Reading: Determining Importance

Today we introduced our fifth reading strategy: Determining Importance.  To help the girls understand the value of this strategy, we all sat in a large circle outside the classrooms. I told the girls I would be taking a walk this afternoon and needed their help in deciding what I should take with me.  They enthusiastically agreed! I dumped the contents of my purse on the floor and we went through each item. The girls decided the items I should take with me: a license, chapstick, a credit card, gloves, a hair tie, etc. They ruled out unnecessary items: a comb, lipstick, my wallet, a tape measure. I asked the girls to tell me how this activity is like reading. The girls quickly made a connection to determining important parts of a story.

Art: Recording Memories with Cyanotypes

Third graders have been exploring cyanotypes (a form of photography) with Mrs. Hiivala. To experiment with the medium, girls recorded a memory of a place using found objects and cyanotype paper. They shared stories as they arranged materials, made predictions while they waited for the paper to be exposed to the light, and analyzed the results of their experiments. Ask your third grader which memory of a place she chose to record, which objects remind her of that place, and why. 

It's About Time!

 Third graders are learning to measure units of time. 

After carefully analyzing the placement of the hour and minute hand, the girls log onto Think Central using a digital and analog clock to help with the concept of elapsed time and to individually assess their work. 

Missed Moments of Learning

They say a picture speaks a thousand words!  Enjoy these magical moments of everyday learning which takes place in our third grade.

                                                    

 

                                                    

Mrs. Hanley, Mrs. Mills, & Mrs. Rogers

Reading: Questioning

Today we introduced our fourth reading strategy: Questioning. To demonstrate this strategy, I held a rock in my hand and invited the girls to examine it as they passed it to one another.  The girls were told the rock was very special. With very little prompting the girls asked many questions about the rock: “Where did you get it?” “Did your parents give it to you?”  “Is it from an important place?”   “How long have you had it?” “Did you inherit the rock?” Many of the questions asked encouraged additional questions.  I did not answer the questions. We then discussed how good readers ask questions before, during and after reading. I told the girls the rock will be like a book and I would be providing more information about it in the days to come. Of course, they will have lots of opportunities to ask many more questions.

Brush Bot Video

All grades in the Lower School participated in the Brush Bots Winter Olympics.  Here is a compilation video of everyone's hard work.  Enjoy!

Science: Let it snow!

On our second day back after this year's Winter Break, it began to snow in the morning. How convenient it was that the 3rd grade students had just begun their new unit on weather! The girls learned how snowflakes form and looked at some different designs, then headed outside to explore and view some snowflakes for themselves. There were delighted squeals of, "Look at this!" "This one is beautiful!"

Thus far, in this unit, the girls have also learned to read a thermometer and they were delighted to be able to make their own thermometers! We tested them with varying temperatures so that the girls could see how well their creations worked.