50 States - Update

The kids are LOVING our 50 States Postcard Challenge! We are so excited when the mail comes each day to see if we get a new state to add to our collection. We have 39 out of 50 states right now!

50 States - Update

The kids are LOVING our 50 States Postcard Challenge! We are so excited when the mail comes each day to see if we get a new state to add to our collection. We have 29 out of 50 states right now!

I read the book The Little Man in the Map and it has an amazing way to teach the students tricks to learn the states. The day after reading this book, we went over a blank map and my students were able to work as a class to name all 50 states. This is after their states pretest had an average of 9 correct states. My students are able OBSESSED with the Fifty Nifty United States song. I am so proud of my students for how far they've come in learning the states of our nation!

Learning Our 50 States

In 4th grade, our students will be expected to learn all 50 states and their capitals. To get them started, we are introducing the states this spring.  One of the fun ways we are showing off the states is to collect postcards from (hopefully) all 50 states. We are not doing a normal postcard challenge with other schools, but simply asking family and friends to ask their out of state acquaintances to mail our class a postcard.

Here is the information I sent to my parents:

Hi Parents,

We will soon begin our study of the states in our wonderful nation. To add a little fun, we would like to receive postcards from all the states. This is where you come in! Please contact (call, email, facebook.etc.) any friends or family that live in other states and request a postcard. Below is an example request:

 

"Hi there! My child's 3rd grade class is studying the 50 states of our country. They would like to receive a postcard from each state. Please send a state-theme (e.g., Kansas postcard might have a sunflower, California might have a beach) postcard to our class. If you are able, please include a fact about your state on the postcard. Please mail the postcard to Moonlight Elementary, Attn: Mrs. Brown, ___________________. Thank you!"

 

I will update you with which states have come in and which we are still missing. Thank you so much for helping with this fun project!

Mrs. Brown

 

This email went out Monday and we are looking forward to receiving mail from around our nation. We have a map to color in the states we have received a postcard from. Hope to share positive results soon!

The Olympics Are Coming: Tracking Medals

My students were four and five years old the last time the Winter Olympics rolled around so they have a lot to catch up on. They are working in partners to research a Winter Olympic sport. As well, throughout the Olympics, students will track medals won by countries. I looked up the top nine winningest countries in recent Winter Olympics. Then I assigned the students to a country. They colored the flag of that country and we posted their tracking sheets at the front of our classroom. We will look up medal totals each day and update our tallies.

Classroom Maps

After reviewing types of maps and the main components of maps, we created maps of our classroom! First, we had to determine the orientation of our class; basically, which way is north. Then, we discussed how to create a key/legend of the items in our class. The students did a create job of creating these maps!

Landforms & Waterways in North America/USA

At the end of last school year, the 4th grade teachers suggested that we 3rd grade teachers try to add to our social studies instruction. This week, we covered landforms and waterways in North America and the USA. The students had a map on which a find, color, and label well known landforms and waterways while the students see actual maps of these landforms/waterways.

We used this map and worksheet from Home School Creations. I created a powerpoint to go along with each landform and waterway. I would post it on TpT, but I did a lot of googling maps and photos, so it wouldn't pass the copyright test ;)

Here are some of my students' completed maps: