New Britain Art Museum

We visited The New Britain Museum of Art to see the quilting display as well as tour the museum. Students then had an opportunity to work in the studio to create their own quilt design!

Publishing Party

Wheeler Third Graders participated in a Publishing Party to celebrate the end of our "Crafting True Stories" (personal narrative) writing unit. The event included three presenters who read their stories followed by all students sharing their writing with partners from across the grade level. Students learned how to write a small moment story by telling the action bit by bit and weaving in dialogue and descriptive segments. Hot chocolate with whipped cream and/or marsh mellows was served which was perfect as snow was falling while we gathered for this special event.

Assessment

We've been using the Socrative Program in room 16. This allows me to engage students in a variety of educational activities and use real time responses to instantly assess their understanding of the content. Students complete the quiz or series of questions on the mini ipad and the results are projected on the Smartboard. (Names of individual students are never shown to the group.) A discussion follows every Socrative event where students have opportunities to explain their thinking and respond to their peers.

Miss Barton's Last Day

Friday was Miss Barton's last day. She spent 12 weeks in our classroom student teaching. As you can see from this picture, the kids didn't want her to leave and gave her a group hug along with a goodbye party. The good news is she will be returning to Wheeler shortly as the Wellness Tutor. These third graders are thrilled that they will still get to see her everyday!

Mini ipads

Students use mini ipads several times per day for various assignments or activities. Here students are practicing basic facts using the "Xtra-Math" program.

Native American Research and Projects

We traveled to the Pequot Museum to learn about Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands. The highlight of the trip was the tour of the village depicting life as a Native American in the 1600's in the month of August. We are now continuing our research in school. Third graders are working collaboratively to learn more about Native American shelters, clothing, tools, farming, fishing, and families. Students are reading both print and electronic sources and taking notes. They are using a shared Google Document to enter key information into a table. In addition, they are searching for images that match their topics as they will be creating a movie to share all they have learned this week.

Veteran's Day

We celebrated Veteran's Day with a special ceremony at the start of the school day. Hopefully you were able to join us. We then made poppy flowers out of tissue paper while we discussed the significance of Nov. 11th.

I made a poppy as red as red can be,

To help me remember all who have fought for me!

Last Friday, October 31st, 3rd graders participated in two hands-on experiments that demonstrated the difference between physical and chemical change. These concepts are part of our unit of study on matter.

 

Topic 3

Kids create, type, and solve their own addition and subtraction word problems using Kid Pix. They also draw bar diagrams to illustrate.

Write On

We are collaborating with Mrs. Carnevale's Third Grade Classroom from Toffolon School on a writing project. "Write On" is a collaborative writing project that involves our two classes taking turns writing and illustrating sections of a story. The purpose of this project is to expand writing skills taught during the Writing Workshop while utilizing 21st Century Learning Tools for communication and collaboration. You can follow our story as it develops here or you can access it from the class links page on our classroom website. Just look for "Write On" 2015.

Click here to read our story!http://writeon2015.pbworks.com/w/page/86931916/The%20Story

Matter Matters

The High Touch High Tech Science Program visited us. The hands on 90 minute workshop focused on matter. Specifically, students learned about the three states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases) and physical and chemical changes.

Camp Out

We "camped out" today! Our class earned 15 class (PACK) tickets for excellent behavior and working hard. Students in room #16 brainstormed a long list of prizes and then voted. Students brought sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, slippers, and flashlights in order to set up their camp. They worked in their forts all day. We had two "camp-fires" going. Mr. B, the principal, read a great story to our class by the fire as s'mores were served. He read My Rotten Redheaded Brother by Patricia Polacco which is always a favorite with third-graders. It was a fun day and we look forward to our next special event!

Fall Has Arrived

Here we are! The year is off to a smooth start! We have welcomed each other as well as a new season! We are working hard each day! In math we are estimating sums and differences as well as using strategies to solve multi stepped word problems. Our small moment stories are expanding now that dialogue and description are included. In Reader's Workshop we are enjoying studying characters through Patricia Polacco books. We have learned to prove character traits with evidence from the text. These kids have accomplished so much in the first month of grade 3!

Meet Mrs. A.

Meet Mrs. Anastasas! Mrs. A. is an experienced paraprofessional that has worked at Wheeler School for many years. She will be working with all students in our classroom as well as in other settings in the building. Here is a nice picture of her from August on the Long Island Sound.

Just a few weeks to go!

Ms. Barton (left) and I (on the right) enjoyed some time boating together this summer. We also had fun planning for the first day of school. You probably know Ms. B. already as she was our intern at Wheeler last year and worked in every classroom in the building. She will be a student teacher in our classroom this Fall. We will see you in less than two weeks!

Good books

I have been enjoying lots of good books! I love to read at the beach and on my screened in porch (no bugs!) What have you read so far this summer? Please be sure to keep a list of everything you read and bring it in on the first day of school. It will be fun to share our favorites with grade 3 friends!

Setting Up

It is a 90 degree July day! However, things are looking super "cool" in room #16. I am starting to set up the classroom. It was repainted yellow and blue last summer. Today I am decorating it with a Snoopy theme. I think you are going to like it!

Coming soon!

Hello Third Graders! I am looking forward to meeting you on September 2nd! I have started this blog this summer. Once the school year starts, students will take turns adding posts here to keep everyone informed about the exciting things happening in room #16. Check back often for the updates!