Monday, September 25, 2017

September Scoop

Even though it still feels like summer outside we've been busy learning in fun ways here in The 3rd Grade Learning Spot! In math, we've been reviewing how to regroup when adding and subtracting in a variety of ways including playing "Subtraction Sponge Toss"...
"Pin the Tail on the Double Digit Donkey"...
 and "Triple Digit Spinner Subtraction"...

After our addition and subtraction assessment we'll show what magnificent mathematicians we are when we begin learning MULTIPLICATION! Be on the lookout for our multiplication folders, which will have a times table chart, definitions, strategies, and the lyrics to the multiplication songs we learn in class.

In language arts, we've been learning about the 4 types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, imperative) in a variety of ways such as creating "Four Types of Sentences Flip Books" and playing "Spin a Sentence" to demonstrate we can create sentences for each type...
We've also been studying subjects and predicates in sentences. One of the activities we did to show we can identify phrases as the subject or predicate of a sentence was classifying sentence strip phrases on a whiteboard t-chart...

In science, we've been showing how organ-wise we are as we learn about the human body. Students created paper bag self portraits with organs glued and labeled in their correct positions. We also showed we can identify organ locations and their functions when we attached organs to a body vest and discussed their function...

We've also been studying the body systems such as the circulatory system, digestive system, and respiratory system. Students created graphic organizers to show their understanding of each system, the organs it contains, and how it helps a body function...

    Happy learning!

Friday, September 8, 2017

2017-2018 First Week Fun

Our 2017-2018 school year was off to an awesome start in The Third Grade Learning Spot! Our first group meeting was to read a welcome message on the classroom easel, followed by the read-aloud First Day Jitters.
After sharing what having the jitters means we read the poem Jitter Juice and wrote a reading response about how we felt the first day of school...while drinking our own jitter juice! Students tried to guess what the secret recipe to make jitter juice. I can't share the ingredients because it's a teacher top secret. 😉


Another back to school read-aloud we had was The Gingerbread Man is Loose in School. I'm not sure who enjoyed it the most-the students hearing about the Gingerbread Man's school antics or me listening to the students' laughter. 


A fun get to know you activity students engaged in was "Two Truths and a Fib". Students wrote 2 truths about themselves, then 1 fib. After they read their statements we tried to guess which one was the fib. Fib statements included "I have 10 brothers", "I have 6 pets", and "I pet a lion."

Our first activity in math was to review place value. The class watched a Smartboard video to review ones-thousands. Other place value activities included rolling dice to create 4 digit numbers and then identifying each number's place value; writing numbers in standard, word, and expanded form, and creating a giant place value chart on the gym floor and then using ourselves as the counters to represent 3 digit-6 digit numbers!


Our first writing activity was beginning our journals. Journal writing will build our skills in free writing, responding to specific questions using details for support, and writing mechanics such as grammar. Each day our journal helper uses Popsicle sticks with students' names on them to choose 3 readers to share their responses.
We also began our poetry unit by writing autobiography poems, which we mounted on paper plate self-portraits. They are displayed on our hallway bulletin board.


Every year the highlight of the first week is our "Save Fred" experiment and this year was no exception! First, we reviewed the steps of the scientific method...

 Next, we read about Fred the gummy worm who goes sailing, but then his boat (cup) capsizes and his life preserver (gummy ring) gets trapped underneath. Teams were challenged to save Fred by getting him into his life preserver...the catch being they can only use 4 paperclips as tools and not use their hands. Each team made a hypothesis how Fred should be saved, then tested it to see if it worked. Once all teams had found the solution they recorded the steps on a flow chart...


I'm looking forward to meeting all the families Back to School Night and sharing many exciting learning adventures with the class this school year!