Wow! Time has absolutely flown by since we came back from Spring Break! I can't believe we only have 9 more days together in 3C!
Here's what's been happening in 3C!
Literacy
We finished up Wonder a couple of days ago! There was a quiet pause as I closed the book after reading the last words. The students were really affected by this book. We discussed the reason why we pick up different books...sometimes it's to learn something new, sometimes it's to be entertained and other times it's in hope of becoming a better person, becoming more mindful. I am confident that the experience of reading Wonder will stay with the students in 3C for a long time to come.
The students were happy to hear that R.J. Palacio released a bonus section to the book following the original release. We started reading The Julian Chapter this week and the students are enjoying getting to know him. Hearing "the bully's" side of the story is eye opening. The students are really learning what is meant by the quote:
We will be finishing up this bonus section before the end of the school year.
After finishing up the publishing of our stuck stories, students have been working on their slide shows, All About Me paragraphs and their nonfiction animal research projects. For the animal research projects, students worked with me along with the science curriculum to develop the main topics and questions that they needed to answer when investigating the life cycle of a chosen animal. It was really neat sharing the curriculum with the students...they were amazed that we are told what we have to teach them! After making our research question papers, students partnered up and started searching for the answers to their questions. After a week of research, students have started organizing all of their information into a slideshow presentation that they are going to share with the class. Most groups are just working on their finishing touches and they will all be presenting them next week.
Numeracy
After finishing up our division and multiplication unit, we moved onto a quick unit on fractions. The specific learner outcomes for this unit are very specific and simple:
1) Students need to be able to name a fraction
2) Students should be able to tell you when they would use fractions in real life (cutting a pizza into equal pieces)
3) Students need to be able to compare fractions with a common denominator
Our initial confidence building unit in September actually covered these objectives but we reviewed them to make sure that everyone has a clear understanding of the outcomes.
Next week, we are going to do an activity focusing on geometry (2D shapes and 3D objects) in addition to a party planning data analysis activity!
Social Studies
We all enjoyed our study of Ukraine and especially our trip to Ukrainian Village! What a fantastic day!
The students learned so much and truly enjoyed taking a step back in time!
We are on to our last country, Peru! The students have been working on a "fact scavenger hunt" using a National Geographic Kids website and a research booklet! As a student myself, I always disliked Social! My vow in teaching it this year was that I would make it fun! I've tried to teach each country in a unique way to keep the students interested and motivated in addition to meeting all of the unique learning needs in the classroom. With our study of India, I relied heavily on the use of slideshows filled with videos and pictures. When studying Tunisia, we used the textbook along with graphic organizers to facilitate our learning. Our approach to Ukraine was more discussion and experience based. Finally our study of Peru is more of an independent study. The students are finding the fact scavenger hunt a bit challenging but most of them are eager to take on the challenge. We've talked during these lessons about how the learning is taking place and how they are organizing the information. It has been so much fun learning about four amazing countries! I think that all of the students have a few places that they would love to visit when they are older as well as an appreciation for what we have here in our own fantastic country!
Science
The students have thoroughly enjoyed the last three science units! They were all so proud to introduce us to their custom made animals! I loved the amount of effort and detail that they put into their creations!
After finishing up our building units, we have moved on to our Animal Life Cycle unit! This is always a highlight of the third grade! Students were introduced to their caterpillars when they were tiny larva...about the size of a grain of rice for our smallest ones! We've never had them start out so tiny! The caterpillars grow extremely quickly...we noticed a change every day! After a few days we had to clean out the caterpillar habitats because they get very poopy and filled with sticky silk strands.
Before we knew it, their poop had changed colour to a dark orange and they got into their j shape! We knew that this was the time that they would shed their final exoskeleton and emerge with their chrysalis! This was such an exciting time!
Jessie and Devin's caterpillar were the first to form their chrysalis!
We were having a hard time being patient for our butterflies to emerge so I decided to add their favourite flower to their habitat, carnations!
Within about 20 minutes, our first butterfly emerged! It was Devin's!
Jessie's little Cookie was the next butterfly to emerge, followed by Kayden's butterfly!
The classroom was a-flutter with excitement!
That's all for now...stay tuned for more butterflies to come!
Important Reminders
Fun Day - Monday afternoon (June 27th)
Free Swim - Monday morning (June 27th)
Year End Fieldtrip - Tuesday, June 28th
