Thursday, March 21, 2019

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 26

This week may have been short, but it was certainly packed with many sweet moments! Every Friday before we leave, students write reflections on their time in the woods. Some weeks the reflections have a focus, some weeks they do not. During writing time on Monday, students had a chance to look around at some of the beautiful photographs taken by their peers. Based on the photographs, students had to describe what they saw in them. We generated lengthy lists and built on our elaboration board. On Tuesday, students used their creative ideas from Monday to look back on last week's reflections and enhance their own writing. I was impressed with everyone's willingness to dig deeper and add more to their own work.

On Wednesday we ventured into the woods. With frost still on the trees, students explored, collaborated, problem-solved and entered a world of imagination. Several students worked together to build a dam near our swamp bridge. Others found "huge mushrooms" (also known as tinder fungus or tinder conk) high up in a tree and worked together to remove it from the tree. As they worked together to get the conk, many others were deeply involved in a game they have created on their own. Many of you may have heard of the "Jade" game by now at home. I am impressed by not only the intricacy of the game but also their ability to include any new member who wants to join in.

We ended our week with a little buddy-reading to Mrs. Burriss' 1st graders. It was a really proud moment for me. They all showed such CSR behavior towards these students and how much we have grown over the year.

As many third graders would say, it has been a "beautifully, magically, blissful week" in third grade! :-)

Questions to spark conversation:
-What goals have you had recently?
-When do you find it most difficult to be successful with your goal?
-What strategies have helped you most this year?
-Looking back on third grade, what are you most proud of and why?
-Thinking about the end of third grade, what do you want to accomplish before the end of the year?
















Anna Schneller is interning at DBS for a few weeks as a part of her high school eye-study. We were fortunate to have her with us this week! 







Friday, March 15, 2019

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 25

This week we continued to build upon our understanding of multiplication and division. Students worked with various array models to show their thinking. In science, we finished up our Animals Through Time unit. During writing, we discussed what makes a strong piece of writing. Several students shared their writing with the class. We highlighted what made the pieces strong and provide constructive criticism on what could make the piece even better. In Class Council, we have continued to talk about what is an invisible difference, what are the challenges of these differences and what are the strengths of these differences.

The highlight of our week happened on Wednesday morning! Mr. Fraser (a former 3R parent) and Mr. Yates helped us tap 12 maple trees along out back. Students worked together to hand-drill the holes, tap the trees, hang the buckets and cover them with lids. We hope to collect enough sap again this year to boil our very own maple syrup! Yum!

Questions to spark conversation:
-How many trees did Mr. Yates used to tap?
-How do you know if it's a maple tree?
-What invisible difference do you have and what are the strengths of this difference?
-How can you use multiplication to help you solve a division problem?
-Can you explain your Seesaw post to me?









Friday, March 1, 2019

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 24

This week was our first full week back to school after returning from February Vacation. It felt really nice getting back into our normal routine.

This week marked the beginning of a new math unit, multiplication and division. Using the area (array) model, students broke apart various equations and used what they already knew to help them solve the unknown. We began looking at division and its relationship to multiplication.

In writing, we continued working on our forest reflections as well as finishing up any loose ends to our SBAC practice writing samples. The forest reflections have really ignited students willingness to write more in-depth pieces. I hope you've had a chance to check out our forest classroom website, where you can see a sample of student writing.

In science, we continued learning more about animal adaptations and how things change over time. This week we learned about mosquitoes and how they are considered the world's most dangerous animal; be sure to ask your child why.

Our week ended with a wonderful circus show, performed by many DBS students, including eight 3rd graders. They showed a lot of grit and perseverance throughout the show. We are very proud of their accomplishments.

Lastly, be on the look-out for your Parent-Teacher Conference sign up sheet. It is in students' blue folders today.

Questions to spark conversations:
-What is a Doubles Fact? Can you give me an example of one? 6x4
-What did you notice while in the forest today? What beautiful things did you see?
-How long does it take a mosquito to go from egg to adult?
-Why is warm weather and water important to mosquitoes?
-What was your favorite circus performance and why?