Chris Van Allsburg Author Study

 Our class has been immersed in the works of Chris Van Allsburg! The well-known author and illustrator has intrigued and inspired us with his mysterious stories and illustrations. 

We are looking forward to a very special viewing of The Polar Express, to wrap up our unit. The boys and girls are so excited to see this beautiful story come to life!

One of our favorites!

Fun Fact: Students were excited to learn that Chris Van Allsburg resides in Beverly, Massachusetts!

In our opinion, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is by far his most mysterious book! Students are writing their own stories, inspired by the amazing artwork, titles, and captions in this book. 

We will be sharing those with you soon!

Have your child tell you how this book came to be!

Some of our favorites!

Discussions about author's craft, theme, as well as comparing a wide assortment of literature written by this outstanding author are just a few of the lessons we've shared. 

Chris has only written ONE nonfiction book. Can you guess which one it is?

For more information about Chris Van Allsburg, visit his site here:

Chris Van Allsburg

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Here is a peek at what we've been up to today!

Our "Thanksgiving Tree Forest"

Some very important things to be thankful for!

Today was Crazy Hat Day!

Homemade butter, just like the Pilgrims used to make!

Shopping for Thanksgiving dinner!

Also, here is a link to "My Life as a Turkey". This is a fascinating look into the life of a man who raised wild turkeys from babies. We have been reading nonfiction articles about wild vs domesticated turkeys. Students have been comparing and contrasting the information as well as using evidence in their written responses to questions.

We saw some clips in school, but you may watch the whole things at home. It sparked some interested conversations about animals. We are looking forward to beginning our animal unit in science, this spring.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-full-episode/7378/

Pumpkin Exploration

Students really enjoyed exploring pumpkins last week! They were able to use math and science knowledge to investigate pumpkins in a variety of ways. 

Thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers!

Pumpkins float!

There were hundreds of seeds in this little pumpkin!

Predicting the number of seeds required some deep thinking.

Finding the circumference was a challenge!

Jack o' Lanterns!

Happy Halloween!

Sixth Grade Buddies

We were very excited to be able to work with our Sixth Grade Buddies from Ms. Stewart's class.

The Sixth Graders have been creating handmade geography books with Ms. Boyle, which they were able to share at our recent visit. It was a fun collaboration between the students!

We were very impressed with the beautiful artwork and informative definitions!

What's Happening in Room 9?

There has been so much going on already in third grade! 

Reading our blog posts at home can be a great opportunity to talk with your child about what is happening at school. There is so much to share each day!

Our Class Pledge

 

 

 

Busy at the Smartboard

 

 

 

 

 

 

Math Centers in Action

 

Gross Motor Brain Break with Go Noodle

 

Check out the link here:

www.gonoodle.com

Our First Mystery Reader

A Wonderful Year!

Great Expectations

It's time to say "Good-Bye."

Our year has come to an end.

We've made some cherished memories

With all our third grade friends.

We've watched each other learn and grow

And change from day to day.

We hope that all the things we've done

Will help along the way.

So it's with happy memories

We all go out the door,

With great hope and expectations

For what next year has in store.

Third Grade

2013-2014

I will miss you!

Love, Mrs. Estella

* poem adapted from "Rainbows Within Reach "

Quack! Quack!

Have you heard about our feathered family?

A mother duck and her 13 ducklings are living in our courtyard, and we are lucky enough to have a front row seat to view the excitement. 

The school is having a duck naming contest to celebrate!

Mother Duck

This is actually the second year this mother duck has visited the Spofford Pond courtyard. 

Last year, her ducklings fell into the storm drain, which is now safely covered up. 

Thankfully, Mr. Whiteneck was able to come to their rescue. He safely scooped the ducklings up with a net and they were free to line up and follow their mother around, like good little duckings do. 

Of course, the next problem was how to get them to the pond across the street. Since the mother kept leading her duckings to the door, a few teachers had the idea to open it up to see if they would follow her through the hallway and out toward the pond. They did! 

It was a happy ending to an exciting adventure for the ducks and the school!

Four Camouflaged Duckings

We are hoping that this year the story will have a similar ending. 

Stay tuned...

Bone by Bone

Third Graders enjoyed a special presentation today. 

We would like to thank to Mrs. Ashmore-Davis for organizing this fun event!

A local author, Sara Levine, came to share her book, Bone by Bone.

The boys and girls participated in fun hands-on activities and learned about the similarities between animal and human bones. 

 

Do you know that a giraffe and human have the same number of vertebrae? 

The only difference is that the giraffe's are MUCH bigger!

Turtle Talk

We had a special visitor today! 

Jeannie the Turtle dropped by to teach us a little bit about reptiles, with the help of her care-takers. 

 We got a close peek at her shell, learned about her diet, (Crickets are her favorite!) and found out she is over 30 years old! 

 

 We loved seeing this beautiful reptile up close!