Star Fish of the Week- Eme!

We have been so caught up in our work that we have fallen behind a bit on our posting but here is our next Star Fish of this Week- Eme!

Eme has been at the school since kindergarten. Her favourite thing about this school is getting to try out new and exciting things in each grade. She is looking forward to grade 4 next year but I will miss her a lot.  Eme loves crafts and ART Fridays where all the grade 3 get together to do art projects. 

Eme lives in a rural area with her mom, dad and brother Merrick and sometimes her sister Madyson. She  has two dogs names, Lock and Nacho, and two cats, Tikki and Seca, and also some fish (which she can not name them all- but they all have names). Her favourite thing to do at home make crafts and draw animals. She plays games with her parents at he supper table and enjoys having family time with them. 

Eme would love to be a make up artist when she grows up. She is full of creativity and artistic expression. She writes amazingly detailed stories and puts 100% effort into the work that she does.

Her favourite books are anything to do with animals (as I am sure you will see from her book review).

I love where Eme's mind goes and I feel blessed to be on the ride with her. Thanks Eme for all that you do. 

Truss Bridge Creations

Tyler wanted to share his Truss bridge with everyone this week. We have been creating Truss bridges for our end of unit project in science- Building and Testing. Students learn different building techniques (see Mia's post of her Stable Animal) which lead us to build bridges for our Grade 3 Bridge Building Competition.

Tyler's team created this bridge over two week. They first created their bridge deck, then added the trusses and finally the cover. Each bridge must span 30 cm and hold at least 1 kg of weight. We test all the bridges in grade 3 together and the bridge which holds the most wins. We have tons of fun breaking them- I mean testing them!

During the bridge building we also incorporate social studies and math. Students must buy popsicle sticks and rent the glue they are using, through their companies, to construct the bridges. Sometimes the market increases and it costs more, depending on supply and demand. Also, some groups find themselves not having enough money to complete their bridges and must to "The bank" to borrow money and create payment plans.

Kids are having tons of fun and we will test in two weeks when the other grade 3 classes are done. I will post pictures of that as well!

Here is Tyler's Bridge.

Favourite Book- Who Laid These Eggs

Tyler's favourite book that he brought in to us is called Who Laid These Eggs by Rachel Albanese. This book is about eggs that are different shapes and colours. Some eggs will live in water and some eggs will live in dirt. It tells you about the life cycle of the animals that are born from each egg.

His favourite page of this book is page 8 to 9. It shows two small green eggs that hatch into a caterpillar and then eventually a beautiful butterfly.  Tyler's favourite bug is a caterpillar.

Tyler thinks someone should read this book to learn about different eggs of bugs and animals. Then they cold recommend it to some else in order to learn more and spread the knowledge.

Star Fish of the Week- Tyler

Tyler has been at our school since kindergarten. I was so happy to have him in my class this year. He loves adventure and coming up with new ideas around the classroom. He is also the most helpful student I have ever had, always willing to lend me a hand.

Tyler has a sister in Grade 7 at the high school attached to us. She is currently on a trip to Edmonton with the school band. He lives with his mom and his dad. He was blessed to be baptized two weeks ago at our parish. Tyler and his sister received the sacrament and then he showed our class pictures and the candle from the event. We were so excited for him!

Outside of school Tyler loves to play outside and explore his neighbour. He is currently playing lacrosse with other Grade 3 students. His favourite position is to player winger, which ties into his hockey talents. Over the winder Tyler plays hockey for the our town and he plays winger. This last season, he scored 6 goals in one game! We cheered him on!

Tyler's favourite food is pizza with just lots of cheese. He loves the colour pink.  He is an amazing person in our class.

Favourite Book - Music of the Dolphins

 The Music Of Dolphins
By:

Mila is the main character, she fell of the airplane when she was a baby, she fell into the ocean; she lives with the dolphins. One day Doctor Beck found her and brought her into the hospital, they taught her how to speak, ask her questions, and then she met a girl named Shay. That night Sandy slept in her room with Mila. One day shay had to move, so they went in a boat and Mila asked to give her to the water, they said no, and then Justin gave her to the water. Justin is doctor Beck's son.And then she lived happily ever after with the dolphin.

Mia loved sharing this book with us. She used this book many times, finding our Words to Watch For in the chapters on a regular basis. We had a good talk that this was a great book for the class because it had so many words we were learning about. Mia also LOVES dolphins and probably wishes she could be like Mila and swim with the dolphins all day.

Thanks for sharing Mia!

Building Stable Animals

Amelia had the most fun this year creating her animal in science this week. We are currently on our building and testing units in science (I blend both together because they hit on similar ideas) and we are investigating the concept of stability.

For these projects, I had the students break into companies that they will work in for the unit. They have named their companies and have also created banks and cards for their business. Their businesses are given certain tasks to do each week based on my demonstrations that I do at the beginning of the week. They must use prior knowledge and lessons that they learned from our labs to create different structures.

This week we investigated different stable shapes and how humans are stable. Based on the information taught, students had to create an animal that was stable out of recyclable materials. Students could buy or rent materials from the class (money came out of profits from other projects) or could bring in materials needed from home.

They had to create a plan and a materials list. If (when I test tomorrow) their structure is deemed stable and safe, their group could earn up to $40 dollars for this project. I assess in my assessment book, giving a limited, acceptable or proficient as well.

Amelia's company "Compression Crew" created a puppy for us. Enjoy the pictures!

StarFish of the Week- Amelia

3P would like to present Amelia, the StarFish of the week because she is one of our hardest workers. Amelia came to us this year from Beaumont, moving from a French to English program! Mrs. Patterson loved it because it meant she got to speak French in class :)

Amelia has 1 brother and a mom and dad. Her mom is a nurse and her dad works for the RCMP. When she is in school Amelia loves to do science and art. The best thing she has done in science this year is building her animal (see other post). She has learned about hearing and sound, rocks and minerals and now building structures. Art is her other favourite. She enjoyed the Robert Munsch Salt painting that we did.

After school Amelia likes to go home and let loose. She has a kitten names Dexter (he is turing 1 on Easter), Snoop and Panda are her other pets. Snoop likes to dig in mud and then Mia has to bath him HAHAHA.
She also goes to Brownies! (she is yummy- browniieeeee). In Brownies she loves to learn first aid and to do the Brownie Opening. She also takes Snoop for muddy walks around the neighbourhood and visit her friends across the street.

Mia is happy because Dexter finally slept in her bed last night!

We appreciate all the Mia does for the class. This class would not be the same without her and I love her dearly.

Grade 3 Van Gogh!

We created these wonderful Van Gogh creations the other week and the kids loved them. Very easy to do. I put the link in an earlier post of where I got the idea (off of Pinterest) and wanted to post the final project.

First we had students look at Starry Night by Van Gogh and pick out elements they will have in their picture. We focused around the moon, stars and swirls.

Next we had students draw with white, black, grey and yellow crayons on large pieces of paper to create the night sky.

Finally we used different colours of blue and washed the paper with paint in order to create the darkened sky. Of course the paint does not cover the wax and you can see the crayon through it.

Here's the final products, they turned out GREAT!

Jasmine's Proudest Moment

Jasmine chose to include her research for the postcard project that we did awhile ago. Students were really excited about this project and I am so glad that they loved doing it. I will have to use it again and maybe find a way to incorporate it into more literacy projects that they will complete. 

The bottom picture is of the sheet the students were given to do research from the text book. Students were then asked to pick only 1 region and write a sentence for each box. That is how the postcard was created. Above, in the first picture, was Jasmine's rough copy before she did the good copy on the computer.

This example really demonstrates how much work Jasmine puts into every day tasks and I am so proud of her because she does work so very hard at everything she does.

Keep up the amazing work Jaz!

Finding Christmas- Robert Munsch

Jasmine's book she would like to share is Finding Christmas by Robert Munsch.

HEr parents hid the presents in the garage, and she can find them. She looks like she was worried, she looked and looked, she pulled out the towels but she could not find the presents. She looked all over her bedroom she looked and her drawers she called her friend, and started yelling and then she opened her window and looked up and thoughts she climbed up on the roof and saw a big present  she opened the top of the box and saw presents inside. The next morning they were finishing decorating the house and she fell asleep inside, they carry the big box of presents inside, they open the box up and found her sleeping and they were arguing about the girl. And the girl wrapped up and they were happy. The kids and the dog got wrapped up.

Jasmine likes this book because of the humour. She loves the part where the main character Julie finds the present on the roof and falls asleep. The illustrations make her laugh out loud.

Jasmine gives this book 5 starfish out of 5! A must read in our class.

Starfish of the Week Jasmine!

Sorry for the break, the kids had the week off while we were participating in Faith Days and Teacher's Convention. Had a great week and got lots of ideas, I shall post some later this week.

First, here is Jasmine!

Jasmine is 8 years old and loves school. She has a little sister who is starting school next year. Her favourite food is spaghetti with meatballs. She loves it when Mom makes them homemade!

Jasmine plays ringette for Strathmore. She is a forward and is am awesome skater. She was skating circles around me when we went for our field trip! Ringette is fun because she can score goals. She has scored 6 this season already. Her team did not make playoffs this year but she is looking forward to next year already! Jumping on the trampoline is also something Jamines enjoys, especially with her sister.

In the off season, Jasmine goes knee boarding when her family goes to BC. She goes camping with her grandparents and they have lovely weeks together. BC is not far from us here and trips to the mountains are a big highlight in my class.

In school Jasmine's favourite subject is math. She likes to tackle new problems and solve equations using her problem solving skills.

We are blessed to have Jasmine in our class. Her giving heart and curiosity fuel many discussions and she always brings a smile to my face!

Best Work- Proud Moment

Luke's proudest moment of Grade 3 was his December Reading Log. He is proud of the log because he actually read all of the nights. This earned him 32 dollars for his bank and to buy classroom coupons.

Luke puts this reading log into his reading portfolio. His reading portfolio is a collection of all the reading adventures and activities he has accomplished so far this year. It showcases Luke's growth as a reader. He is also proud of the book recommendation he completed in January, getting the highest mark in the class. 7/7.
I usually do these in different colours, depending on the month (i.e. pink for February) but my school is cutting back on coloured paper so I printed these off before I bought them. I think it makes the portfolio look a little livelier.

Keep up the great work Luke!

The Farm Team Review

             

                                     Farm Team  - Linda Bailey

This book about the team , home team and they found the stolski's cap and they lost every single game , and then one day played the bandits and the goalie got hurt and they need to find another goalie, and they hurt more players so they had to get more two players , and then the score was 3-3 and the farm team scored and they won. They will planning to keep the stolski  at the farm.

I liked this book because it hockey in it. The Stolski cup is actually like the Stanley cup and it was funny when the bandits goal sprayed everyone else. Or when the chicken laid an egg on the bears nose HAHAHA.

I strongly believe you should read this book! I give it 1000/5 Starfish!

                                                                                                               Luke

Star Fish of the Week- Luke!

Sorry for the break but last week school was hectic with PD days.

This week the Star Fish of the Week of Luke.

Luke has two sisters and one brother. He plays hockey; he is the centre on his team. When I went to his game a few weeks ago, Luke scored a beautiful goal, lifting to the pad side of the goalie, fitting it nicely into the corner of the net.
His favourite food is pizza. He likes the pizza loaded with pepperoni and cheese. He hates mushrooms and will pick them off and throw them at his sister. Then a food fight starts.
He has a carefree attitude and adores science. When we learn a new concept he runs home to research it on the computer and brings us in fun facts.
We started our building unit two weeks ago and Luke and two of his friends created the company "Brick". Each building task earn their company money to buy materials for their next project. Luke earned 8 dollars today for creating a fair spinner and for putting on a skit to show acre the three forces we are talking about: compression, tension, and torsion.

We love having Luke's good looks and caring attitude in our class. He brings faith into our discussions about Lent and looks forward to Jesus rising at the end of Lent.

Comic Strip

Bennett, who designed our lettering for the title of our blog, as created the comic strip below.  More comics and art projects to come. On Friday we will be trying to create our own Van Gogh- idea from Pinterest.

http://www.parents.com/fun/arts-crafts/painting/recreate-mastpiece-paintings/?rb=Y#page=2

We will let you know how they turn out!

Classroom Adventures

Austin wanted to highlight his Postcard project that we did for social studies.

1. Students had to research a specific region of a country we are studying.
2. They then had tell me about the region (the climate, environment and landscape) in a postcard like they were visiting the country.
3. Finally the students went to travellerspont.com and they picked a picture to create a postcard and send it via email to myself, then their parents to share!

It was a fun project to do and they loved sending the postcard. I gave them a mark out of five for incorporating the materials that was on their research sheets (climate, land, bodies of water, using land and water, caring for the environment) plus a mark if their picture on the postcard was connected with their region.
The students also did a self assessment of how well they worked with their research groups!

Thanks Austin for sharing :)

Favourite Book

I'm Too Fond Of My Fur
Geronimo Stilton

My book is about Geronimo's friend Professor Von Volt who was looking for the yeti. He called on Geronimo to help him. The Professor and Geronimo travelled to Mt. Everest to search for the yeti but Geronimo got kidnapped by the yeti. Geronimo figured out the reason why he was taking berries from storage shacks was because the yeti had a baby yeti that was really really sick.
Geronimo and Professor Von Volt end up helping the yeti family by giving the baby medicine to make him feel better.

I loved this book because it was funny- Geronimo's family was playing jokes on each other. I also liked the book because it was entertaining. They had fun adventures, like lifting the yeti's up in a helicopter to bring them to safety.

I recommend this book and give it: 5/5 Star Fish!

Star Fish of the Week- Austin!

Each week, one student will be responsible for posting a blog entry and will also be interviewed for the blog. We will discover their hidden treasures, likes, dislikes, favourite subject and unique facts. Also, each student will pick one piece of their best work so far this year to share with you.


This week our Star Fish is Austin!

Austin is in Grade 3. He has one brother and loves the rodeo. His favourite part of the rodeo is bull riding, saddle bronc, bare back, roping and steer wrestling. He has a horse named Gus. He has won Thread the Needle Award, Goat Tail Untying Award, and came 2nd place (to his brother) at the Canadian Final Dummy Roping Rodeo. And recently in his club he got first place in breakaway! We are so proud of him.

His favourite subject is computers and math because he likes working with technology and problem solving.  He likes trying to figure out different questions and strategies.

We are blessed to have Austin in our class!

Come swim with our school

Welcome to our Grade 3 classroom blog. We are extremely excited to share our knowledge, adventures and experiments with you.

Our class loves to write stories! Diving into story writing was our favourite this year. 3P swims through characters, setting funnels, paragraph recipes, story webs, and funny problems as we create our works of art in words.

Surfing through math problems, we also love to learn new math terms, like rounding and perimeter.
Science and social are a splash in the classroom. We have tons of fun darting through our science topics and social research.

But the "starfish" of the year is how we have begin hooked on reading!  Our "school" of students work hard on becoming active readers as they question, clarify, inference, summarize and connect their way through our classroom library.

Our blog is set to highlight some of the radical projects we are doing, books we love and our best work!