2019 First Week Fun

The Third Grade Learning Spot is off to a great start learning in hands-on, fun, engaging ways this school year! When class began we read a welcome letter describing what we would be doing for the day, which included learning what a class constitution is and reading First Day Jitters.

Students then wrote about a time they experienced the jitters while drinking a cup of "jitter juice" to calm any first day jitters they might have. (Students asked me what the ingredients were, but I explained it a secret recipe teachers are taught in college.😉)

First week activities also included reviewing math skills such as identifying place value. One way we did this was by rolling a jumbo dice programmed with numerals to form a three or four digit numeral and then writing the number in standard, expanded, and word form...

 

Another activity was was using place value mats and counters. Students used the counters to represent the place value amount of numerals written on the whiteboard...

The highlight of the week was meeting "Fred" during our "Save Fred" science activity that integrates learning the scientific method with using critical thinking skills. Fred is a gummy worm whose boat (plastic cup) capsized, leaving him on top of it and his life preserver (gummy ring) under it. After learning the steps of the scientific method used to conduct an experiment our 3rd grade scientists worked collaboratively in teams to solve the question "How can we save Fred?" using only 4 paperclips as tools. Each team was quick to come up with a solution and carry it out, which was written about and illustrated in a lab report...and then the scientists enjoyed a candy treat as a reward!

   Looking forward to a great year of learning and growing!