On Friday, we were so happy to join all of Fairview in the gym. All classes were matched up with a younger grade level and we shared a love of reading. We were there to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, however we seemed to celebrate so much more. We celebrated friendships, teaching a friend, reading together, and a love of Dr. Seuss books! We were thrilled to chorally read Hop On Pop with Dr. Hunter, then we heard great Dr. Seuss readings from the 1st grade. After the presentation, we able to meet with our buddy classroom and read together! We all had SO MUCH FUN! See the photos below!
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Over the past two weeks our class has been learning about parts of a plant. We all knew the parts like the stem and petals, but students were amazed this week when we learned about XYLEM and PHLOEM. Those are tiny tube like parts that help transport the water and nutrients a plant needs to all the parts of a plant.
We decided to show these parts and what they can do! We used white flowers and filled vases with water and food coloring. Within hours our flowers began to transform. The students could see the structure of a plant's petals and watched the color change the petals and leaves into a new color. Students observed these plants daily and enjoyed watching their transformation! This week our school hosted an African American History Convocation. Our class had been working on a readers theatre describing the struggle of famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson. They worked hard in gym with Mr. Taylor to practice, practice, practice! I was so impressed with their hard work. They stood proudly as they read their lines in front of the whole school. Below is short clip! ENJOY! Over the last two weeks, my class has been learning all about measurement. We've learned how to measure the length of an object to the nearest 1/4 inch. Next we learned about measuring capacity. We practiced estimating how much liquid a container could hold. My students had fun experimenting with how many cups were in a pint, quart, and gallon. After that we practiced measuring weight. We learned about measuring weight in ounces and pounds. We even learned that an elephant weighs about 1 ton! WOW!
My students love that we use real life objects to talk about measuring! They can't wait to learn about measuring temperature next week! The countdown has begun! As of today, there are only 22 days left until the start of the ISTEP and IREAD3 tests that begin in mid March. We started a countdown a few weeks ago and we realized that it was making us all a little stressed out. So I decided to make it fun!
I filled 25 balloons with 1 fun activity. Each day we pop the balloon and find time to do 1 fun activity. This week we've planted a seed, read Scholastic News, played Finish the Picture, and played Around the World. More fun activities are on their way! Now, my students are excited about counting down to the ISTEP. They're still nervous, but they also have something fun to look forward to each day. Every Friday, my students have begun practicing their writing by writing for a specific purpose. Sometimes we write persuasive letters to principals or family members begging or a new pet. Sometimes we write stories about our lives at home and school. Recently we have begun writing in the style of ISTEP. We have a specific amount of time allotted and we practice managing their time wisely from writing, to editing, to rereading. This weekly practice will help our students manage the stress of ISTEP and be able to learn to write for a specific purpose.
This week my students made their own ice cream cones. They got to choose form many different flavors, each with a different price. They didn't know until they were nearly finished building their 'giant' ice cream cones that they would have to pay for them too! After they created their cones, they had to add up how much it would cost! Once they found the price, they wrote out how they planned to pay for it, by writing which coins they would need to use.
This week we began to learn how to count money! We began by remembering how many cents each coin was worth. Later I introduced touch points. When using touch points, each coin gets a certain number of dots. Then when counting, students will touch each dot and count by 5s after touching each dot. Students are really catching on! Below are some pictures of touch points and students playing a money game called, "I have, who has?" Before Thanksgiving break, students began reading a non fiction book about animals. Each student got to choose their own animal. We brainstormed 3 questions that someone who was reading our paper would want to know about a new animal.
We decided that someone would want to know... 1. What the animal looks like. 2. What the animals eats. 3. Where the animal lives. Students diligently took notes from their books, and then transferred their notes to paragraph form on a colored piece of paper. Finally they glued their paragraphs together and VOILA! they had created a 3-paragraph research paper! Check out some cool examples. Last week our class began to learn about the main idea of a passage or story. We began reading detectives as we looked for supporting details to prove our main idea.
Students connected to Main Idea by thinking about an ice cream cone. The cone represents the main idea. The supporting details are each additional scoop. They all connect to the same main idea. Check out our cool anchor chart! |
AuthorI am a 3rd grade teacher in Bloomington, Indiana. I love teaching and watching my students grow and learn! Archives
August 2016
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