Full "STEAM" Ahead

Dear Third Graders,

     We did a wonderful job on our Personal Narrative Writing Unit. On Friday, we had Mrs. Maurantonio's first graders come to listen to our stories. I was very impressed with how we are building stamina as author's and using different features to make our writing strong. We have been focusing on using our senses, word choice, thinking, talking, and feelings to enhance our writing. We have also be working on using correct capitalization and punctuation (now using quotation marks to show when characters are talking!).

Here are some action shots:

     On Monday, Mr. Adamo and his cream brought the STEAM bus to visit our grade level and we got to work on coding! We participated in the Maze Challenge with Sphero.  The children worked in small groups to get a ball through the maze. We had to use engineering, problem solving, teamwork, and our Growth Mindest word focus word PERSEVERANCE. We worked together to solve problems using the Sphere app on the iPad as well as taking turns with the I-Pad and how to cope when our ball didn't move exactly as we planned.

     I uploaded some videos that are located in the folder labeled "STEAMbus" on the right side of the page.  Here are some pictures:

Bear Hugs,

Egg Drop!

Dear Third Graders,

     Brrrrr.... it is cold outside! But we are heating it up in the classroom.

Between celebrating two friends who share the same birthdate....

to routing for our heroine, Katie, to buy back her mom's brooch from the pawnshop and make it back home to take care of her sick mama...

to wrapping up our weather unit with amazing green screen productions created with Mrs. Thompson in library.  Click here... these are a must see! Our weather test will be February 7th. (The review packet went home today.)

Weather Reports

to our Egg Drop Challenge curtsey of Mrs. Halayko.

We had one group complete the task. This week will be a repeat. We will mix up our groups, use what we learned, to be persistent and try again! Our Growth Mindset focus word for the next few weeks is being persistent... try to encourage your child to not give up when it comes to a hard math problem, tough word, hard team their playing against, or any other obstacle that he or she faces. We have been working on problem solving and not giving up.

Bear Hugs,

Busy January

Dear Third Graders,

     We have been keeping busy this month! Here are some highlights...

    In PE, we were introduced to Challenges which is curriculum for our third through fifth grade. We had to work with groups to solve different challenges and see if we could advance levels! I loved joining our class to see what you were doing. We talked a lot about Growth Mindset and how our Friday Challenges are very similar.  We have to work as a team, make sure everyone is included, problem solve, be resilient, be persistent, be flexible when things are not working, and be optimistic. We have a solid understanding of these words, but living them can be hard. Keep up the great work!

Here are two of our challenges:

     We also had some students from the High School French Club come read Green Eggs and Ham to us in..... FRENCH!  It was fun to learn some words, sing the French alphabet, and sing a few French songs. I also got to see a friend I taught in first grade and the sister of another former student of mine!

     January has also brought us our first Birthday Celebration of 2019!

Bear Hugs,

Seed Ideas

Dear Third Graders,

     Today we began talking about our new unit for Writer's Workshop....

Personal Narratives

     We learned that a personal narrative brings to life an experience from the author's life through the use of sensory details, feelings, talking, thinking, and sounds.  Personal narratives tend to be focused on one event that is significant to the writer. The author shows rather than tells the event by using story elements like characters, setting, and plot. 

    Often authors write personal narratives about something "big" in their life, firsts (like first time jumping off the diving board or making a basket), times of strong emotions (meeting a new sibling, falling off their bike), or celebrations.

    Today we worked on distinguishing between Watermelon Ideas and Seed Ideas. 

Watermelon Topics:  very broad, unfocused, too many details, too many moments, not zoomed in

Seed Topics: very specific, focused in or "zoomed in", one specific detail or moment

    We then talked about how Watermelon Ideas often have lots of Seed Ideas inside them and we need to pull out the ones that would create the best stories. Stories that will entertain. We worked hard on coming up with some Seed Ideas and have been given the task for brainstorming some more at home. Please see the Yellow Sheet that came home in our folder today (or look in the January folder on the right for another copy).  I can't wait to read the stories you create! 

     A great activity to try at home or in the car is retelling a Seed Idea as a personal narrative. Get the whole family involved and have fun with it! 

Bear Hugs,

So long 2018... hello 2019

Dear Third Graders,

    We had a fun time closing out the year and I can't wait to begin 2019 with you starting tomorrow!

   The Niskayuna Football team visited our classroom to read a story the Wednesday before break.
News article.

   We also got to watch the Dance Crazy friends perform their dances.  Great job Michael and Emma J.  Very impressive.

   Thursday, we had a blast at our holiday stations.  We made cookies, created Winter BINGO boards, read holiday books, created Shrinky Dinks, crafted cards, and edited snowmen selfies!

 

   I hope you all had a great holiday break!

Bear Hugs,