Prepping for the 90-Second Newbery Contest

 

As we prepared to enter the 90-Second Newbery video contest, the children read the book, Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt De La Pena. They created a storyboard for their video, working together and individually on the dialogue that would be used in their presentation of the story. The children also chose to have music play throughout the story. They chose This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, a song they learned to play on their ukuleles during Performing Arts class. To complete the filming, we took a short field trip to downtown Tacoma and filmed around the city. We look forward to editing our video and entering our finished film. 

Independent Passion Projects

A Passion Project encourages students to independently research an area of interest and create a way to share their learning with the class, Presentations included a math game and learning more about bones, cats, and leaves.

Snap Connect Circuits Build Classroom Engineering and Social Skills

Electronic Snap Circuits are a favorite during our math center time. Through exploration building and experimenting, the children have figured out how a circuit works, and how to problem solve connections when not working. They have also figured out that if they add additional batteries and create the shortest circuit possible, the lights will be brighter and the fan will spin so fast, it will fly off its post and hit the ceiling. Collaboration on builds, has encouraged better listening skills, and additional practice with our friendship and social skills. Sometimes it even inspires "The Happy Dance!"

Growth Mindset Posters

Growth mindset describes a way of viewing challenges and setbacks. People who have a growth mindset believe that even if they struggle with certain skills, their abilities aren’t set in stone. They think that with work, their skills can improve over time. 

People with the opposite belief — that abilities are what they are and won’t change — have a fixed mindset. They think their skills won’t improve no matter how hard they try.

The mindsets aren’t set in stone. People may have a growth mindset at certain times and a fixed mindset at others. They may have different approaches to different challenges. And their mindset may change over time.

https://www.understood.org/articles/en/growth-mindset

Art Class Dragon Eye Project

 Ms. Angela's Dragon Eye Art Project using air dry clay, markers and glass "eyes."

The children were very excited to share their amazing Dragon Eyes in circle time!

Fall Story Problems Math Scavenger Hunt

Movement in math is aimed at getting students to use their whole bodies as they learn foundational math skills. It uses the student's whole body to reinforce and strongly connect math facts in the brain. By using multiple paths to implant information into memory, the information is more easily retrieved.

Scavenger hunts allow kids to practice problem-solving in a tangible way. The hunts are self-checking and students learn to take more ownership over their learning, becoming more independent. Students solve a problem, then walk around the room to find their answer. If they cannot find the answer, they know something went wrong. 

 

Everyone is unique & each experience is different – Gloria Steinem

That Gloria Steinem quote perfectly describes our Spangle Squad Third Grade! They are enthusiastic learners and makers, who each bring a different perspective and background to our class community. Their different approaches when problem-solving are evident in all their assignments and activities. Our day is filled with questions, laughter, and many shared stories. They are kind and supportive of one another. They are an amazing class!