Our Final Week of 2016 and our Fantastic First Week of 2017

Greetings Families,

I hope you're all staying warm and safe while enjoying this winter weather.  We've had an eventful couple of weeks, to say the least.  I want to apologize for the late nature of this blog update, as I experienced some computer mishaps last month that left me unplugged from my laptop for the past several weeks.  I have finally retrieved it from the repair shop and am good to go.  As a result, this post will update you on the happenings in the classroom during our final week of 2016 and our first week of 2017.  I hope you enjoy!

OUR FINAL WEEK OF 2016

During our final week of school we took a break from our normal literacy routine to make room for special holiday art projects. 

Our Stained Glue Snowflakes were intended to be holiday gifts for you, but they ended up getting stranded at school due to the snow days.  They are currently hanging in the classroom for our enjoyment.  You can look forward to seeing them come home soon.

Check out the pics of our stained glue snowflake-making process.

                   

We started with photocopies of a snowflake template which we used as our design.  We dipped pieces of pre-cut string into Elmers Glue and laid them carefully onto wax paper, essentially tracing the design of the snowflake.
               

                                          We let these dry for 24 hours.

The next day we poured glue, stained blue from liquid watercolor paint, into the shape of the snowflake.

                 We intended to let these dry for 48 hours, but they ended up having over two weeks to dry.

                               

                               

Once they were dry, they were ready to remove from the wax paper.  We threaded each with a silver thread and hung them up in the window.

MATH
Our snowflake theme continued as we read Snowflake Bentley, a book about Wilson Bentley, the first known photographer of snowflakes.
 
We learned that all snowflakes begin from a hexagonal shape, so we incorporated this knowledge into our own designs as we made symmetrical snowflakes with polygon pattern blocks. 

After exploring 3 types of symmetry in math...

                  

     Rotation Symmetry                    Reflection Symmetry                       Translation Symmetry

Students arranged white pattern blocks in order to create a symmetrical snowflake design.
They turned out fantastic!

To review for our upcoming Geometry Assessments, we completed some varied practice with calculating perimeter as we completed an activity called SCOOT! I laid out a math problem on each student's desk, and they rotated around the room on my signal, solving a variety of polygon perimeter calculations.

WRITING

Students worked hard on their informational articles, and most were able to complete their individual writing conference with me.  Many students worked on the final stage of the writing process - publishing their articles in their neatest handwriting.

SCIENCE

We were able to complete two more experiments with matter before winter break.  The first experiment involved mixing various solids with water to create mixtures.

Students worked with their partner to make predictions about what they thought would happen when they mixed the various solids (gravel, tissue paper, salt) with water.

              

Once they recorded their hypothesis, they made their mixtures and recorded their observations before and after mixing them with a stir-stick.  They were asked to consider how the action of stirring changed their mixture?

When finished with their before and after observations of their mixtures, they were asked which one of the mixtures they created was a solution, and why?

The students easily understood the salt water mixture to be a solution because the salt dissolved into the water.

This "making mixtures" experiment led directly into a "separating mixtures" experiment.  

The students were asked to brainstorm ways to remove the solid from the liquid.  They discussed and shared out their ideas, before being introduced to the following materials.

As you can guess, the students successfully separated the gravel and tissue paper from the water using the coffee filter and funnel, but were still left with a salt water solution.

A discussion led to the suggestion by one student, that if we let the water evaporate, the salt will be left behind.

ANOTHER SET OF SNOW DAYS CUT OUR FINAL WEEK OF 2016 A LITTLE SHORT...

READ ON FOR OUR FIRST HAPPENINGS OF 2017

Our first week of 2017 is off to a wonderful start!  The students came back to school ready to learn, so I guess the extra down time provided a wonderful recharge for our brains.  They were extra focused, hard-working, and kind.  I'm so proud of them and our new year is off to a great start!

LITERACY

In literacy last week we read the story Pushing Up the Sky by Joseph Bruchac.              .   

This is the second story in our Unit 3: People and Nature.  This story was grounded in Native American tradition--that of telling stories that give meaning to the existence of the natural world.  This story creatively explained the existence of stars.  It was written as a play, so the students worked in groups to read through the play and assume the various characters.  

The next day they worked in groups to complete their story test.  My intention was to ease back into taking story tests, while encouraging discussion and consensus with regards to the questions and answers.  Please note, when you see these graded story tests come home tomorrow, they will reflect the performance of the group, not the individual.

READER'S WORKSHOP

We revisited our Reader's Workshop routines on Thursday and Friday as students continued reading their novels and completing various reading comprehension tasks.

1.  Summarize-- Recount the main events from your reading, in the order they occurred, without retelling the whole story and giving too many details.  Include character, setting, and transition words.      

          


2. Build Vocabulary-- Record unfamiliar words on a post-it note while reading.  When finished reading, choose a word and complete a vocabulary study as you record the definition, synonym, antonym, sentence, and illustration of the word.  

3. Main idea and supporting details--After reading a chapter, identify the main idea of the chapter.  Draw an image of an umbrella containing the "big idea" from the chapter.  Beneath the umbrella, record details from the chapter that relate to that main idea.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP

Most students have finished up their informational articles and are publishing them by hand or on the computer.  This week we will begin informational article #2.  Students will be expected to choose a topic they no little about, but would be interested in learning and teaching others.  They will choose a topic and begin their research this week.  Please discuss possible topics of interest with your child, so they have some ideas ready to share tomorrow in class.

MATH

On Tuesday we completed a Geometry Review in the form of a Jeopardy Game.

Students had fun and reviewed important concepts for the test.

 Then, we completed a two-part assessment on Wednesday and Thursday.  I am very pleased with the results considering the long winter break.

  The results will be shared with the students this week, but I will holding onto the assessments for the upcoming report card marking period. You can expect to see them come home at that time.

SCIENCE

This week our experiments with matter continued as we completed the first of two "Dissolving Races". In this first dissolving race, the variable being tested was the form of sugar.

This investigation revolved around the question "Which form of sugar will dissolve faster?"  Ask your child to describe the results of this experiment.

This week we will complete our second dissolving race.  This time the variable being tested will be temperature.  

LLEWELLYN STAR REWARD HOUR

On Friday afternoon, Mr. Galati rewarded all grade levels with a one-hour game hour as a reward for being star students emanating the core values of Llewellyn - safe, kind, responsible, and building community.  The school as a whole, has been doing a fantastic job demonstrating these values, so Mr. Galati designated Friday as the day to celebrate with an hour of game time.  This reward hour took place during our usual art time.

It was up to each grade to decide on the format of the reward hour.  The 3rd grade teachers decided to provide 3 options for students to choose from.  Ms. Stelter hosted an arts and crafts session, Ms. Coholon provided a board game session, and I hosted a technology session.  Students chose two sessions, which were scheduled for 30 minutes each.  

During the reward hour, all of the 3rd grade classes were mixed together, which provided a wonderful community-building opportunity across the grade level.  

Here's a pic of one of our technology sessions.

Most students practiced their new "hour of code" skills, which all 3rd graders learned during their tech time in the library.  Other students spent time exploring Mrs. McDonald's Portaportal, which has access to a variety of educational and fun computer games.  It was enjoyable to see their excitement!  Ask your child which activities they participated in.

IMPORTANT DATES

January 16- Martin Luther King Holiday- NO SCHOOL

January 18- Late opening(10:00 AM Start)

February 3- Teacher Planning Day(2nd Quarter Report Cards)-NO SCHOOL