May has been action packed from start to finish! We have been super busy and learning a ton in 3C!
Art
We have enjoyed some fun art projects this month! I think that the students' favourite would definitely be your Mother's Day projects! I wish I could have got a video of them all practicing their doodle flowers! They were so focused and careful...it was adorable! I hope you all enjoyed them!
Mind Up
Mrs. Kehoe returned to teach the students more about mindfulness. All of the students took everything that she said very seriously. It was nice to see them so invested in improving their ability to be mindful. One of the best ways to combat anxiety is to tune in closely to the present and to your senses. Mrs. Kehoe guided the students through the following grounding exercise.
A favourite activity during the mindfulness class was tuning into your sense of smell. Students were asked to sniff a variety of jars and see if they could identify the smell without looking.
Science
We have worked through two units in science using our Survivor Tribes. The students have enjoyed working together as a team to tackle a variety of building challenges. After testing a variety of pillars, shapes and materials, students have now tackled the challenge of building a bridge and a tower that could support weight. In class, using the materials that you have donated, students will construct a playground with their tribe. At home, students will be constructing an animal to bring in and share with the class. Projects are due on Friday, June 3rd. Assignment sheets came home on Wednesday. As a final in class project, students are constructing playgrounds using a variety of recycled materials.
To kick off our final unit, Animal Life Cycles, we welcomed 18 new classmates to our room today! 3C is helping the ailing butterfly population by raising 18 Painted Lady caterpillars/butterflies. Students met their own caterpillar today...some are soooo tiny! We will be watching them grow and will wait patiently for them to take their j-shape on the lid of their habitat. This is the signal to us that they are ready to form their chrysalis! It is such an exciting time to be in Grade Three! Students will also be working on Animal Presentations during our writing time for the next two weeks! They have each picked a partner and animal type last week. On Monday, they will choose the specific animal that they are going to focus on.
To kick off our final unit, Animal Life Cycles, we welcomed 18 new classmates to our room today! 3C is helping the ailing butterfly population by raising 18 Painted Lady caterpillars/butterflies. Students met their own caterpillar today...some are soooo tiny! We will be watching them grow and will wait patiently for them to take their j-shape on the lid of their habitat. This is the signal to us that they are ready to form their chrysalis! It is such an exciting time to be in Grade Three! Students will also be working on Animal Presentations during our writing time for the next two weeks! They have each picked a partner and animal type last week. On Monday, they will choose the specific animal that they are going to focus on.
Social Studies
Starting on Monday, we will begin our study of Ukraine. The students are looking forward to their fieldtrip to Ukrainian Village on Tuesday, June 7th.
Math
In math we have been learning about rounding numbers to the nearest ten or hundred to help us estimate sums and differences. We have also started investigating the world of division! The students have been doing a fantastic job breaking a large group of objects into a certain number of groups or into groups of a certain size. This often referred to as "division as sharing" and "division as grouping". This ambiguity can make division challenging for young students. Please see the below example for further explanation:
We are currently practicing drawing the two possible pictures to go with a division sentence, followed by writing the corresponding repeated addition sentences and multiplication sentences. For example:
12 divided by 3 equals 4
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
4 + 4 + 4 = 12 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12
3 x 4 = 12 4 x 3 = 12
Literacy
The students continue to be in awe of Wonder. I really wish you could be a fly on the wall when we are reading or discussing the book! It's my favourite part of our day! During read to self, students are enjoying their time with their books. It's amazing to hear their book talk..."This book isn't a good fit for me because...", "I made a text to self connection today!", "You HAVE to read this book! It's awesome!" It's music to my ears!
In writing, students have been finishing typing their stories into a google slide document to create their very first e-book! They have worked so hard on these stories! I can't wait to watch them share them with some of the other classes! Students have also been working on their year end slide shows and their All About Me projects! There is never a spare moment during literacy time!
Bike Safety
Many families have been talking about the changes in Bike Safety at RBES this year. I wanted to take a moment to explain what's been happening and why the changes were made. After a discussion the teachers came up with their priorities for Bike Safety week.
The priorities were:
- helmet fit and helmet safety
- increasing student confidence on their bikes
- providing a safe opportunity for students to practice "rules of the road"
- HAVING FUN!!!!
Mr. Henderson, Mr. Larson and I worked together to create our Bike Safety week. We put together lessons for each day, focusing on developing riding skills and confidence and having some fun! Students have participated in a variety of courses set up on the school grounds that allowed them to practice their hand signals and a variety of maneuvers (weaving around cones, riding in a circle, following a path, stopping and starting). We also played a variety of bicycle based games such as coasting races, slow races and red light green light. We have all enjoyed watching students challenge themselves! Our Jacob had never ridden a two wheeler before and he was up and going in less than ten minutes!!! You should have seen the smile on his face! This week we also joined forces with the Devon Bicycle Association to personally inspect the fit of each students' helmet. You should have received a blue form on Tuesday letting you know how your child's helmet fit and if any adjustments needed to be made. A HUGE thank you to the members of the DBA for coming out on Tuesday morning! Checking 252 helmets in 3 hours was an amazing accomplishment! We couldn't have done it without them! Each class also received a visit from our School Health Nurse on Wednesday. She was able to spend 30 minutes with each class explaining why the use of a proper fitting helmet is so important. Lorna brought in a jello/milk brain for the kids to see and feel. This demonstrated how fragile our brains are and why it's so important to protect them! Lorna also discussed how helmets are made to keep our brains safe and that they should be replaced every three years or after any significant collision. They are similar to carseats in that the structural integrity breaks down over time and exposure to the elements. (On a side note, my son's helmet needed to be inspected at the start of the Devon Bears season. I thought that it was in excellent condition at first glance. The helmet inspector quickly pointed out a handful of small fractures that weakened the structural integrity of the helmet. We were strongly advised to buy a new helmet immediately.) Our favourite part of the presentation was definitely when Lorna put a bike helmet on a raw egg and then dropped it repeatedly from a high height. The egg didn't break!!! I hope that was all the proof the students will ever need to encourage them to always wear their helmet when biking or riding their scooter or skateboard. I told them, "I've invested an entire school year into your brains, now it's your job to protect all that work and grade three smarts!" LOL!
Tomorrow, we have organized our first Bike Rodeo! It will be happening in the arena during our regular gym time. Students will be challenged to use their skills to rotate through a variety of stations. Parent help is always appreciated. Feel free to stop by the arena at 2:35 if you are available!
Many parents have been wondering why we haven't gone on the off school site road rides like we have done in the past. Many teachers, myself included, have not felt comfortable with this practice in the past. I decided to do some research and came across an article by Alberta Health Services that states very clearly that children are not developmentally equipped to juggle riding their bike in addition to navigating traffic rules and road situations until they are between the ages of 10 - 14. Up until 10 years of age, it is strongly recommended that children ride under very close supervision of a parent on quiet roads. This confirmed the reason for my discomfort in taking 16+ children, of varying bike riding skill levels, on a trek around town.
If you would like more information about this topic, feel free to check out this site: Alberta Health Services Bike and Wheeled Recreation Safety for Children
I'd like to finish this post off by leaving you with one of my favourite memories/smiles from the week in 3C!
