3rd Grade Entrepreneurs Need Your Help!

Hello to all of my favorite parents! We are finally going to fit in our Entrepreneurs Unit!! And we could use some of your recyclables/crafty junk drawer items...here is a list...if you have any of these resources, please send them in with your child! (And please don't go buying anything...we can come up with this "stuff" by just looking around!!)

plastic container with lids

plastic cups

dixie cups

plastic water/soda bottle

straws

egg cartons

toilet paper/paper towel roll

popsicle sticks

foam stickers

wrapping paper roll

pipe cleaners

pom pons

any other item you think one of our entrepreneurs might use to create something

Thanks a lot!

Happy Friday, everyone! We had a short, but great week!

Reminders
1. The Cinderella field trip is this Wednesday! (I'm still waiting on two permission slips!)
2. Class pictures are this Thursday!

OK...now to the good stuff...

Language Arts
We are continuing to read 21 Balloons. It is such a magnificent book...full of rich vocabulary and lots of fantasy. I had the kids write a paragraph supporting whether or not they think this book is fiction. We had some great pieces of writing. I am really pushing the kids right now to elaborate...details and examples are key!! This week we also worked in "book clubs". Each child has a different job and they analyze the chapters and then share their thoughts through four different perspectives. It is so motivating to walk around the room and hear the kids discussing this novel.

Science
We have been working with fossils this past week. We studied and sorted fossils early in the week and just yesterday the kids made a cast fossil and a mold fossil. Mrs. Humerick ran the fossil making station and in my room we were gathering information about paleontologists! We watched two different movies...one was fiction with some non-fiction embedded, The Magic Schoolbus: Busasaurus, and the other was very non-fiction entitled, Earth Science: Fossils. The kids took notes and will be writing a piece next week supporting whether or not they'd like the job of being a paleontologist. We will be working on elaboration with this piece as well!

Math
In math our focus has been on statistics and the calculating of averages. I decided we needed to gather some "fun" data, so we took to the cafeteria to fly paper airplanes. The kids kept the data as they attempted their plane's flight. They completed 10 trials of trying to sail their plane over the line 12 feet from the toss. It was a ton of fun and I captured some of it on my cell phone camera...not as good as my other camera, but pictures none the less! Take a look...

We will be leaving Rocks, Soil and Fossils and headed directly into the next Science unit...Populations. We will receive quite a few live organisms and grow some, too! This is another fun unit and is nice as the weather starts to warm up (think warm thoughts...I believe I heard something about SNOW?!?!?!?)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing your lovelies on Monday!

Summer Centers for Gifted and Talented Students

As you start to think about summer plans for your child...here is a summer opportunity for students who excel in the arts, sciences, technology, engineering, and world languages.

The Maryland Summer Centers for Gifted & Talented Students in grades 4-12 is sponsored by MSDE and 2011 marks it's 44th year. All brochures, forms, and an informational video about the program are available online at www.marylandpublicschools.org/summercenters.

Any other programs or summer ideas that I receive I will share with you via the blog. Have a great week!

Happy Friday!

So...after a crazy week of testing, we are back on track and ready to finish out quarter three with a bang!! Our week was fun and busy...take a look!


Language Arts

This week I modeled how to answer a question using the R.A.C.E. strategy. We then read Chapters 5 and 6 in 21 Balloons. Today the kids were asked whether or not they feel this is a fiction or non-fiction story. They had to write a paragraph supporting their thoughts. I am anxious to read their answers and see what examples and details they picked form the story to support their thinking!


Writer's Workshop time is coveted in my classroom...the kids are so motivated when writing about topics they've chosen...and today we talked about using what they learn in Writer's Workshop and applying it to writing in other parts of their day. Using editing and revising each time they write...thinking about what Mrs. Wills might ask or point out in a teacher conference...so many of the kids have published quite a few stories, so they know the processes very well...and isn't that what we want!?!? Last week, Jake S. asked, "Mrs. Wills...what's a semicolon? Can you use a mini lesson during Writer's Workshop to teach us?" WOOHOO...music to my ears! So this week we talked about semicolons. I shared examples and some of the kids tried to use them during Daily Language...I LOVE teaching these kids!


Math

This week in math we've been working with statistics...mean, median, mode, range, outliers and clusters...they students were given topics to survey and each group made a line plot. Then each group calculated the averages, identified outliers and clusters, and reported their data to the class. I had planned to do a very fun paper airplane activity, but then I got sick and stayed home the day I had the cafeteria booked, so I've pushed that off to next week. It will be our culmination of working with averages. The kids will have a quiz sometime next week where they will be asked to calculate all the different averages.

Science

This coming week we will be exploring the world of fossils...cast fossils, mold fossils and more! We will visit the wetlands and see fossils on the Fossil Wall of Geologic Time and do some hands on activities that I'm sure the kids will love!

Field Trips

We have two field trips coming up. On Wednesday, March 30, 2011 the third grade is going to see the preview of Urbana High School's production of Cinderella. I am so thrilled that they are doing this play after having our Cinderella unit this fall. What fun we'll have comparing and contrasting all the different versions with the play! I'm sorry to report this field trip does not require parent chaperones and we were limited with the amount of tickets we were allowed, so I will be your child's chaperone...I promise to take good care of each and everyone of them!!

A second field trip we will be taking is to the ESSL on Monday, April 4th. I can take as many parents as I want on this field trip. There is one small catch...you have to meet us there. We share a bus with Ms. Maenner's class and therefore we do not have enough room for parents, too! This trip is a morning trip and we are back by 12 pm.

The permission slips will be coming home next week...Cinderella will come home Monday and I'll send the ESSL field trip slip Friday.

As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me.

Happy Pi Day!!

What did Mrs. Wills' third graders do on "Pi Day"?

We read the story Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi, we measured the circumference and diameter of a tortilla, and then we calculated Pi......and last, but not least...we ate PIE!!

Take a look at our afternoon...

These smiles say it all...

We survived the MSA's!!

(and we got to celebrate with

grape kabobs & cheese sticks...

thanks, Mrs. Lizik!)

Testing, testing, and more testing

That about sums up our week...here are a few of the highlights:

1. Every day after testing, Mrs. Lizik has sent in a small treat for the kids...the first day they had Skittles, the second day was lollipops and today was Fun Dip...the kids wait in anticipation for me to tell them what Mrs. Lizik has sent and thenn they squeal with delight! Thank you Mrs. Lizik!!

2. We have completed three out of four days of testing. We finished the Reading portion of MSA testing on Wednesday. Today we began the Math portion and will finish this part this Monday. The kids are working VERY hard, using their time wisely, reading directions carefully, and showing their work. I am VERY proud of each one of them. Today's test was especially long...three 30 minute sessions, not including directions!

3. Which makes our afternoon plans even more fun...we are celebrating meeting our Soaring with Pride quota this afternoon (well a little bit of it we celebrated yesterday, too!) We will be headed outdoors to play class basketball games like "knock out" and "HORSE" and we will also play class football...for our friends that do not want to play, they will play on the equipment. Yesterday's portion was a free 1/2 hour in the computer lab after completing their power point presentations...and Ms. Maenner provided a fun snack for yesterday, too! Thank you, Ms. Maenner!

4. Other things we've worked on this week:

• explored probability using color tiles and paper bags, the kids used fractions to show the probability of drawing certain colors and then completed three trials to analyze if the probability matches the actual outcomes...very interesting discussion
• we discussed how to answer a question completely using details and examples...we read another chapter of 21 Balloons and had a class discussion
• we observed different types of soil, analyzed the soils' textures, colors, and materials found within...(I have great pictures of this activity that I will post once I am home this weekend)....then we gathered information about the different types of soil using books and video clips
• we continued our study of the water cycle by participating in a clever and creative Reader's Theater that helped us visualize what happens to each drop of water
• we have almost finished the review of all capital cursive letters...expect most of your child's work to be required in cursive the last quarter of this year...if your child needs extra practice...try exploring the link at the right called Zaner Bloser...you can make your own worksheets based on which letters your child needs to practice

The last day of testing is probably the hardest...not because the content is harder, but because they are so ready to be finished...so continue to encourage your child to give it his/her all on Monday...make sure they have a good amount of sleep and a yummy breakfast! Thanks for being my partner in ensuring your child has a positive testing experience!

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me at any time...have a good weekend!

Happy Sunday...and Happy Day Before MSA's!!

So...let's start with the most important notes of this post...please help your child succeed on the MSA's by making sure they get GREAT SLEEP this week and have a GOOD BREAKFAST each morning. I appreciate you teaming up with me to help your child have a great testing experience! Your kids are very well prepared and I want you to know that they will come home more tired than usual...expect exhausted kids...they will need time to just chill in the evenings. I have activities planned for the afternoons that are meaningful, but "lighter" than usual. We will be working with probability, observing soils, and other hands-on activities. They will have extra recess and no homework...so its actually a fun, great week...we just need to make sure that the kids arrive at school ready to "show what they know!" We want them to take their time, read carefully, and do their best work.

OK...enough about that...this past week was a great one...once again it was a different type of week with a two hour day on Thursday and a two and a half hour day on Friday...but we still manage to get a lot done!

Language Arts
We are reading the novel, 21 balloons, and working on finding the deeper meaning. The kids are using inferring while reading and looking to find examples and details in the book to support their thinking. We read Chapters 1-4 and sat in groups discussing questions. This week we also went to the computer lab to work on our Taking Math Tests power point presentations.

Science
We broke into groups and became experts in one of the three different types of rocks. The kids read from non-fiction text, took notes, and then they tackled the task of sharing that information in whatever way the group chose to teach the class. In their presentation, they had to name their rock type, describe its formation, give examples of this type of rock, and explain how it fits into the Rock Cycle. We had groups that wrote a short report, we had a group that made a poster and gave a great oral presentation, we had a group perform a "musical", and we had a couple of skits...each expert group gave us information about the different rock types...it was a fun way to learn!!

Math
We finished up our division unit and took a test, we also worked on double bar graphs...the kids each made a survey, collected information, organized it, and displayed it in a double bar graph. We discussed the differences between a double line graph and a double bar graph...we will be working on line graphs and circle graphs later this Spring.

On Friday we had a wonderful visit from Mrs. Brennan's kindergarten class. Each student in her class wrote a letter to each student in my class...their letters wished the third graders "good luck" on the MSA tests and told them they will "rock the test!" They illustrated their letters and hand delivered them to our class. They also made a huge banner that is hanging in our classroom to remind us that "we rock!" It was a fun visit that both the third graders and kindergarteners enjoyed (as did their teachers!) Mrs. Brennan and I decided that later this Spring my class will visit her class to read to the kids, and then towards the end of the year the kindergarteners will visit our room and read to us! What a fun partnership that will be!

We earned another celebration this week...36 more "Soaring with Pride" stickers...we will be headed outside one afternoon this week for an elongated playtime...class basketball games and a class football game....and other fun outdoor activities for all! These kids are super and I'm always happy to celebrate their hard work!

I hope you and your family are not floating away as we speak...there's a lot of water out there!! Enjoy your Sunday and tell your lovelies I look forward to seeing them tomorrow!