Pi Day and Fiction Stories

Pi Day

March 14 was National Pi day (3.14) so in honor of this mathematical day, we enjoyed blackberry pie with ice cream. Everyday we learn that math is not only educational but FUN and TASTY!

Celebrating Our Newly Published Authors

Friday, the day before our spring break, our newly published third grade students shared their fiction stories!  We joined forces with the Penguin Place and the Owls' Nest to share our writing (and to celebrate with treats!)

I was impressed with the growth our students showed as writers.  Their stories were full of internal thought, dialogue, action, and interesting words. Students developed complex and interesting characters and worked to make their characters come alive for the reader. 

Guest Teacher - Mr. Zingsheim

A few mornings a week we have had a guest teacher, Mr. Z, join us for our morning meetings.  He is a district behavior support teacher and is piloting a curriculum for our school.  We have been practicing good attentive listening skills and practicing using an assertive voice to get what we need in our learning.

We learned a song about being a good listener and our students helped to debut it at our monthly community gathering.  This month's focus word is concentration so this song was perfect!

Be Respectful

Be Skillful

Be a Learner

Yea Yea!

Focus attention

Listen with your ears, eyes and brain

Use your self talk

Be assertive

Landmarks and Power Points

This week students used netbooks to research a famous US landmark or monument.  Students are learning more about Yellowstone National Park, The Gateway Arch, Carlsbad Caverns, The Washington Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The Great Salt Lake, etc.  They are finding the monuments location, several keys facts, photos, and a map.  They are using this information to create a Powerpoint presentation.  Students will be presenting these presentations in a few weeks.

Exploring Area Using Tetronimoes

 In our math workshop, students have been learning more about perimeter, area and now the polyomino family.  We created tetrominoes (a geometric figure that is composed of 4 squares.)  If you have ever played the game Tetris, these are the shapes we made!

Students will use these shapes to tile grids and explore more about area.

Madison History - The Journey to Wisconsin and the 3 Capitols

We have again returned to studying more about the early days of Madison and how Madison became a city.  We learned that land in the Madison area was being offered for $1.25 an acre! This pulled many people to migrate and immigrate to this area.  Students read about a man named James Doty and discovered why he was so influential in early days of Madison.

James Duane Doty

Students also learned about the three different capitol building that were in Madison.  We learned some interesting fun facts about our capitol and were amazed to learn that pigs were kept in the basement of the first capitol building, that the second capitol building was destroyed by a fire and that the volume of the current capitol building is larger (but shorter) than our nation's capitol in Washington, DC.

Student groups were assigned sections of the book to read.  They became experts and then presented their knowledge to the rest of the class.  All groups performed skits but also included songs, posters and newspapers to supplement the dramatic performances.

Here is an example of the book Madison - a City of Four Lakes book that our students are using.  It is a perfect non-fiction text for this age.

Is It Spring?

The calendar says it's spring but the temperatures feel more like mid-winter!  Brrrr.  However, we didn't let a bit of snow, ice, and below-zero wind chills  dampen our spirits!  In honor of spring (and spring break) and in the hopes that we could lure her to Wisconsin, we dressed in our brightest colors and wore sunglasses!  We did our part so come Spring, we beg you...

iPad App Spotlight - Writing

iDairy for Kids ($1.99) is a journaling app for children.  It allows a way for writers to create personal and creative journal entires.  Good for ages 5-13. This app gives the ability to add drawings and photos along with writing. It allows up to 6 users per app.

Book Creator for iPad  ($4.99) I just downloaded this app and I am excited to learn more about how it works. It allows the user a simple way to create eBooks and then you can import them to your iBooks app so that all users in our class can enjoy!  iLike!  Check it out, especially if your child is a budding author!

Upcoming Events

• April 2 - First day back from Spring Break and DREAMcamp group B - The playoffs!  Don't forget your shirt, shoes and healthy snack.
• April 5 - Last day of 3rd Quarter (What?!?) Students have early release (10:45) for grade reporting by staff.
• April 15-19 - Spring Book Fair in the LMC
• April 26 - Family Fun Night
• May 5 - Urban Adventure!  (Mark your calendars!)
• May 24 - The time-honored tradition of the trip to the Zoo and my house!