Friday, December 20, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Grinchy Christmas
Our class got into the Christmas spirit by watching The Grinch.
Afterwards, we created Christmas wreaths. The students wrote on the hearts things that are special to them and make them smile. Things that would help make their heart "grow three times its size"!
We decorated stockings with the Grinch on them as well!
Monday, December 16, 2013
Santa's Stuck - Let's Help!
Last week, we wrote our rough drafts of Santa's Stuck. We read (most of) Santa's Stuck and each student came up with their own ending as if Santa were stuck at their house.
After the students had their basic idea down, I wrote my own rough draft (I didn't want anyone stealing my idea!). Then, we worked together as a group to add some pizazz to it with descriptive words and vibrant verbs. They were great! Then, the students did what we did together to their own paper. They worked with a peer to revise and edit.
Here are our final drafts:
After the students had their basic idea down, I wrote my own rough draft (I didn't want anyone stealing my idea!). Then, we worked together as a group to add some pizazz to it with descriptive words and vibrant verbs. They were great! Then, the students did what we did together to their own paper. They worked with a peer to revise and edit.
Here are our final drafts:
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Gifts From Students
One of my students is doing The 12 Days of Christmas Presents for me and I am LOVING it so far! This is what I have received:
Friday, December 13, 2013
Starville: mini-society
Starville is a mini-society that third graders participate in each December. It is definitely one of the FAVORITE activities of third grade at my school. When the fourth graders see what Starville is happening, they ask their teachers if they can go back to third grade for the day!
To start, each student applies for a first and second choice job to work in Starville. Each student will work two jobs and we guarantee that they will get one of their two choices, but they might not get both of them. In the weeks leading up to Starville, the students participate in production activities to make crafts that will be sold at Starville. This year, we made pet rocks, duct tape flower pencils, salt-dough ornaments, talking snowmen (on clothespins), and tissue paper flowers.
On the day of Starville, the teachers transform the classrooms into mini stores and the students are given their jobs. Half the grade level works while the other shops, then they switch. There are four 'sessions' of Starville so everyone gets to shop twice. The students are paid $1.50 in plastic money to shop with, good thing most everything costs five to ten cents!
And here's the pictures:
To start, each student applies for a first and second choice job to work in Starville. Each student will work two jobs and we guarantee that they will get one of their two choices, but they might not get both of them. In the weeks leading up to Starville, the students participate in production activities to make crafts that will be sold at Starville. This year, we made pet rocks, duct tape flower pencils, salt-dough ornaments, talking snowmen (on clothespins), and tissue paper flowers.
On the day of Starville, the teachers transform the classrooms into mini stores and the students are given their jobs. Half the grade level works while the other shops, then they switch. There are four 'sessions' of Starville so everyone gets to shop twice. The students are paid $1.50 in plastic money to shop with, good thing most everything costs five to ten cents!
And here's the pictures:
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Christmas Time in Gardner!
Now that it's December, our room needed the turkeys gone and the tinsel up! This week, we decorated and sewed together stockings. It will go along with our Old Fashioned School Day/ Christmas Celebration later this month. The students are also asked to bring in some stocking stuffers for their classmates (candy, pencil, eraser, gum, etc.). They will get to open their stockings as a part of our Winter Party the last day before break. I love the way the add some holiday spirit to our classroom!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Postcard Surprise
After reading A Pen Pal For Max, our class discussed the parts of a friendly letter. We wrote thank you letters to staff members at our school to practice.
We are taking our letter writing one step further with creating postcards to our parents. The students drafted a short letter to their parents and drew a wintery scene on the other side. I will mail these postcards closer to winter break. It will be a nice surprise for the parents to get a message in the mail from their child. With the three weeks between now and then, the students might even forget about writing them!
We are taking our letter writing one step further with creating postcards to our parents. The students drafted a short letter to their parents and drew a wintery scene on the other side. I will mail these postcards closer to winter break. It will be a nice surprise for the parents to get a message in the mail from their child. With the three weeks between now and then, the students might even forget about writing them!
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