Reading our writing to Kindergarten

One of the goals of 3rd grade writing is to expand the audience for our writing. Yesterday we had Mr. George's room come and listen to our stories. The students worked hard to read with expression and bring their story to life. It was so great to hear all the sounds and excitement in the room.

Narrative Writing Celebration!

Students worked hard this year on learning how to use the writing process to write small moment stories. They worked on leads, Ideas, Show not Tell, Figurative Language, revising with purpose using the 4 parts of the story color coding (dialogue, action, thoughts&feelings, description), and building stamina. Each student wrote a new story being there own job captain and working through the writing process independently using their resources. Their stories are phenomenal! I cannot wait for them to share them with you. Here are some pictures from our classroom celebration. Students read each others stories and wrote thoughtful compliments to each other. They loved this! Next week we are sharing our stories with Mr. George's Kindergarteners.

Book Clubs in 3rd grade a huge success

This week we began book clubs as part of our historical fiction unit. Students are in groups of 3 or 4 and are independently reading the same book as their group members, and are taking notes to bring to their book club discussion. I am so impressed with how well they are working together to discuss, grow their thinking/ideas, and agree and disagree using text evidence to support their thinking. After each discussion, students reflect on how well they did with the book talk on a reflection form and set a goal for the next meeting. Students also record their post its notes on a sheet and do a reading response from their reading and discussion. They are all learning the importance of using evidence from the text to support their thinking. They are also realizing how much they can learn and grow their thinking from hearing other group members thinking. I have seen incredible growth in the first 3 sessions. Here are some photos and videos from our book talk time. Here is an article about having your own Book Club at home. 

Habitude of the Month~perserverance

We have been working hard to grow our mindset and push our thinking in third grade. We are using the song "Try Everything," from Zootopia to help remind us of the importance of making those new mistakes in order to stretch ourselves. Here is a video production of our class working together to create the habitude bulletin board in the hallway for the entire school to see. I am amazed how hard this class is working to improve.

Try Everything Video

Owl Pellets in Science

Students investigated owl pellets this week to learn about fossils and bones. They were able to notice, identify, and compare bones found in the owl pellet and human bones. As we finish our life science unit students will reflect on what they learned and share it with the class.