End of Year Excitement

Our class has been learning about animal lifecycles and habitats the past few weeks in science. Activities included creating models of amphibian and insect lifecycles; creating a graphic organizer of the features/habitats/type of birth of spiders, insects, amphibians, fish, and mammals; and making animal adaption flip books. The highlight of the unit was visiting newly hatched ducklings in the kindergarten classroom...

In reading we've been learning about folktales. We began the unit by creating an anchor chart of  elements of a folktale...

 Next, we read Coyote Places the Stars, a Native American legend about why there's constellations in the sky. After reading the West African folktale Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, students created a Venn Diagram to compare the story to the video we watched... 

They then retold the story by creating story sentence strips using animal patterns...

Afterwards, we read the Chinese folktale, Lon Po Po, which we compared/contrasted to Little Red Riding Hood. We'll end the unit by reading two versions of the Yiddish folktale, A Crowded House. Students will  perform a reader's theater of one version, which will help build our reading fluency and expression. In addition to sharing folktales students have been doing RAZ Kids on Chromebooks in the classroom and being individually assessed using the Fountas and Pinnell program to determine end of year guided reading levels.

In writing we've been practicing composing persuasive essays, using the OREO method... 

After practicing how to persuade a reader, students answered the question "Should students be allowed to use cellphones in school?" Next, they wrote letters to the principal to try to persuade her about things they think would make STA even better such as new playground equipment, longer recess, and ideas for after school clubs. Students also created "Summer" acrostic poems for our hallway bulletin board...

The class is looking forward to the upcoming school spelling bee and "Fun Day" that will have rides and treats. We're also counting down the last days of school using a countdown chain. Each day we'll remove a link to discover the treat we earn for good behavior that day...

This school year has definitely been different than others due to Covid safety mandates such as masks and plexiglass around desks. The third graders met challenges with a positive attitude and I'm proud of their growth both academically and emotionally. Wishing everyone a fun-filled summer and the best of luck in 4th grade and beyond!