Raney's Rock Stars: Week 18, 19, 20

I have no idea where January went! My apologies for not posting on our blog more frequently. This month seems to be just flying by. This month we have been working on many things.

In math, we have begun to take a closer look at fractions. Students have been working with unit fractions, a fraction such as 1/2, 1/3, 1/4. These are fractions with 1 as the numerator. From here, students have been adding fractions together, such as 1/3 + 1/3 = 2/3. We have also been working on measuring with various units, such as mass, liquid volume and the length of objects. Students have been comparing milliliters to liters, cups to quarts to gallons, grams to kilograms and centimeters to meters to kilometers.

In reading, students have continued to work in various WIN groups. During these guided reading groups, students have been reading a variety of text at their reading level and focusing on things such as author's intent/craft, inferencing, predicting and using context clues to solve unknown words.

In writing, students finished an informational piece. Each student chose a different topic they felt they were an expert on. Students worked to create a table of content to organize their writing. Students then wrote about each subtopic.

This week students also began working with Growing Change students from Dartmouth College. Their focus was on energy: various sources of energy, how energy works, and why energy is important. They will continue to work with us for the next four Wednesdays.

Finally, we have been having a wonderful time exploring our outdoor classroom on Fridays. The vast changes happening all around us have created opportunities for new growth, and exploration. We have begun journaling our experiences as a closure to our outdoor time. Students have shown a great deal of growth in their writing abilities since the beginning of the year.

Once again, I apologize for the delay in my blog post. I hope 2019 has been off to a good start for you as well. My goal is to get back into the swing of things and post weekly.

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 17

This week was full of projects, fun, and kindness. I hope you all enjoy the many projects created by your children this week. I want to take a moment this week to thank each and every family for your kind words, supportive ways and strong commitment you have to your children. I feel incredibly lucky to work with such wonderful families and teach these children. I hope you spend the next week enjoying time together and reflecting on this past year of growth! I can't wait to see everyone back in 2019!

Finished the week with the High School Choir caroling through our halls. 

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 16

This week has been full of wonderful moments. We began our week continuing to add to our informational writing pieces. To help students better understand how to structure their writing into subtopics and categories. We took the topic of our school and broke it into subtopics. From here, students rotated around the room in groups and added all they knew about the subtopics. It was great to see students work collaboratively during this time. In math, students learned the standard algorithm for both addition and subtraction. We are still in the early stages and have yet to borrow across the "0"'s, but students were very excited to learn this system of adding and subtracting. In Science this week, we continued to learn more about animal heredity and how animals have changed over time. Students looked at the characteristics of dinosaurs and how they closely related to those of reptiles. To finish out our week, we received some wonderful news...Our DonorsChoose.org project was fully funded! I cannot say enough of how extremely excited I am to have brand new iPads for our 3rd graders to use while in the forest. It is going to add a whole other element to our experiences and cannot wait to share those experiences with you.

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 15

This week was filled with culminating learning events. To begin the week, a load of wood was provided for our Forest Classroom. This load was delivered to the blacktop and we had to get it to our forest classroom. This is quite a way! All 21 students work collaboratively and problem solved what was the best way to get the wood done to the woods most efficiently. Through trial and error, slipping and falling, they came up with a great plan and really worked as a team. The wood is now all where it needs to be. 😃 This week we finished our second math unit. The focus on this unit was an introduction to multiplication. Students have been working with area models and through the use of arrays, really seeing multiplication as repeated addition. On Wednesday, all third graders were fortunate enough to visit Second Grade as they presented their first project, answering the question, "What can we do to help protect Monarch Butterflies?" It was wonderful to see the second-grade projects, as well as observe how thoughtful and invested our third graders were to their fellow DBS members. On Thursday, we had a day filled with fun! The field trip to the HOP was amazing! We had a wonderful time watching a circus act perform with a mechanical twist. Yesterday was also our Winter Concert. It was wonderful to see all of their hard work over the past few months come together last night in such a beautiful way. Today we will venture out in the woods, looking for signs of animal life and pick our favorite "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree.


Questions to spark conversation:
-What were some challenges of getting the wood to your forest classroom this week? How did you persevere through those challenges?
-How was your field trip? What part of the performance did you like the best?
-How did the man at Cirque Mechanics get his suitcase to stay in one place?
-What song was your favorite song from the concert and why?
-Where did Seesaw get its name from?
-Can you explain a little more about your Seesaw post this week?

Feeling strong after hauling all of that wood!

Signing Thank You cards to our amazing donors! There is still time to donate to our project!

Listening to 2nd Graders' presentations

All School Recess Friday Morning

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 14

What a busy week!  We started off with our gingerbread extravaganza.  Our 3rd-grade Otters used teamwork to create a unique gingerbread house.  This project seemed to kick off our holiday spirit!
In math, we worked hard to strengthen our understanding of multiplication through number puzzles, math games, and patterns in the multiplication table.  In reader's workshop, students continue to build on their voice, fluency and comprehending their text on a deeper level.  In writer's workshop, our non-fiction teaching books continue to grow. Students have chosen topics they feel they are "Experts" in. Students are writing more chapters and thinking about what makes a good introduction.  On Thursday, we enjoyed a visit from the AVA Gallery. We will be participating in their AVA Galley: Young Art Detectives program. Mrs. Shimko came to our classroom and taught us about some of Hartford's history. We focused on the Flood of 1927, and students created beautiful illustrations of the flood and what it might have looked like in Hartford at that time. We ended our week in the forest with more team building activities and exploration in the snow. 

Week 13: A Very Quick Week

We ventured into a new space in the woods for a special treat on Tuesday before vacation! 

Students built skyscrapers! We're focusing on creating multiplication arrays. 

Check out those windows!

We had "snow" much fun outside on Tuesday. 

Reaching new heights