What's the Mystery?

This week we began mystery book clubs. Students voted on their top three books and were then placed in reading groups. At the first meeting, students decided on how much was a reasonable amount to read each night. Then, in class they were able to discuss and create a chart to monitor the suspects and clues. They held each other accountable for their reading.

Students have done an amazing job collaborating with their peers. They have had very productive talks with their group members. The students discuss vocabulary words as well.  We taught common words you use in a mystery book.

Alibi: An excuse that an accused person uses to show that he or she was not at
the scene of the crime
Breakthrough: A discovery that helps solve the crime
Clue: A fact or object that gives information toward solving the crime
Crime: An action that breaks the law
Deduction: Drawing a conclusion
Detective: An investigator looking for and gathering clues
Evidence: A thing or statement that helps to prove who committed the crime
Hunch: A guess or feeling not based on facts
Motive: A reason that a person does something — can include anger, hatred, love,
or greed
Mystery: Something that is unknown
Red herring: A false clue that throws the investigator off track
Sleuth: An investigator
Suspect: Person who has a motive to have committed a crime
Witness: Person who has knowledge about a crime

Everyone in class is so excited to keep reading on to solve the crimes in our books! Keep being dedicated students and good luck solving the crimes.

Inferencing time

Last week we reviewed what an inference was. Students learned that an inference was an educated guess using story clues and brain clues. Inferencing can be a harder skill for some students as you can not find the answer directly in the story. Students need to guess the answer using clues in the text and their prior knowledge (schema).

For example,  if you went to sit by your best friend at lunch and she got up and moved as soon as you sat down, you could infer she was mad at you.  Students are constantly making inferences to know how a character feels.

We practice inferring in class using a 'thinkmark'. A thinkmark is a bookmark where they record the book clues, their brain clues, and the inference they made. It is important that students use both text and brain clues. Often they rely solely on brain clues and do not notice details in the story.

Here a few websites to practice inferring. Many students had lessons on inferring on I-Ready Reading so they were ready to sharpen these skills!

Practice Quiz
Inference Millionaire
More practice site

Stop and Jot

Stop! Jot....and ROLL! Okay, not so much rolling, but we have been practicing a reading strategy in class called, "Stop and Jot" this  week.  Strong Readers "stop and jot" to think and interact with the book they are reading. They learned to write down their thinking after every few pages to ensure they are comprehending the story. Students learned what qualifies as a worthy "jot":
*You learn something new about a character
*The character acts unusual or does something surprising
* You or the character feel a strong emotion
*You notice a pattern in the text or with the character
*You have a prediction with evidence from the text
*When you disagree with an event or a character's choice
*When a  BIG moment or climax occurs
*When something in the text is just screaming at you to talk about
*When the story makes you wonder or you have a question

I hope students continue to use this strategy as they read from home. They can jot notes in a notebook or on post-its to monitor their thinking throughout the story. 

Remember to read yourselves awake and keep on jotting!

Science and Social Studies eBooks

Great news! We have eBooks for science and social studies that your child can take advantage of at home. Their user names and passwords are on a label inside their planner. Follow the links below to access the sites. Keep stretching your brain and be a learner for life!

Science eBooks

Social Studies eBooks



*Mention to your teacher  you were on the blog and the secret word "buckeye" and be entered in a drawing for a special gift!

Achieve 3000

Are you ready to sharpen up your reading level and comprehension?
Well, we are not in Oz anymore and have started to rock this website in class. Achieve 3000 is a new program we are using this year to help students become better readers and writers. The website allows students to  take a stand on a real life event, read an article, complete comprehension activities, and  then see if their views have changed.  The site provides each student with articles based on their reading level and progressively gets harder as they work on the site more and more. The initial test will give them a reading level using the lexile system. You can ask your teacher if you'd like to know where you are at to get books at your level in class or at the library. The goal is to have children complete an activity once a week in class on the computer. However, they can work on activities at home and earn points for their avatar.   I hope you take advantage of this  tool to help you achieve  great things this year in third grade!

 Achieve 3000

Lions, Tigers, and 3rd graders... OH MY!

I  am so excited to meet all my new third graders tomorrow!  We will walk the yellow brick road together as we enter a year of learning, laughs, and growing.  I can't wait to see all the new faces in my class and make new friends. Each one of you is special and brings something wonderful into the classroom.  I  look forward to getting to know each of you better and can't wait for you to learn all about myself and Mrs. Tillis.

Always remember, there is no place like home...but Chets Creek is your home away from home.  Please do not be nervous, and welcome to 3rd grade!

We love Tomie dePaola

This week we have begun studying Tomie dePaola. He is an extremely well known author/illustrator of children's books. He's been publishing books for over 40 years and has written and/or illustrated nearly 250 books! Over 15 million copies of his books have sold all over the world.

During our study, we will be completing an attribute chart on each of his stories. We will keep track of each stories theme, genre, characters, setting, plot, movement through time, and special author's crafts. This is a great way for students to see the connections between stories and learn how to analyze books.
We will also be writing a response to one of Tomie's stories. This response will include a summary, theme, claim, compare/contrast, and connection paragraph. Students will learn how to use specific evidence from the story to support each of their paragraphs.

I can't wait to dive into more of his stories during the next few weeks. Feel free to browse and learn a bit more about Tomie below. Also, check out your local library for some Tomie books!

Tomie Website
Book Summaries