Rewind Post: State Project and Last Day of School

So this is (hopefully) my last rewind post.  Because (hopefully) I won't get so far behind again.

Two reasons for this rewind post:

1. State Projects.

Like I have said before, my class has 4 iPads (plus a teacher one), that aren't used NEARLY enough.  Well, it was almost time to turn them in, so I wanted to fit in one final project.  Using ComicLife again, my kiddos created a comic about a state.  They were placed into groups (with some input from my kiddos) and each group picked a state.  Then they had to research their state.  Things like:

• state bird
• state flower
• state motto
• state flag
• when did the state join the union
• what region is the state in

They did all of this in one of our computer labs.  And they did wonderfully!  Then we went back to our room to turn them into comics.  Which were also wonderful.  Except for one group, who kept have "technical difficulties".  Oh the joys of 3rd grade boys.  :-P

Personally I think they turned out rather nicely.

2. Last day of school.  :-(

We had a great last week of school.  For our class party we had a water balloon fight (sorry, I was soaked, so no pictures).

My third graders asked for a pajama day, so we did that Thursday.  Again, sorry, no pictures.  But just imagine me in Elmo pajama pants.  It was great.

And then I made a "photo frame" shaped like Mickey.  All of my kiddos took individual pictures in it on Thursday, with a few group shots.  I then made a little collage with those pictures and class pictures from our field trip and field day.  I printed them at Office Depot, for a pretty good price too.

Here's what the Mickey frame looked like...and yes, that is Lil Wayne in the picture with me.  :-)

We had our ups and downs, but I am really going to miss this class.

Rewind Post: Plant Project

So...time for another Rewind Post.  This time, on Plants.

Awhile ago, Farley, over at Oh Boy 4th Grade posted about using a cd case to show the roots and stem and all the bits and pieces of a plant as it grew.  When I saw it I said to myself "I'm gonna do that one day."  Well, this year was the year.  Our 3rd grade science curriculum expects our kiddos to know all the parts of a plant and flower (except for pistil and stamen) and their uses.  So we decided to grow radishes, and also put some in cd cases.

 

Each child also got his/her own plant.

 

We then created plant journals (by folding lined paper in half and then stapling it).  Every other day our kiddos had to draw what they saw happening in their own cups.  Also, instead of having every kid draw both cd cases, they drew only one.  Since my class is numbered for EVERYTHING, we just threw in a quick math check with it - odds draw case A, evens draw case B.

Eventually, they grew:

 

After the kids took their cups home, I took the extras, and the ones from the cd cases, and transplanted them to a pot.  It's currently sitting on the back porch of our music portable.  I forgot to take a picture, but they are growing like crazy.  Since we're almost out of school, I think I'm going to dig one or two up so my kiddos can see what the roots look like now.

Hopefully I remember to take a picture.  ;-)

Morfo and Melting Snowmen

So, our reading series, Reading Wonders, has a 6 week unit setup.  As in, every unit has 6 weeks that are all tied together for one big theme.  The sixth week is the project week.  There is always a readers' theatre, and then multiple projects to choose from.  These projects require research and reading skills beyond just a basal.

So, for our unit 2 week 6, we chose a project that asked us to research an animal, its habitat, and how people could protect that habitat.  But you know me, I can't just do a simple flipbook (which I think is what they wanted, now I don't remember).  So, of course, I found an app.

Morfo is an app that allows you to take a picture, and then cause the picture to talk...complete with blinking eyes, moving mouth, etc.  It's AMAZING!

My kiddos got into groups.  They then had to pick a "wild" animal and do research on it.  They then had to find a picture, and have their animal talk about the habitat, other animals that live there, and how people can protect their habitat.  My kiddos did quite well.  They researched online and in books.  I wish I had saved the morfo's, but something went wonky with my iPads and they didn't save.  Grr!

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So, every year, around November/December, my class makes a snowman.  I first heard of this on Pinterest, and as soon as I saw it I LOVED it.  Thank you Frugal Teacher!

I do my snowman a little different every year though.  One year we glitter glued on his face.  This year, instead of a face, we just dripped food coloring on him throughout the day.

So there's our snowman.  All day we watch as he melts.  We talk about the 3 states of matter, and then at the end of the day, he looks like this.

And then I put him in a pot and boil him.  And we talk about steam and boiling and evaporation and all of those fun science words.

My kiddos love it...and it's a fun page in our Science Journals.

What kinds of fun science experiments/activities do you do with your class?

Class Bear and There's an App for That

First, I would like to introduce you to Lil' Wayne.

 

Yes, that green bear is named Lil' Wayne.  And yes, I am reading him a bedtime story.  And yes, that is my dog, and she is not amused that Lil' Wayne is sitting on her bed.

My kiddos got to nominate and vote on our class bear's name.  Lil' Wayne (after the rapper) was almost unanimous.  I took him home to get a bath and whatnot, and my kiddos thought these were the best pictures ever!

Lil' Wayne is about the get shipped to New York to visit my best friend.  Lil' Wayne is going to be a traveling bear.  Since we're learning about the regions of the US, we're asking people to send him to another person in a different state so we can get some pictures of Lil' Wayne in different regions and climates.  Here's hoping we get lots of goodies, pictures, and postcards.

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So we just finished Unit 1 of our Social Studies book.  Which means our unit project.  I bought an app called Comic Life ($4.99...expensive, I know).

But totally worth it.  Comic Life allows you to create comics on your iPad.  So the students were again split into groups.  They created a comic about one of the four areas we studied (US, Caribbean, Canada and Mexico).  They had to use their social studies notebooks (interactive journals) to get their information.  Then they use the app to create a comic about their place.

When I introduce an app, I always give them one day to just play on it.  I make no rules other than "you must take turns and everyone needs to learn the app and it must be school appropriate".  So these comics were only the second time my kiddos used the app...and they did quite well I must say.

I just wish I had more time for stuff like this...cause my kids rocked it.

Social Studies Projects

So, our social studies curriculum is split into four "units" instead of chapters.  And the 3rd grade curriculum is all about the United States and its neighbors - Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

One of the biggest pieces of unit 1 is all about the regions of the United States.  But our curriculum shoves it all into one lesson.  Our team has decided to take 2 days to teach every lesson in the unit...which gave me 2 days to teach all 5 regions of the US, complete with climate and landmarks.  So, instead, I decided to do a project.

My kids split into 5 groups and created posters about their different region.  That way each group was responsible for learning the material themselves, and then sharing it with the class.

First thing they did was fill out a worksheet asking those important questions:

• what states are in your region
• what's the climate like in your region
• what landmarks are in your region

Then they work on their posters, which they then share with the class.

My kiddos really loved this activity...they're oddly excited when they get to make posters.

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Also, we have 2 teacher stores here in Pensacola.  One of them, School Works, is owned by some friends of ours...so, of course, that's the one I shop at.  And I always tend to buy things that I normally wouldn't buy cause I'm really not looking.

Well, anyway, I found these wonderful coloring maps of the United States.  So I bought them.  And right after my students created their region posters, we colored our US maps.  My kiddos were, for real, so excited that they each got their own map to label and color.

We talked about state abbreviations and labeled our maps.  And as we colored them in, we color-coded the regions.  It was honestly one of the calmest parts of my day (well, the 2 days it took us to complete it).

Thanks for sticking out this long post.  I'll be updating again soon...promise!