On the first day of school, both Mrs. Dalton's homeroom and Mrs. Stasney's homeroom classes spent time together learning our 3 expectations for the year: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Have Self-Control! We read books about these topics, watched videos about them, and the kids created and acted out skits!
On the second day of school, we started talking about team work, working together, and figuring out how to solve "small problems" that come up when we work in groups. The kids were given a set of materials (one ruler, 3 feet of masking tape, scissors, and two pieces of construction paper). They were challenged to work as a group to create the longest paper chain they could with only those materials!
We soon began talking about our math workshop rotations and practiced each one! Our rotations include stations with partners, teacher table, iPads, and independent work. The kids stay engaged in math tasks and get to engage in the social aspect of learning at the same time!
Our first science unit each year is about science safety and science tools/equipment. We did some demonstrations with all of the classes to discuss safety.
It was time to kick off our annual Boosterthon fundraiser! We had a great time at the pep rally!
We learned about describing the physical properties of matter in science! We used our senses to describe matter (a Jolly Rancher!). We then measured the mass of various items using a pan balance. We also tested the magnetism and buoyancy (sink or float) of the items. Look at these scientists hard at work!
The third gradesr reached every goal and incentive we set for them with their Boosterthon fundraising! We ended up the top grade level for the whole school!