In Science this week, we will begin discussing animal life cycles. Students will be using iPads and nonfiction articles to research about the life cycle of different animals. We will also discuss that not all animals have the same "stages". There is a fabulous website that covers all types of animals and shows how their life cycles are different: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/lifecycle.htm I encourage you to let your child explore this website at home. We will continue to observe our tadpole, lima beans, and chicken eggs to help them make connections and have experiences to go alongside their new knowledge. In math, we are beginning Geometry. This is a great Brain Pop for review: https://jr.brainpop.com/math/geometry/planeshapes/ We will discuss the attributes of 2-dimensional shapes. Their DREAM Sheet goes along with this information. We are also working on Math 4 Today Week 25, with a test on Friday.
Graded test papers, Dojo Reports, and newsletters will be sent home today. Please sign them and return them tomorrow. Students did an amazing job at our Social Studies Program on Friday. If you were unable to attend, please watch on the video below! Thank you so much to those of you that have been participating in our blog discussions each week. The students love when they get comments from "outsiders" and it really does contribute to our discussions and promote deeper thinking. Updates: I am looking forward to another great week. Students are excited and engaged in all aspects of our classroom -- I love that they are so into learning!
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I've been keeping an eye on our Lima bean plants and we have some germination going on today! Group 5 from Burnette homeroom has sprouted! I bet when we return on Monday we will have several sprouts! Students, Watch the time lapse video below and respond to the questions under it by commenting on our blog. What do you think "Time Lapse" means?
What two things do seeds need to germinate? Why do you think seeds have their own food storage? Do you think all seeds grow into mature plants? Why or why not? Today we read our lesson on the life cycle of seed plants. We "dissected" a lima bean and observed the young plant and food inside. After we learned all about seeds, we learned about germination (to begin to grow) and that seeds only need 2 things to germinate -- water and warmth. Each group took a lima bean and placed it in a baggie with a wet paper towel (water) and then we taped it in the window (warmth). Over the next few days, we will observe the changes as our seeds germinate!
Hello, everyone! All documents for the week are attached below:
Tomorrow is Spring picture day. Please remember we also have PE, so if you need to bring a change of shoes/clothes, that is fine!
This week in Math, we will finish up with our fraction unit and begin working in geometry. One major thing that students seem to forget with fractions is that they must divide into equal parts. I have noticed on Math 4 Today that they sometimes just make 4 pieces instead of 4 equal pieces. There is some additional practice with this on the DREAM sheet this week. We are working on Math 4 Today #24 with our test on Friday. In Science, we are beginning our life science unit. We will start with the life cycle of seed plants and also talk about animal life cycles at the end of the week. Students can review by visiting the link below: https://jr.brainpop.com/science/plants/plantlifecycle/
We have many exciting activities going on that go with our life science unit. Val, our leopard gecko is doing great! Over the weekend, she molted -- this opened up a great discussion and research about why animals molt or shed.
Our eggs are in the incubator and the temperature is regulated between 99-100 degrees. We are on day 5 and according to our QR Scan, the eggs should look like this inside:
We also got another exciting delivery in the mail today! Our tadpole arrived for our grow-a-frog kit! We went ahead and watched the Brain Pop, Jr. video on Frog Life Cycles ( https://jr.brainpop.com/science/animals/frogs/ ) and are excited to make observations each day and record the progress.
The children are so very excited about everything going on in our classroom right now. The quote below is definitely my "motto" for teaching, as I realize that many of our students may not have the same experiences as some. I want to do everything in my power to give them the experience and allow them to see it with their own eyes and not just in a textbook or video.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. Graded papers and Dojo reports are being sent home with newsletters today. Please sign them and return them tomorrow.
Also, please be sure to send in $1 by Friday for Watershed. Read the following non-fiction passage about leopard geckos. Respond to the text by commenting at the bottom. 1. What is the most interesting information you learned from reading this text?
2. Do you know that NOCTURNAL (paragraph one) means? If so, tell me! 3. What does the word CAPTIVITY (used in the last paragraph) mean? 4. Tell me what you think about Val! Today has been like Christmas! Our new friend, Val, came in the mail today! Val is a Leopard Gecko. Leopard geckos are a crepuscular ground-dwelling lizard naturally found in the deserts of Asia and throughout Pakistan, to parts of northern India. We also received our fertile chicken eggs and will begin the incubation process once our incubator temperature regulates. Tomorrow, we will read an article about hatching eggs in incubators. They will learn that incubators: · keep eggs warm and moist · the temperature must be monitored · eggs must be rotated (I have an automatic egg turner) · chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch · and although incubators are mostly used for birds, they can also be used to hatch reptile eggs. Once we place the eggs, we will monitor the eggs, the incubator temperature, and the water level for the next 21 days and anticipate their hatching around March 10th. I’m very excited to share my life cycle kit and the QR Reader display for the stages of development in the chicken life cycle. I have also put out my class set of chicken books that I will allow them to read if they finish classwork early. Students will get to use the iPads to scan the QR codes and see actual photos of chicken development according to the day of incubation. You wouldn’t believe how much they LOVE scanning codes!
Thank you to everyone that chose to participate in our science fair. All of the projects looked fantastic. Students went around and took selfies with their projects this afternoon -- they turned out very cute! (Kaleb J was out sick today, but he participated, also).
A few things to think about:
The projects are divided into 6 categories... biology, math, chemistry, physics, general, and behavioral. Only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are awarded in each category. (The construction paper ribbon on their project is only the project numbers used for judging -- not a place number) We had a total of 134 projects this year, 64 were chemistry and 36 were physics. You may want to consider this in 4th and 5th grade and try out one of the smaller categories. After choosing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category, the judges then pick an overall winner, 2nd place, and 3rd place. The winners and projects can be found in the video below:
Greetings, everyone! I apologize for not sending out my message earlier. I am on the Math & Science committee this year and had to "learn the ropes" today for science fair setup, categorizing, judging, etc. After coming in 2 hours early and staying 2 hours late -- I can say the science fair has me whooped! Please remember that our special menu lunch is tomorrow! Please arrive by 10;40. This week in Science, we are finishing up our unit on slow and fast changes. We will complete our study guide tomorrow in class and our test will be on Thursday. I will send out another email with the digital document of the study guide tomorrow, as I do not have them saved here on my home computer. Please remember that you are invited to come view science fair projects tomorrow from 9;00am - 1:00pm in the media center and cafeteria. In math, we are continuing with our study of fractions focusing on mixed numbers. Brain Pop, Jr has a great video on mixed numbers: https://jr.brainpop.com/math/fractions/mixednumbers/ The DREAM sheet has practice questions with this topic. I will send the digital version tomorrow with the science study guide and the Math 4 Today study sheet. We are working on week #23 this week. I did have the newsletter saved in my email, so I have attached it below for your convenience. I will hold graded test papers and Dojo reports until next week since we are a little off schedule this week. Thanks so much for your patience with my delayed message and lack of attachments today. Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns! Thanks!
We are learning about changes to Earth's Surface. These changes can happen slowly or rapidly. We have talked about landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and floods. Please read the article below about flooding in South Carolina.
Be sure to answer all of the questions at the bottom of the article.
Respond to the following question by commenting below: What are some of the things that people can do to prepare for natural disasters like the one South Carolina just experienced? Hello, everyone! Let me begin by saying thank you again for participating in our class blog discussions. It has really made a huge difference and has motivated the students to improve the quality of their posts because they know you guys are going to read them! Please be sure to mark your calendars for a few upcoming events that you may need to arrange work scheduling for (if you choose).
In Science this week, we are beginning a small unit on fast and slow processes that change Earth's surface. Students are required to know about weathering, erosion, and deposition, as well as volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, and earthquakes. Great Brain Pops to go along with this: https://jr.brainpop.com/science/land/slowlandchanges/ https://jr.brainpop.com/science/land/fastlandchanges/ No test on this until next week. In Math, we are beginning fractions. I LOVE FRACTIONS! Brain Pop has some great videos for this topic as well: https://jr.brainpop.com/math/fractions/ This week, we will work on representing fractions, comparing fractions, and finding equivalent fractions. We are also working on Math 4 Today Week #22. The study guide and DREAM sheet are below if you need an additional copy.
Dojo reports and graded papers are also coming home today. Please sign them and return tomorrow. The 3rd Grade newsletter is also below for your convenience.
Yesterday and today, we completed a science investigation titled "Melting Marshmallows". We are using ourmini-board format, which should help them with the layout of their Science Fair Project. The driving question was: Which liquid will dissolve a marshmallow the fastest? We tested water, cranberry juice, vinegar, and soda.. Please complete the poll below to tally your prediction.
Our outcome today was very different than we were expecting. To be honest, we were a little disappointed with the results. Not much melting! :(
We found that the vinegar had caused the most "melting" even though it had not melted as much as we thought it would have. When we turned it with forceps, it came apart easily and was much smaller on the side that was in the vinegar. The coke and the cranberry juice "stained" the marshmallow and made them soggy. There was some evidence floating in the liquid and on the side of the cup that showed it had dissolved some. The water had only made the marshmallow soggy. It hadn't dissolved any.
After making observations of our own marshmallows from both homerooms, we took a "field trip" to Mrs. Watson's room to check out her marshmallows. She had much different results! Check them out...
We discussed how it is important to conduct the experiment several times before reaching a conclusion to be sure the results are consistent.
Please comment below to respond to the following: Why do you think we had different results from Mrs. Watson's class? Why is it important to do your test at least 3 times? Have you ever conducted an experiment and been a little disappointed with the results? Tell me about it! Please remember that science fair projects should be turned in on February 16th. Parents, you will be able to come in and view projects and placings on February 17th from 9am - 1pm. We hope you can make it! If you could visit any landform or body of water, which would you visit? Explain why? Do you know of a specific place where this landform can be found?
Comment below with your response. Wow! I cannot believe it is February already! Time definitely flies when you're having fun! With February here, let me go ahead and share that we are not allowed to have Valentine parties, however, we are allowed to pass out / exchange Valentine cards to the class. I am including a list below for their names. Also, please remember that the school does not accept deliveries to the front office (flowers, balloons, stuff animals, candies, etc). Please arrange for these to be delivered when your student is at home. Also remember that we do have Valentine smencils on sale each day at lunch for $1. Please also mark your calendars for a few upcoming events that you may need to arrange work scheduling for (if you choose).
This week in Science, we will finish up our unit on Earth's land and water. We will have a test on Wednesday. The study guide will be completed in class tomorrow, however, I am attaching it if you wish to begin studying. Students also have the trading cards that they can use to study. On Thursday and Friday, we will conduct a science experiment and record our project on a "mini-board". This will be great practice for those that plan to submit a science fair project. (Oh, by the way, if you ordered boards from the school, I will send them home as soon as they come in!) In Math, we will begin discussing capacity and mass. Students are required to estimate the mass and liquid volume of different items. For example, they should be able to look at a bathtub of water and know it would be measured in gallons, not cups...or they should know a paperclip would not be measured in pounds. This can be somewhat difficult for them, but we will work hard all week to work through any misconceptions they have. Learn Zillion has some great videos that help teach this lesson. Please feel free to allow your student to review with these from home: https://learnzillion.com/resources/72519-measure-and-estimate-liquid-volumes-and-masses-of-objects
This week's DREAM sheet looks a little different, but will reflect our classroom practice with mass and capacity.
There will be no test papers attached to the newsletter and Dojo report this week, as we are having to hold grades for the Interim reports being ran. Please return them signed on Tuesday. Interim reports will be sent home on Wednesday, these will need to be signed and returned by Thursday. Please let me know if you have any further questions -- the 3rd grade newsletter is attached below for more information. Have a great week!
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My dream is to create a 21st Century classroom that encourages collaboration, integrates technology, and promotes thinking deeply.
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