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.

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.