The Life and Times of a Third Grade Ram

It has been a busy start to the new year. So many new things to learn...so little time!

Happy New Year!!

It was terrific to see the third graders so enthusiastic about making 'sunflakes' for the children going back to school in Newtown, Connecticut. 3H traveled to many classrooms to help the little ones make their own sunflakes. So many other classrooms delivered their special flakes to us to be sent off! What a special way to spread a little sunshine!

Nothing like having your big brother in class to help...

Everyone has been anxiously anticipating multiplication- so funny. The children actually cheered the first day we began our unit. Along with it do come some really fun games and practice-time. It's no wonder I hear kids say, "I never thought I'd love math." The children have all enjoyed working with the iPads while practicing multiplication. Be sure to load Number Run and Multiplication Bingo on if you have an iPad at home. Let us know of any other favorites. There are just too many to keep track of. The Smart Board has also been a fun tool. Old classics like Buzz! and relay races are a hit too. We will continue on with our facts and then of course- division! Linking operations is very important to number sense and fluency of facts so we will be working with fact families again when we begin division.

Number Run

We all enjoyed our mini unit on colonial times. The children completed a step book and wrote a five paragraph essay on colonial times. The trip to the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts in Madison was quite wonderful. It was the first time I had been there as well. Though we missed a few of our friends on that day, we were sure to bring them back quill pens and ink. What a beautiful building- worth a visit if you are ever looking for something to do on a cold winter afternoon. There we got to experience life as a colonial child. It was fun to roll our our own marbles and make horn books. Shreya surely could have had her own marble shop! We can tell you this, the schoolmaster was not a friendly fellow! Since then we have since begun our unit on Native Americans and have been learning about the Iroquois. The main character in our latest read-aloud story, The Indian in the Cupboard, is an Iroquois and that makes all the facts and info all the more interesting and relevant.

Time to get the milk...

Scrub, scrub, scrub...

Tenajah and Ananya showed talent with the quill!

We all decided in January to make becoming better writers a resolution for us so we've been involved in several writing activities to hone our skills. We use the Smart Board every week to practice edit marks and have welcomed Robot Ralph into the classroom. Perhaps you have heard tell of him- beep! beep! He's been teaching us how to bring our writing to new heights! Big congrats go out to Ryan Brandl and Zain Zaidi as Editors of the 3H Newspaper! The entire idea and execution is all them. Kudos! A special shout out to the 'Advice Column' girls. I have gotten many compliments about what thoughtful advise was dispensed!

I am Robot Ralph-beep,beep! I am a great writer-beep, beep!

We have been Buddy Reading during part of our I.R. time. Partners self-select a book that looks good to them and then meet to discuss it. It lends itself to some great discussions and detailed recall and connection. We've also had a few commercials on W.H. TV Read- bringing the latest and greatest book recommendations to the classroom.

If you like fantasies, this is the book for you...

In science, we have begun our unit on simple machines. We will be immersed in it for some weeks. It has us thinking about gravity, friction, energy, mass, and ramps! We've been testing out a few different things in our investigations, the latest being ways to create energy and force.

If we create a steeper pitch...

The Valentine's Day dance was hoppin'! There's nothing like seeing a mass of children jumping on bubble wrap to bring a smile to your face.Congrats to Jeni Lynn for bringing the big win to the third grade as hula-hoop champ! Those Vargas children sure do know how to hula hoop!