Crayfish!

The crayfish are here!  The students have been quite excited to have these new "friends" in our class.  The crayfish will help us compare/contrast life cycles, as well as compare/contrast characteristics of offspring and their parents.  We spent the first few days talking about how we take care of the crayfish (including picking them up!),  and identifying and labeling parts. 

 

Animal Poems

Elephant

By: Nadeem, Alison, Nathan, and Annabelle

Trudging slowly

Like a tank

In the grasslands of Africa.

Plodding from place to place

Looking for food.

Big strong feet pounding on the ground

Squirting water

Out of its long, gray trunk

To keep itself cool

Its ears flapping in the wind like leaves on a tree.  

Rattlesnake

By: Abbie, Abbi, Walker, Braden

Like terrifying maracas, the rattle shakes.

Silently slithering across the desert.

Stopping, and staring, with creepy eyes.

While she stalks her prey,

The blazing hot sun shines down.

Waiting silently,

Coiled quietly on a rock.

Strike!

The snake snatches the shocked mouse.

Then it slithers away.

Cheetah

By: Sophia, Jaden, and Makenna

Speeds like lightening

At 70 miles per hour

Runs in a swift manner

Tan with black spots

Long tail

Aggressive, fierce, stealthy, and powerful

Hides and waits for an animal to come by

Camouflages by blending in its surroundings

Hunts in the tall grasses of Africa

Quickly grabs its prey

Penguins

 By: Jordyn, Lania, Kya, Abigail

Living in the South Pole

Where it is chilly and cold

Black and white,

Like little men in tuxedos

Love to eat shrimp and fish

As much as children love to eat ice cream

Sliding on stomachs

Like planes about to take off

Splashing in the water

Having a good time

Butterfly

By: Brooklyn, Molly, Ava

Beautiful pink and blue butterfly wings

Fluttering through the warm meadow

In the spring

She stops by a pink tulip,

Gently drinking some sweet nectar.

Then she flies into the distance,

Starting her first day of migration

Daintily fluttering away,

By the light of the sunset.

Frogs

By: Kirill, Alen, Jesse

Colorful frogs

Splashing on lily pads in the flowing water

Catching flies here and there.

Croaking in spring and summer

Jumping everywhere it goes.

Swimming with glee in the bubbling water.

Hiding in big bushes and logs

They sound as loud as a rustling tree.

Cheetah

By: Austin, Searag, Katherine

Golden cheetah with black spots

Hiding in the tall dry grass

Stalking its prey on a hot summer day

In the tall African grassland

Creeping up on an antelope

The chase begins

Chasing it like a racecar

Tiring out the antelope,

It pounces and attacks with sharp claws

Now it has its prey

Cheetah wins the chase

Explain Everything!

Yesterday, the students had their first experience with the app "Explain Everything".  What is Explain Everything?  The description from iTunes:  "Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere."

Sounds a bit complicated, but I was impressed with how quickly the students picked up on the basics.  I introduced it by going over some of the basics, and then the students had some time in pairs to explore the app and discover some of the other features.  One of the best ways to learn technology is by having time to explore!  The students then tried to use Explain Everything to show something they know about fractions.

Here are two projects that came from some of the students:

I am always amazed at how quickly they are able to pick up on new things like this!  I hope to use Explain Everything more as we get more familiar and comfortable with it.  It's a great way to show concepts, understanding, and share information in a different format.  There are so many cool features on it!  It is not a free app, but the cost of $2.99 is quite reasonable considering all that it can do!

Dr. Seuss Day

It's one of the favorite days of the year!  Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration at School!  Books and pajamas are a great combination!  We started off the day with a school assembly with the reader's pledge.  After specials, we had a good chunk of reading time with our kindergarten buddies.  After lunch, we went to the library to listen to a guest reader - Mrs. Walls our former school secretary!  The kids were pretty excited!  We ended the day watching the O.B.O.B. final battle between the 4th grade and 5th grade teams.  A great day!

 
 

 

 

We've Had Our Noses in Biographies!

The biography research project is finished!  They look great!  It was a lot of work, and I am so proud of the students!

Conferences

It was so good to see you this week at conferences.  I am thankful for this time as it allows us to take a short break from the crazy schedule of school and reflect on how the kids are doing and how far they have come. They truly are a great bunch of kids, and I'm so glad to be a part of their school journey!

I wanted to recap some of the themes that came up during conferences, as well as some of the conversations we have been having in class - both academic and social.

• Work carefully and check your work.  
• Show your work and prove your answers.
• Perseverance, effort, and hard work make the biggest difference.
• Cooperation and teamwork help us learn and make our classroom a much happier place.  :)  We have been talking about how we use our voices with each other, how to help without being bossy, and how each person needs to be involved and do their part.  
• Be responsible for your work and your learning.  It's not mom or dad's responsibility to turn things in for you or to keep pestering you about things.
• Start building good habits now.
• Have fun when it's time to have fun, and work when it's time to work.  

All that being said, they are 8 and 9 years old!  :)  I'm a parent as well, so I know that it's a process and it takes time, but I also know that these conversations help begin to build character and hopefully good habits.  We all want the best for them, and I do appreciate all that you do to help support your child.

What can families do to support at home?
Read.  Math fact practice.  Have them explain math homework to you. Ask questions and have conversations - builds vocabulary and thinking.   Practice typing skills - Typing Agent is a great place to start.  And read!

I also mentioned at conferences some different websites and apps specifically for math.
They are listed below:
*MobyMax (math concepts and some fact practice)
https://www.mobymax.com/signin

*XtraMath (fact practice)

https://xtramath.org/signin/student

*Front Row:  (math concepts)
On iPads, download the Front Row app from the App Store (free).
On a computer, go to https://student.frontrowed.com/#login
2. Have students enter their first name, last name and the class code: uk3vbv

*Apps
There are tons of apps out there, but these are a few that I like:
Operation math - math facts; spy theme makes it "cool"
Sushi Monster - math facts (free)
Math Fact Master
Math Duel - 2 player split screen - math facts
RocketMath (free)
Thinking Blocks - word problems (free)

Science, City Planning and Valentine's Day!

It's been a busy few weeks in 3rd grade!  Lots of superhero work going on!

We are still learning about force and motion.  We started another science inquiry this week, and with the different activities today, we will need to finish up the evaluation/conclusion portion next week.  This time, we were investigating how surfaces affected how far hot wheel cars would travel before stopping.
We had to have many conversations about cooperation, teamwork, and communication.  Not only are we learning about science concepts, but we are learning (and hopefully using) positive social interactions. We are a work in progress!

 

 

 

We had our first Junior Achievement lesson today. The students learned about city planning and zoning.  It's a great lesson!  At the end, they created a mini city and had to decide what zone fit their building.

Today ended with our Valentine's Day party.  The Valentine cans were very creative and so much fun to see!  Here are a few shots of them:

Science Inquiry

Does Mass Affect Motion?

Our science inquiry question:  How will changing the type of ball at the top of the ramp affect how far the ball at the bottom travels?
Materials: Rubber ball, Wiffle ball, Ruler (ramp), Dictionaries (ramp height), Measuring tape