We had a great week full of all kinds of different activities. This past week was school choice week so we had an assembly and fun spirit week things to do. One day we wore pajamas to school, one day was crazy hair day, and we even wore mismatched clothes one day!
After the School Choice assembly, we got to watch the school spelling bee. Our very own Sahasrad and Noel participated and did a fantastic job. This was the first time 3rd grade was able to be part of the bee.
We finished up our Rocks and Minerals science unit this week. But not before we looked at more minerals to determine what kind they were. Naomi stopped by twice during the week for science. One time she taught the kids about igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. They used PlayDoh to illustrate how the rocks are formed, she also talked about the rock cycle and showed everyone how rocks can change from one type to another. Then on Friday she came in to share her fossil collection with our class. It was really neat to see all the unique fossils.
Science and reading have been fairly connected lately as we have been reading the science book with small reading groups. This has really helped the retention of the material because the kids get it twice, once from the book with a discussion and then with the hands on of the experiments. But on Friday, we switched gears and handed out a whole class novel. The book is called Adventures of Pachelot – Last Voyage of the Griffon. It is a book about La Salle’s ship Griffon and the voyageurs. What’s unique is that it is told from the perspective of a dog. We’ve only just started the first chapter, but the kids seemed to like it so far. This book ties in well with our next social studies unit.
In writing, the kids have been doing research (from books) about different types of rocks, as well as volcanos, earthquakes, and tsunamis. They will be using the information they gathered to write brochures next week. Our last two groups also got to present their informational text about the school this week.
Area was the focus of math this week. We looked at shapes that contained multiple rectangles. Students had to determine the missing sides, then do the calculations, and either add up the areas or subtract an area to determine the total area of the shape. Naomi came and helped us do a real world example of this by taking everyone to market square. Once there the kids drew a picture of it and then measured all the sides with large tape measures. They had a great time learning outside. We then went back inside to do all of the calculations to determine the area of the bricks (not the red gravel) of market square.
Speaking of learning outside, we did quiet spots this week. Instead of going to our usual place we stayed close to the school and went inside the sumac by the playground. A very light snow was falling, so we brought some black paper out to try to catch some snowflakes. I was able to catch some on my black gloves, they were so perfectly formed. It looked really neat.
If it looks like we did a whole lot of fun and educational things this week, you are right, it was a great week.
~ Mrs. Steinbeck