♪ Good morning to a brand new day ♪ ♪ Time to learn and games to play ♪ ♪ Learning things is so much fun ♪ ♪ Learning is good for everyone ♪ (cheerful guitar music fading out) (upbeat music) - Good morning, third grade.

My name is Mrs. Nix and I am so excited to be here with you and support you as you become amazing thinkers, readers, and writers.

So I was just trying to think to myself, I had my smart thinking glasses on and I was trying to think, what are some more words that rhyme with hat and bat and sat?

Fat, yes, I could write that one down.

Excellent, thank you so much for helping me out.

Happy Friday.

Are you so excited it's Friday?

I sure am.

All right, if you are interested in doing some really fun puzzles like I was just enjoying, it's super easy.

All you need to do, see that address that's popping up on the screen down below?

Send me your address and include a little note to me.

You can do it via email or to the PBS station.

And then let me know something that you're working on in your classroom, something you've learned here at PBS, or maybe it's just something you want to share, and I'll write back to you and give you a really fun activity book.

Especially on a Friday, right?

Awesome.

Okay, boys and girls, I want to get started.

I want to talk about a couple of fun things.

It's the weekend, I'm always looking for a fun book to read.

Maybe you're looking for a fun book to read this weekend.

We can visit our local county libraries and check out a book, or we can go online.

And here in Fresno Unified, we check out our books on Sora.

And so we've got a little competition, and I know you guys are all excited.

You want to know who is in that top spot.

Who is that number one for the school that checked out the most books this last week?

You ready to see?

Okay, let's check it out.

It's right here.

So in the top spot this week is Fort Miller Middle School.

Nice job.

Look at all of these middle schools that are on there this week.

Thinking something exciting is happening in the middle schools.

So elementaries, we got to step it up.

An high school, we need to see you guys on here too.

But I love my elementary schools.

I'm just a kid at heart, right?

Okay, boys and girls, it's time for us to get started.

I've got three things that we're gonna practice today.

We're gonna practice that soft C and soft G. We're gonna go over and do a little comparing of words using E-R and E-S-T, and then we're gonna finish out today with metaphors, a little comprehension.

And I've got a couple of things we're gonna read today.

You ready to start?

Okay, let's warm up those brains.

Get our thinking caps on.

We've been practicing these words all week.

They're our high frequency words.

Let's go through and read them today.

Here we go.

Three, through, today, time, together, two, upon, under, very, and use.

All right, nicely done.

So today we're gonna take these two words, very and use.

Very is V-E-R-Y, and use is U-S-E.

Okay, let's use the words in a couple of sentences.

So can I "mm" your pencil please?

And I am "mm" excited for the warmer weather.

Well, I am use excited, that doesn't make any sense.

How about I am very excited for the warmer weather?

And can I use your pencil please?

All right, there we go.

Nicely done.

Okay, let's talk about and review the soft G and the soft C sounds.

To help me do that, I brought in my jump sound spelling card and my sun sound spelling card.

And they remind me that any time we have C or G followed by the letters E, I, and Y, they're gonna make their soft sounds.

So a soft C says, "Ss," and a soft G says, "J."

Okay, let me show you a couple of examples right here.

So see the C-E that's right here?

This is gonna say, "Ss" for central.

And C-E has the "Ss" for invoice.

And then we've got G-Y in this word, gymnasium.

And G-E says, "J" in stage.

Nicely done.

Now let's switch gears a little bit.

We're gonna talk about comparing.

And when we compare items, sometimes we're just comparing two things.

Two people, two places, two things.

And to do that, we simply add E-R.

So let's say we're talking about, ooh, how about cats?

And I could say that this cat is meaner than that cat.

And I would just add an E-R. Now, what if a third cat came walking over?

Well at that point, now I want to talk about, well there's more than two, so now I'm gonna add E-S-T. And I could say that that is the meanest cat in the group because there's more than two.

All right, so there's a couple of rules that we have to kind of remember when we're adding E-R and E-S-T to words.

And so, for example, if our word ends with a silent E like in the word cute, before adding E-R, I would want to drop that E and then add E-R or E-S-T.

So cuter and cutest right there.

Another one that I want to remember is when I have, where it's just a vowel that's followed by a consonant, and it's just a short vowel, I want to make sure that I double that final consonant before adding E-R or E-S-T.

So thin, I'm gonna double the N, and it becomes thinner.

So this cat is thinner than that cat.

And then if I had, maybe it's the thinnest cat, again I want to double that final consonant and then add E-S-T.

It's the thinnest cat of all.

All right, awesome.

Let's go through and I want to kind of apply some of that that we've been practicing this week in a story.

Now, this one has that soft C and soft G. We're gonna take a little bit of time and we're gonna find some words as we're reading looking for those soft G and soft C. And I bet when you've got your smart kiddo glasses on, you're gonna find a whole lot of them.

Are you ready to start?

Okay, I can't see through them, so I'm actually gonna have to take them off.

But let's go through, let's go find them.

Okay, this is called "The Virginia Quarter."

Did you already see one?

Oh my golly, I did too.

Look right there.

You've got the G-I, it's got the soft G, Virginia.

My class was studying coins.

Cindy found a book about coins in the library.

Some pages had pictures of US coins.

Cindy shared facts about the quarter.

A quarter is worth 25 cents.

It does not have a smooth edge.

A quarter has 119 ridges on its edge.

President George Washington's head is on the front of the quarter.

His head faces the left side of the coin.

Since 1999, the backs of quarters have changed.

The backs of the new quarters celebrate our 50 states.

Cindy was excited to see the quarter for our state of Virginia.

Thousands of Virginia citizens suggested ideas for the back.

The chosen design shows three ships.

These ships brought the first settlers from England to Jamestown, Virginia.

Did you see all of those words that have that soft C and soft G?

Even just the girl's name, right?

Cindy has it.

I saw it with pages has the soft G. And I saw several others.

Come on, help me out.

Edge, there we go, edge.

And George in George Washington.

What about down here?

We had celebrate and changed.

Loads and loads.

So boys and girls, I know that this is review that you are able to go through and practice many of these soft C and soft G words, but it's important for us to also recognize and be reminded of that spelling pattern so that when we're writing, we can apply it in our own writing and we can remember it.

Okay, I'm gonna finish up our Friday.

We've been reading this poem all week long.

We're gonna finish it today.

We're gonna read the whole thing.

And then at the end, we're gonna come up with kind of writing our own metaphor for our poem.

Okay, so this one's "Why I Run."

It's about a young lady.

She's hanging out with grandma and they're watching the marathon runners.

So I want to just make sure that that's clear for us, that marathons are a race and that there's loads and loads and loads of people together as they're doing this race.

Let's go through and let's read it together.

"Why I Run."

The first marathon I ever saw was years ago with my grandma.

We stood out on the Boston streets and marveled at the number of feet and marveled at the number of feet.

The runners were a rumbling herd, except for a few, like the swiftest birds, who shot out alone to run their races with determination carved into their faces, with determination carved into their faces.

Motorboats speeding over gray water, these runners would inspire anyone's daughter.

That was the day I made the decision, the bounce in my steps clarified my vision, the bounce in my steps clarified my vision.

I went home that day and laced up to my shoes and although my feet started out as one big bruise, I've run in every Boston Marathon since, and now I'm so strong I don't even wince, and now I'm so strong I don't ever wince.

Awesome.

Boys and girls, what do you think about our author?

Did she change from the beginning?

Can you picture that story as we go through?

When we talk about that poem, was it powerful at the end?

What about when they have those repeating lines?

This last one changed up just a little bit, right?

And now I'm so strong I don't even wince.

And now I'm so strong I don't ever wince.

Okay, I have just a quick little metaphor right here to kind of summarize our poem.

And a metaphor is simply that it's just figurative language.

It's when that author takes just a little bit of colorful words to create that picture in our mind.

So I want us to think about it.

I've got two of them, we're gonna vote.

Which one do you think sounds like it sums up the end?

At the end, she's talking about how strong she is.

So would we say, "I am so strong my legs are burning logs"?

Or would we say, "I am so strong, I am a running machine"?

What do you think?

Do you think she's a running machine?

I think so too.

I think she was able to do it all.

and it's Friday and we can all do it all, right?

All right, so I just want to say thanks so much for hanging out with me today as you're getting ready for school and as you're thinking about all the fun things you're gonna do this weekend.

I just want you to remember, you're responsible for your learning success.

Ask those questions, listen, and share your ideas because together we can do so much more.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

I'll see you on Monday, buh-bye.

(cheerful guitar music) ♪ Good morning to a brand new day ♪ ♪ Time to learn and games to play ♪ ♪ Learning things is so much fun ♪ ♪ Learning is good for everyone ♪