This week was Attendance and Spirit week. Ms. Hahn’s 3rd graders did a great job showing up to school and bringing their school spirit. Let’s get right into what we did this week.
Specials
Third graders are finishing their cake oil pastel posters in art. They are turning out really well. In music they have been learning music notes. Friday was their first special day in music when they can choose what to do. They chose an extra recess! In PE they have begun a soccer unit. They also played a game called Tower Rock Paper Scissors. It was played on the new grass staircases. In Spanish they have been learning about countries in Central America.
Math/Reading/Writing/Handwriting
This week has been a lot of math games in math class. Reading groups have started. Each student is in a small reading group and works with Ms. Hahn and me at least a few days a week. In writing the kids have started writing using the five senses. So they were describing the way things looked, smelled, felt, sounded, and taste. This week was the start of cursive writing! Everyone is so excited to try this new and faster way to write. Have your kids show you what they’ve done so far.
Environmental Education
This was a big week in science and environmental education. We met with Ms. Naomi and did a dichotomous tree key where we made choices based on what we were seeing. By selecting the correct answer we could identify particular trees. It was like a “choose your adventure” activity. The kids really enjoyed it. They also did an activity where they studied slices of a variety of trees called Tree Cookies. They had to measure the bark, count the rings, etc.
Today we went out into Oak Openings and headed into the woods. The kids got to explore for a while and look at unique aspects of a woodland area. They identified things like the leaves that make up the canopy, the ground cover and tree saplings that make up the floor, and all the fallen trees. They also found a lot of mushrooms and other fungi. The only downside to the long hike and romp in the woods were all the mosquitoes that we encountered. Later we went outside again and did a phenology study.
As I mentioned earlier, it was spirit week and the kids wore pj’s, had crazy hair, wore blue, wore spirit wear, and had crazy hats. It was so fun to be kind of goofy for the week. We also had our first Farm to Table. The kids that signed up really enjoyed it. If your child has not signed up, but are interested, just look at the school website to sign them up.
As you can see, we had another great week in Ms. Hahn’s class this week. There are a lot more photos over on the gallery tab, so click over if you would like to see them. If you read this, tell your kids to come to me and tell me my favorite color (red). I’ll give them a Hawk’s Ticket if they do! Have a great week!
~ Mrs. Steinbeck