Writing: W.2.6, W.3.6

Using Technology to Produce Writing

To guide students to shape their writing, take a trip to the computer lab. Lead your writers to use a word processing program to create three text boxes onscreen. Then, depending on the type of writing you want students to practice, have them label each box and start planning as described below.

• Opinion writing (W.2.1; W.3.1): The student uses the top box to introduce his opinion, the middle box to supply supporting reasons, and the bottom box to provide a conclusion.
• Informational/explanatory texts (W.2.2; W.3.2): The student uses the top box to introduce the topic, the middle box to list facts and definitions to develop points, and the bottom box for a conclusion.
• Narratives (W.2.3; W.3.3): The student uses the top box to plan the beginning of his story, the middle box for the middle, and the bottom box for the end.

Math: 3.MD.D.8

Perimeter

Picture this: a fresh way to give students measurement practice! Gather a few picture frames of different sizes. Remove the glass and backings. Place the frames at a center stocked with paper and rulers. When a student visits the center, she traces the outer edges of a frame on a sheet of paper. Then she measures each side of the tracing and writes the measurements near the lengths. She's sure to notice that the opposite sides of a rectangle are equal!

Print-and-Use Bookmarks

I found out that...

Display a variety of informational books, tucking a copy of one of the bookmarks inside each one. Then have each student choose a book and list on the bookmark the book's title and author's name. After he reads the book, guide the child to record an interesting fact from his reading in the bookmark's first section and then return the book and bookmark to the display. Have each student who reads the book add a fact to the bookmark. When all three of its sections are full, punch a hole in the bookmark's top and put it on a loose-leaf ring. Hang the ring of facts near the class library to encourage even more informational reading, and tuck a new bookmark into the book.provided organizer