A lot of exciting things happened this past week in our class. A few weeks ago I started to teach my portion of the space unit: Multimedia Presentations. Students were placed in groups (or pairs) and each group was assigned a research topic involving space. I wanted the students to have a few different presentation options to choose from so they could either create a video, a Prezi (an interactive slide presentation), or a Glogster (a digital poster). They worked extremely hard on their research and were excited to get started on their presentations. The students will be presenting their multimedia creations with their parents and other family members next week. It's going to be a fun learning experience for everyone involved!
Researching!
The students gained so much by developing the research on their own. This type of project-based learning (that suits their interests and incorporates technology) gives the students the skill set and the desire it takes to become lifelong learners.
My favorite part about this past week in Mrs. MacInnes' classroom was our Skype session with Dr. Jim, a veterinarian from Hope, Maine. He started a program called "Hope Elephants" where he provides a home for injured and aging elephants. We had so much fun learning about the two elephants, Opal and Rosie, who are currently living in a beautiful facility (with heated sand and all) in Hope, Maine. We even got to see them up close and personal throughout the entire session! Some of the third grade students have been researching animals and zoos/the circus. They wrote argumentative essays either defending zoos or opposing them because of poor treatment of animals. Elephants were a hot topic in their essays, so what better way to expand their learning experience than by having a Skype chat with live elephants?
Dr. Jim met Rosie and Opal when they were babies. He and his brothers were jugglers in the circus and the elephants were part of the show. Now that both elephants are unable to perform tricks, they are retired. Thanks to Dr. Jim, they are now treated like princesses! The elephants and their facility are open to the public for visits; it would be so neat to take a field trip there sometime! To learn more about Hope Elephants, you can check out their website here.
This past week in math we learned all about polygons! Since the kids were required to memorize a large amount of vocabulary, I decided a fun song was overdue... so (naturally) I found a song about polygons sung by a man with a quirky British accent. You can check it out below. Disclaimer: It will get stuck in your head and drive you crazy... you've been warned.
The end doesn't have a good moral, it's pretty terrible actually (getting plastic surgery so you're no longer "just a boring square" is not the message I meant to send to the kids) but it was funny and went right over their heads.
Daily 5
This week we also did "Daily 5" during our literacy block. During this, the kids always do such a great job staying quiet and on task (it's a relaxing time for everyone). Also, my mentor teacher has many fantastic Word Work activities and tools, it's impressive to say the least. I took some photos of the kids at each station. Daily 5 is definitely something I plan to implement in my own future classroom, and thanks to Mrs. MacInnes I have a few ideas to get me started!
Station 1: Read to Self, books from leveled book folders
Station 2: Read to Someone
Station 3: Work on Writing (these girls spent their time writing "Acts of kindness" which I later found out they were writing for me... I posted them below!) Their kind words really meant a lot to me.
:)
Station 4: Word Work (This kiddo is doing letter stamping)
Station 5: Listen to Reading
Polygon/Line Segment Scavenger Hunt!
Earlier in the week, I created a scavenger hunt for the kids to do around the school. They were to find different objects that are polygons, line segments, parallel, etc. I wanted to get them out of their seats for a change and make things a bit more hands-on. I am also a firm believer that it is important for students to take the math they are learning in the classroom and apply it to the real world. They had a blast finding the different objects and, for many of them, their understanding of the concepts suddenly "clicked." Scavenger hunts are always an adventure! Luckily things didn't get too crazy since we had a few extra adults handy so we could split the kids up into groups to walk around separate areas of the school.
