Summer Bucket List

My pinterest addiction is in full-swing as the last 3 weeks of school are now upon me. Over the weekend it hit me: There are only 16 school days left....scratch that...15 days now. Oh. My. Goodness. I still have SO MUCH TO DO! I switched out my bulletin board for a more Summer-y feel. I had decorative Chinese take-out boxes that I put to good use, hung some colored yarn up, and pinned keychains to the bulletin board. Students are to draw or bring small items that represent what they will be doing (or hope to do) this summer. They will go in each student's bucket. What they don't know is that I already started them off with a small gift: colored sidewalk chalk:)

While I was walking through the aisles of Michael's, I spotted keychains. This (of course) immediately made me think of a nice end-of-year gift for my students. I picked out tie-dye paper at Michael's and wrote each child's name on it. My husband put them together for me:) When my kiddos saw these this morning, they LOVED it!

Posting Objectives

Here is my newest creation! Obviously, posting objectives is something we should all do, but I hadn't found a way to do it that I liked. I realize it is a little late in the year to finally post my objectives, but hey, better late than never, right?! At least I'll be ready for next year. :) I used my handy Cricut machine to create the letters and posted them on cardstock. There is also another layer of cardstock that each section is glued to in order to make it more sturdy. I love color, so this way works perfect for me! An added bonus is that it doesn't take up tons of space!

Whoa! We're digging these WORMS!!!

I must admit, I do not like holding worms...I like seeing them in my garden because they are so good for the soil, but picking up a worm isn't exactly my cup of tea. However, my discomfort around worms doesn't mean that my students shouldn't get the opportunity to investigate them! My students learned all about worms yesterday. Before introducing our new "friends," each 3rd grade class read the story Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin. My kiddos LOVED this book! There were lots of smiles and laughs throughout the comical story. I also laid out some ground rules, giving each of my students some gummy worms to practice handling a worm safely- no dangling worms allowed! We discussed how to properly hold them so that we do not tire our worms out. Because worms do not have eyes, they have to rely on their sense of touch to move around. Their muscle-filled bodies are hard at work!

Students selected their worm and begin investigating it. They had to "get to know" their worm by naming it and measuring it. Stations were set up to further our worm-filled fun!

 1.) Worm Races! Students raced their worm against another worm. This was a favorite!

2.) Dark paper versus light paper. Most students thought that worms would prefer dark paper, but after disussing how the sun can cause dark colors to become more hot, we agreed that worms would much rather be on a lighter-colored surface.

 3.) Wet paper towel versus dry paper towel. Which one does the worm prefer?

After we were all done with our friends, we put them safely back in their containers. I dug a few holes in my garden and placed them in their new homes :)

Water Whistle Fun!

During one of our science rotations today, students got to make their own Water Whistles! Before telling them what materials we would be using, we brainstormed what we thought a water whistle might be made out of. These answers proved to be quite interesting! ("If you put your recess whistle in water and blow, that's probably what a water whistle is..." or "Stick your face into some water and whistle.")

Then we watched this Steve Spangler video via Youtube-click here to view it. It lays out the whole experiment and is super quick (57 seconds). Students cut a straw partially, bend it, and place it in a cup of water. I had a few students whose whistles sounded exactly like a real person's! They loved this, especially the fact that they could try it at home as well!

Whew! What a Wednesday!

Have you ever heard of an oogly?! That's right, I said oogly! Not only is this fun to say, but students and teachers alike are loving this project! The one and only "Oogly Lady" that visited our school today...boy, were we in for treat! Each third grader got to create his or her very own oogly,which is a clay creation that features a large-headed creature who sits on his/her legs. She provided tools for my students to make hair. Not surprisingly, this was a huge hit for each student! We took individual pictures of students holding their completed ooglys, but I am going to wait until we get them back (she takes them to her studio and fires them in the kiln) to take a class photo.

PLEASE take a look at her website! She is amazing! The Oogly Lady even does birthday parties and summer classes! Learn about Myrna, the artist and creator of oogly, here!

Equivalent Fraction Findings

 To further explore equivalent fractions, my class had a deep discussion about possible combinations of fractions equal to one another. With each fraction strip that was displayed on the whiteboard, we talked about whole numbers (2/2 is one whole) and how the denominator changes with each added strip. One student observed that the denominator was being multiplied by 2 (that was before I placed 1/3 & 1/6 underneath the others). We were able discover lots of different combinations for equivalent fractions for 1/2, 1/4, one whole, etc...

Later, my students worked with their own set of fraction strips and set out to prove their own equivalent fractions. They categorized them by color and fraction. Then I asked them to set their 1/4 fraction piece aside and find as many possible equivalent fractions as possible. After that, they continued finding more equal fractions, which were shared at the end of class.

Science Sounds

What's that sound?! Today, my students began our science investigation for sound.  There were 12 eggs, each filled with a different item. Everyone made a prediction as to what they thought was in each egg. After each student had roamed around the room checking the eggs, we discovered what was inside together. Our biggest surprise was the egg with the thread in it. "There's nothing in this egg!" voiced more than one third grader.