Old Town Field Trip

A BIG thank you to all of our chaperones from Wednesday's field trip!!!  I am so grateful for your help & so are the students...as trips would not be possible without you.

On Wednesday the class traveled back to the 1860's with the help of some great actors in San Diego's Old Town Historic Park.  We were led by the First Lady of San Diego, Mrs. Robinson, on a tour through an old fashioned school, to the blacksmith, and we even had a chance to trade with a shopkeeper in order to make a cake.  This field trip goes along nicely with our social studies unit on San Diego's history.

Mrs. Robinson, the governor's wife and our wonderful tour guide

The blacksmith showed us what a little heat can do.  We learned that a town could not function without a blacksmith

Philip was the printer's apprentice.

Weighing out the flour & deciding what to trade for it.

3rd grade at Old Town

The captain taught us how to use a compass

Mrs. Walker set her students straight.

Petting Daisy

Persuasive Students

Dear Readers,
  
    We all have wants.  In 3rd grade we are talking about how to get our wants fulfilled.  Some students wish for houses with pools, one student wants a pet pig, another student wants a laptop.  After discussing what we want I asked the students how they get what they want.  They responded, "We ask."  We talked about times they had asked for things & received them as well as times they had asked for things and been disappointed.  Questions like, "did the way you ask affect the decision" or "was it a realistic want" came up and led to some thoughtful insights.  Then I read two of my favorite books...

 These great gems are about a little boy named Alex who writes persuasive letters to his parents.  After reading the students were assigned to write a persuasive letter.  They chose one realistic item they wanted from their brainstorm list.  Then they completed a thinking map to organize their ideas; what I want, why I want it, why will it benefit me/our family, and how will I take care of it.  Then using the thinking map each student drafted a persuasive letter.  After reading some of them I'm glad no one was writing to me...we have some very persuasive students in this class!  These letters are hanging up on our writing bulletin board but expect them home at the end of the month. 

Make sure to read her closing & signature!

Kyi's letter part 1

Kyi's letter part 2

The class even helped me compose a letter to Josh, persuading him to get me a puppy!  We'll see if it works.

Philip's reason had us all laughing: "It will also help teach me responsibility for when I have a baby."

May Flowers

Dear Families & Friends,

     The students were so excited when they saw the huge manilla folder on my desk this week because they knew exactly what that meant....pen pal letters!  It has been so fun having 4th graders from San Francisco as our pen pals.  This month we wrote back to them about the exciting events in our lives & decorated the letters with flowers to represent spring.

 

     We were also really excited this week because now not only do we have tadpoles...we have SNAKES!   Mr. Bill came on Wednesday and brought us 2 garter snakes to keep as class pets. He also brought in a gopher snake, California king snake and a rattle snake (but we aren't keeping those thank goodness).  The students learned about the eating and sleeping habits of snakes and also got to hold the gopher and California king.  We kept the rattle snake in its tub.

Holding a gopher snake.

Mr. Bill teaching us about snakes.

 

 

Our two new friends! 

     In math this week we were focusing on measurement.  The students reviewed tools and units of length & capacity.  We reviewed perimeter and area and then were introduced to volume.  At first this concept of space being taken up by a 3 dimensional figure was a little mystifying to the students but as the week went on I believe the light bulb went on.  We also discussed units of weight & the tools used to weigh objects.  The class really loved learning about the platform scale.  This is the scale used to measure objects over 1 ton, like semi-trucks.  Broc shared with us that his dad, who is a truck driver, has to weigh his truck on scales like these too keep safe on the road.

finding the volume of 3-D shapes

     We finished our how-to book this week.  Each student chose one activity in which they excel and created a page for the book.  It will be in our class library if you would like to see it.

Giovanni's page: how to make a Caesar salad

We are also continuously adding new words to our synonym & antonym chart.  The students are trying to refrain from using words like "happy" or "sad" in their writing.  Instead of happy they can use elated & instead of bad they can choose detrimental.  Or maybe they can use loathe instead of dislike.  I am excited to watch them become excited when they learn new vocabulary!  Something else that is helping us with our vocab. is the new book we started last week called The Phantom Tollbooth.  Please ask your students about this book as they love talking about it in class and probably have a lot to say to you about it.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 23rd we are trying to organize a field trip to Old Town.  This trip will go along with our social studies unit on San Diego's history.  Please keep this date in mind because we will need chaperones!

Welcome Back!

Dear Friends & Families,
   I hope you had a wonderful vacation.  I was so excited to have the kiddos back this week.  I didn't realize how much I missed them until they walked in the door on Tuesday morning.  As many of you know, I fractured my foot over the break & your students have been so patient & sympathetic.  They help me walk down the stairs & are constantly asking me if I am healing quickly.  It warms my heart!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tuesday, May 8th is PICTURE DAY!  Students must wear uniforms.

Thursday, May 10th is the pizza party for the students who completed the reading challenge.

   This week we were reviewing the math concepts we had covered before vacation.  Please ask your students to tell you about: area, perimeter, 2/3 digit x 1 digit multiplication, place value from the hundreths to the millions, and rounding.  Next week we will begin a unit on measurement; length, volume, capacity, & weight.  This is a really easy unit to supplement at home.  Have students practice measuring things around the house, finding perimeters of objects, have them weigh themselves and their siblings, or measure how much water it takes to fill up different sized containers in your kitchen.
    In language arts we are beginning a "Testing as a Genre" unit.  CST testing is quickly approaching & although it is no one's favorite time of the year I want to ensure that your students are not taken by surprise.  We spent time this week discussing the difference between "real reading" & "test reading."  The students are learning that during the test you must:
1. know what to look for in the passage so they read the questions first
2. know that the test makers choose the answers & there is only 1 correct answer
3. know the questions & directions are like little puzzles & we have to figure out what the test makers want us to figure out
4.  know the teacher cannot help
5.  know that all of the passages do not relate to each other
     We were practicing answering questions about "how-to" passages so the class thought it would be great to make a  3rd Grade How-To Book.  Each student decided on a skill that they believe themselves an expert in and are creating pages to share their skill or expertise.  We will have it in our classroom library when we are finished, so come check it out!
     We are finishing our solar system unit.  We read a great book called Postcards from Pluto.  Then the students pretended to travel to a different planet & write postcards back home telling about their trip.

   Another exciting event in our classroom...we have class pets!  Bill & his father went hiking over the weekend and brought us tadpoles.  We are having so much fun watching them grow.  A few have even sprouted their hind legs.  Check back soon to see if we have any that transform into frogs.