Animal Antics and More!

The 3rd Grade Learning Spot has been learning all about animals, how they grow and change, and the habitats they live in during our new science unit. We started off by learning what animal instincts are and how some animals go through metamorphosis. Learning activities have included creating a venn diagram comparing and contrasting spiders (arachnids) and insects...

examining the similarities and differences between a 3 and 4 stage insect life cycle...

and observing the lifecycles of insects, fish, and amphibians using  Smartboard videos. Next week students will be assigned "Design an Insect" , a project which will integrate science with writing. Here's an example,  the "teacher bug"...

We'll then learn about food chains in a variety of ways including watching Scholastic Study Jams Food Chains and creating food chains using an interactive Smartboard game...

 Then it will be time to explore animal habitats,such as the tundra and ocean, and well record the features and animals in each using a graphic organizer. Students will also collaborate to create an animal ecosystem that also shows the community and population within it...

In reading, our class is completing our Transcontinental Railroad unit. Using the nonfiction book, The Transcontinental Railroad, we studied the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad Companies that built it, the  Golden Spike Ceremony that celebrated its completion, and the impact it had on the nation. Afterwards, we read Coolies, a fiction story about two Chinese brothers who immigrated to California to work for the Central Pacific Railroad and the discrimination they and their fellow workers faced from the railroad bosses because they were Chinese. During both stories the students used interactive lapbooks to explore topics such as "The Big Four" businessmen who ran the Central Pacific and difficulties each company faced like Native American attacks.

   
Our next reading unit will be fairytales and fables. Activities will include comparing Lon Po Po, the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood, to the English version. After reading the African folktale Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, students will create story sequence strips using animal patterns and sentence strips. And we'll make predictions, discuss author's purpose, and continue to build our reading fluency when we act out both the original folktale and the Yiddish play The Crowded House. 

    Happy learning!