Third Grade

     I don't usually post pictures of my kids... but the projects that they have been working on recently are simply too cool not to share. I have truly enjoyed teaching third grade this year. Check out what my kids have been learning about!!

     In Science, we just finished a lengthy animal unit which covered food chains, animal adaptations, etc. At the same time, a high school biology class at GWA was studying more complex animal adaptations, alongside the concept of evolution. Together, this high school biology class collaborated with my third grade students to creatively invent organisms based on 15-20 different animal adaptations. They had 30 minutes to create these organisms...and the end product was fantastic! My kids absolutely loved this project, and they learned so much about animal adaptations.

    What was even cooler is that this Science project, in conjunction with the beginning of our new unit on the solar system, sparked an intense conversation with one of my students about how the universe began. Naturally, this conversation led her to ask some pretty deep questions such as: "Does God exist?" and "If God exists, then why does He allow bad things to happen?". I hope that this particular young third grader continues to ask these questions as she grows up, and I encouraged her to search for the answers.

    In Writing, my students are beginning to master the concept of topic and closing sentences. We learned this concept through creating funny paragraphs, written in hamburger format. After making these delicious hamburger paragraphs, they are now expected to write in hamburger format for every writing assignment that is turned in.

     In Math, I adapted a project idea that I did when I student-taught in Ethiopia. My students are required to memorize their multiplication facts from 1-12. As an incentive for studying their facts at home, they created "cookies" in class, which are now scattered all about my classroom. They must earn "chocolate chips" to glue onto their cookies by memorizing their multiplication facts (one chocolate chip for each fact table). Once they have earned all 12 chocolate chips, they must earn a 13th smiley face chocolate chip by solving 100 mixed multiplication problems in 5 minutes or less. As soon as every student in the class has their 13 chocolate chips, we will have a cookie party! One of my students has already earned 12 chocolate chips!!

     In Social Studies, we are studying the vikings. We did a fun craft activity, which turned into a hilarious door display. I also created a gigantic longship diagram in the classroom, utilizing the curtains/curtain rods as the "yard" and "sail" of the ship. At the end of the unit, we will also be taking a field trip to a local wood shop (owned by someone connected to the school) where we will build mobile viking longships.

     In Reading, we are studying The War With Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith. This book is hilarious, and my kids love it. But it has also provided me with the perfect bridge into some serious conversations about family conflict/changes. Several of my students are going through some tough family situations (i.e. pending parent divorces or parents who refuse to be a part of their lives). We have been discussing how important it is for us to be intentional in choosing to maintain a positive attitude in the face of a negative circumstance, especially if the circumstance is out of our control.

     As a cross-curriculum project, my students were challenged with a biography project. They were each assigned a historic individual to read about. Using all of the steps of the writing process, the students had to write a 4-5 paragraph paper about the person they studied (using hamburger paragraphs!). They also created colorful posters of their person. Finally, we invited parents in to watch as they presented their projects, dressed up like the individual that they learned about! This project was a lot of work, but I was amazed by how awesome their presentations were. Every single one of them far exceeded my expectations.

Thurgood Marshall, MLK Jr., and Theodore Roosevelt

Mother Theresa and Ruby Bridges

Betsy Ross and Princess Diana

-Nicole