It’s time to wire a house! Students learned about magnetism and electricity this term. Our culminating activity is to plan, build, and wire a wooden house so it has light and power! Thanks to Peter, students have an unbelievable “hands-on” experience to use the tools necessary to execute such a task. The house has three sections in it. Peter has been working on measuring and constructing with the children in the design lab. In the end, students will be allowed to decorate their house.
In each group students will:
- draw and design a layout/plan (blueprints) of the house
- make sure 2 out of the 3 rooms can light
- use a parallel or series circuit
- be certain that no wires show inside the house (just like the real deal)
- exhibit TEAMWORK!
- decorate the house to make it a home using recycled materials from school or home
Meet Bugsy! As you know we completed a very intense and comprehensive project on adopting a class pet. We had no idea the project, research, and expert interviews would persuade the majority of the class to change their class pet of choice COMPLETELY….but it did! There were so many twists and turns throughout our journey. We learned a great deal and in the end we adopted BUGSY! He is an adorable guinea pig that brings joy to our children every day. We love him so much! They’ve grown to be responsible caregivers to Gizmo and Bugsy:)
One of a Kind
What makes a person unique?
……a very important concept question we’ve discussed. Martin Luther King Junior lived his life by being true to himself and making a difference in this world. He was unique in so many special ways. What makes YOU unique? Through literature and creative writing assignments students learn that they have the opportunity to open their minds and think BIG! We want students to be honest in their writing as well as allowing their voice to shine through.
Our new novels:
Where The Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin and Skinnybones by Barbara Park
Students will:
-learn more about story structure:
- What are the characters’ goals?
- What is the story’s conflict?
- How does the conflict build throughout the story?
- How is the conflict resolved in the end?
-learn about Chinese Folklore
-learn about faith and friendship
Math- We are moving along nicely. Students are doing a great job multiplying double digit numbers and solving multi-step word problems using several different strategies. Students are also illustrating their processes and explaining their thinking. Please continue to encourage your child to study their math facts:) Thank you!
“Writing has to be learned in school very much the same way that it is practiced out of school. This means that the writer has a reason to write, and intended audience, and control of subject and form. It also means composing is staged across various phases of rumination, investigation, consultation with others, drafting, feedback, revision, and perfecting.” -Jossy-Bass
Writing– Students are in the process of publishing their fantasy stories. We also just finished writing our formal letters to a scientist of choice. Some students wrote to geologists, others to scientists at NASA, and one even a physicist. They are very curious children that have a lot of questions. Different interests resulted in various questions for the unique scientists all over the world. Our goal and hope…..is for each scientist to write back. And yes…..we even addressed envelopes and are sending them tomorrow….. the old fashion way!
Leaders- Yes, the third graders led two very successful assemblies. They were AMAZING! They exhibited initiative, pride, responsibility, and cooperation! We look forward to their leadership again in the spring.