Black History Month Research Project

We have busy in class researching a famous black history person for Black History Month!  The class read information about a person and then wrote 3 paragraphs about that person's life (early years, adult years, and interesting facts).  The class then decorated a Pringles cans to represent their person.  The class did an amazing job!!  Come see these projects at Open House in March! 

Third Grade Musical

Third Grade did such a great job performing the Third Grade Musical!!  I'm so glad that so many family members were able to see the awesome production!!   I am so proud of all their hard work!  Below are a few pictures of the show. 





Weathering experiments

We have been studying weathering in science.  Weathering is the process by which rock is worn down and broken apart.  This then creates soil.  We searched through soil and found that soil contains many different materials, such as rocks, sticks, and sand.  Today, we looked at a gobbstopper and how water changes the gobbstopper.  Then we dropped water onto sugar cubes.  The cubes are like rocks and when we put water on them, we saw the sugar cube start to break apart.  This breaking apart is weathering.  Check out the pictures below for what we did during our experiments!!

Links to study more about weathering:
http://www.kidsgeo.com/geology-for-kids/0060-weathering.php
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/weathering-erosion-article/
http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_weathering.html

Fraction Fun!

We have been studying fractions.  We have identified fractions, compared fractions, and we have created fractions. 

One game you can do at home is to use dominoes to play fraction war.  You need at least two people to play the game. 
1. Divide the dominoes among the players.
2.  Put the dominoes face down.
3.  Each player will then turn one of their dominoes.
4.  Look at the dominoes to see who has the largest fraction.
5.  Whoever has the largest fraction keeps all the dominoes!
6.  The game continues until one person has all the dominoes.

Websites to practice fractions!
http://www.aaamath.com/grade3.htm#topic109
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/mrsthonus/math.cfm?subpage=150593

Below are pictures of fraction posters we made and some students playing fraction games. 

Figurative Language Practice

Happy New Year!  Our first week back from the winter break was a busy week!  In writing, we practiced four types of figurative language. 
First we discussed alliteration.  Alliteration is when you write a sentence using words that start with the same letter or the same letter sound.  For example: Dad did a dance downtown.
On Tuesday, we discussed onomatopoeias.  Onomatopoeias are sound words such as boom, crash, and honk. 
On Wednesday, we discussed idioms.  Idioms are phrases that mean something.  They know that I often say "don't spill the beans" if we read a book that they have read before.  The class knows that when I say that then I mean don't spoil the ending to the book. 
On Thursday, we discussed similes.  Similes are when you compare to different things.  For example, I am as crazy as a fox. 

See the projects some of the students in the class did to show figurative language.

This is an idiom book for the idiom "hold your horses."

This idiom "hold your horses" means to slow down.

This is an example of alliteration.

This is another example of alliteration.

  
 

This is the idiom "sly fox."




This is the meaning of the idiom "sly fox."



This is an example of a comic strip filled with onomatopoeias.

This is an example of an onomatopoeia poster.

Arctic Animals and Adaptations

This will be my last post before the new year! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday break!

We have been reading and learning about different Arctic and Antarctic animals and their adaptations. Adaptations are physical and behaviors that the animals have developed to help them survice in their environment. 

We have made Arctic animals with facts about their animals.  Below are some pictures of some made by the class! 

For more information about animals and their adaptations, please see the following links.
http://library.thinkquest.org/3500/
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/climate/adaptations/index.cfm

Reader's Theater November 18, 2011

The class presented their reader's theater play today!  Everyone did a great job!  This year we are practicing our fluency by reading with expression and with appropriate pacing.  One way to practice our fluency is by performing a play!  Below are pictures of our class while they presented. 

"Why Mole Lives Underground" is a story about fox who dreams of going to the moon to catch juicy lizards to eat.  Lazy Mole thinks there will be worms on the moon for him to eat, too, so he won't have to work hard at digging them out of the ground. Fox convinces Condor to fly up and attach a rope to the tip of the crescent moon for the animals to climb. As Fox and Mole begin to climb the rope, Mole finds out that climbing the moon is hard work, and he falls back to Earth. Fox works hard to make his dream come true and reaches the moon.  Mole decides to stay on Earth and work hard digging for worms underground.  That is why moles live underground. I loved the expression used during this performance!

"Pecos Bill and Sluefoot Sue" is about an American frontier cowboy named Pecos Bill who is a confident risk-taker able to survie the hardships of westward expansion. The story began when Bill was a baby and fell out of a covered wagon as his family crossed the Pecos River into Texas. He was rescued and raised by coyotes.  Coyote and cowgirl Dixie tells the tale of how Pecos Bill met and then married Sluefoot Sue, the only person who could match Pecos Bill's riding and roping abilities.  We had great costumes for this performance!

"How the Rhino Got Wrinkly Skin" is about Rhino who once had very smooth skin.  He was vain and proud of his beautiful skin.  He was also rude and not respectful. One time when Mongoose and Snake were helping Parsee bake a cake, Rhino ran through Parsee's camp and took the cake.  Eventually, Parsee, Mongoose, and Snake got even. While Rhino was swimming without his skin, Mongoose, Snake, and Parsee poured cake crumbs inside Rhino's skin.  When Rhino put his skin back on he was so itchy he scratched and scratched, which gave his skin wrinkles. Since then, rhinos have always had wrinkly skin.  Great acting in this play!