Penguin Models...Wow!

Ok, so I am officially impressed.  When given the challenge of creating a model of a penguin that's not even due until next week, you guys have already turned this in??? Today I received posters, pictures, a diorama, and paper mache penguins.  WOW!

Penguins and Antarctica

     Great job reading this week room 407 families!  Keep up the good work!

     Don't forget that our first family activity (Antarctic animal report) is due Monday.  I have already received quite a few and they look really great!  Stuck on an idea for an Antarctic animal?  Check out some of the websites below for more information:

Sounds of Antarctica Website

Animals Found in Antarctica

National Geographic Images of Antarctic Animals

Interesting video about Antarctic research and animals:

What did we do in science class today?

     Hey, third grade thinkers!  Take a look at the pictures below.  Can you explain to your parents or other family at home what WE did in science today...?

Compare and Contrast: M&Ms and Skittles

As you know, we have been working on the very important skill of comparing and contrasting.  That is the say, to analyze how two things (items, characters, books, events, etc.) are alike and different.  This is an important skill to have when reading anything critically, in literature or informational text.

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to analyze M&Ms and Skittles.  The students were very engaged in exploring these two candies!  They began with their own individual investigations, met with their teams to discuss further, and finally all the teams came together and we created one, big Venn diagram.

Once we had all of this information organized and in front of us, we took it to the writing process.  We wrote some wonderful paragraphs focusing heavily on a topic sentence supported by details.

(And of course, enjoyed a tasty snack while we wrote.)

:)

Math Time: Tetrominoes and Area

Yesterday, we played a game called "Tetrominoes."  To begin, we had to figure out how many different ways we could connect 4 of our linking cubes being sure all would lay flat.  We discovered that there are 5 ways that we could arrange the blocks and named each configuration:

It was important the students understood that each shape was the same whether it was flipped or turned.

(Putting these together reminded me immediately of a video game I played as a child.  Surprisingly, several of the children had heard of it too.  Tetris!  (click on the word to play!) )

  

Today, I posed the question, how do we measure a rectangle?  There are several ways that we could answer this question.  Up to this point, the students would measure it by perimeter, length, or width.  Today, we introduced the concept of measuring a 2-D shape by its area.  To grasp this concept and reinforce how area is measured in square units, we covered this paper rectangle with cubes and our tetromino shapes we built the day before:

The area of the rectangle drawn on this piece of paper is 80 cubes, or 80 square units.  The students discovered that 80= 8x10, which sounds a lot like the arrays we made last unit.  I love seeing them make these connections!  Great job, third grade thinkers!!

Our One School One Book Mystery Book is...

  

The fact tracker: Penguins and Antarctica!

We had an awesome all school assembly for the big reveal.  Be sure to do your reading and the attached family activities.  There could be a sweet treat involved if you do!

And practice the Sid Shuffle!  Enjoy!

One School, One Book is coming back!!!

     On Monday, something very exciting is happening here at Maple!  We've watched our three video clues and are beginning to guess what our next, secret book could be!  Can you guess...?

Click on each link to view the clues!  Leave any guesses in the comments.

Clue #1

Clue #2

Clue #3

Good luck!  We are so excited!  Parents, you play a very big role in this so stay tuned!

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. H :)