4 of 16, 25 cents is a quarter of a dollar). We joked that it should be a Grade Four thing and that we should focus on thirds in Grade Three!  

We're about to begin a new unit on Measurement and I thought this was the perfect time to look at all the ways we use quarters in Grade Three. This folder will be a really nice resource for students to refer back to as we move through the rest of the year. 

Sometimes, we like students to reach their own conclusions when it comes to making connections from one math concept to another. It's exciting for them to have those "a-ha" moments.  Other times, it's a good idea to explicitly teach them, so students can have that knowledge in advance and then apply it to problem solving.  

I'm hoping that after learning about quarters and all the ways we use them in Math, they'll also start noticing connections in other Mathematical concepts.  When we take the mystery of Math away, we really do help students understand how numbers work, which in turn, can bring about a whole new level of confidence for kids. 

If you are a teacher yourself who is interested in doing trying the Quarter-Folder with your own class, you can grab your own copy here!  Please note, instructions are not provided; please use the photos here to assist you in assembling the folder.  

Front of folder. Students colour, cut apart
and glue each section. 

Inside folder: left side

Inside folder: right side

Back of folder

Unit 5: Study Guide

The boys and girls are bringing home their Unit 5 Study Guide on Monday. This, in addition to the practice test found here, will assist students in preparing for their test on Thursday February 6.  

Study Guide (click here)