Spring Training for the MAP Test!

St. Louis Cardinal baseball has begun and we're doing our "spring training," too! We've been participating in our school wide training activities to make our MAP test preparation more fun and exciting! On Monday, we did a team building activity. Yesterday, students received a special "training treat!" They LOVED getting a popcorn snack!

Today our activity was "fan mail." Students wrote secret letters to a classmate encouraging them to do their best!

Tomorrow we'll be delivering these letters to our "mail boxes" and reading these special messages! On Friday, we'll celebrate with "MAP Cap" day! We can't wait to wear our favorite baseball hat! We're all "pitching in to win" and we're ready to show what we know on the MAP test!

U.S. Government

We've been studying government in social studies! First, we explored some important documents which included The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Students worked in pairs to discuss the first ten amendments before choosing the one they feel is most important and/or most interesting. They then created a "mini-poster" on that amendment to share and teach to others!

We've also been learning about the three branches of government. Today we began an interactive research activity using "Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids." What a great site!

Students chose a branch of government they'd like to know more about and began researching and note taking. Third graders will then be transforming their factual findings into a nonfiction paragraph! We're off to a great start!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day...we sure did! Thanks families for making our party a great success!

Making valentines for a local retirement community!

Valentine twister...how fun!

Minute to win it...candy heart stacking!

 

A make your own sundae bar!

Yum!
 

Kindergarten Buddies and Valentines!

We had a great time gearing up for Valentine's Day with our Kindergarten buddies! We read Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli and made valentines for the "Mr. Hatches" in our lives. Perhaps our bus drivers, custodians, secretary, or lunch lady is someone we often ignore and should be smiling at and greeting instead! What better way to show them we care than making a special valentine! Students are so excited about brightening a day!

 

 

We love getting together with our buddies, and we can't wait to continue the celebration tomorrow!

 

I hope your Valentine's Day bursts with joy!

 

 

 

Geometry!

Check out our geo (geometry) maps! Of course I saw this idea on Pinterest, and students had a blast learning all of the vocabulary from our first geometry chapter in such a fun way! They had to create a map that included parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting lines, types of angles, polygons including different quadrilaterals and various types of triangles (equilateral, isosceles, scalene, and right)! They were given a checklist to ensure they included each vocabulary term. I could not be happier with the result! We've integrated math, social studies, and art!!!

The geo maps aren't the only thing I can credit for geometry vocabulary success! I also created an anchor chart that made sense in my mind to assist students with understanding the relationships between many of these terms. Luckily, it made a lot of sense to them, too! Happy studying!

Writing Celebration!

Student writing and illustration makes my heart smile!

We had been working very hard on nonfiction pieces, and Friday it was time to celebrate! During writing time, we had a "Gallery Walk." This was our second gallery walk this year, as we had done one prior with our personal narratives. Student's displayed their work along with a comment/compliment sheet on their desk. I played some soft music and students walked around quietly reading one anothers' pieces and leaving compliments.

 

They love sharing their work this way! To top it all off, I felt they deserved a special treat for all of their efforts. You can never go wrong with cookies! Our second writing celebration was a huge success and a wonderful way to start the weekend!

Read Aloud Becomes Inspiration!

Today I'm going to be a spokeswoman for a story...ever heard of Wilma Unlimited? I hadn't until our reading curriculum lead me to this mentor text for wondering and asking questions. It certainly did a wonderful job serving that purpose, but it also proved to be so much more! This is the story of Wilma Rudolph. As a child, she got Polio which paralyzed her left leg. She was told she would never walk again, but went on to become the fastest woman in the world. Students were so bummed when I told them we had to wait to finish the story until the next day. AND, by the end of the story we were cheering our character on as we sat on the edge of our seats carpet spots! In the end, we were able to not only discuss our wonderings and questions, but also character and courage. It was a fantastic read aloud experience! This story is certainly one to tuck in your back pocket teacher friends! Happy reading!