Over and over again the 3rd grader teachers were told the following from the O’Gara staff, “These are great kids!” It’s true, they are.
Our Field Trip to O’Gara Orthodontics
Tag: 3rd Grade
Engineering Air Drop Packages
Today we started our newest engineering design challenge. This was the introduction and we worked with different materials to determine what would best protect a fragile package (farfalle pasta). We’ll experiment with different strategies based on a scenario in which students have to engineer “air drop packages” that can be dropped from an aircraft that protects contents and be easy to find, once they hit the ground.
The engineering kit we are working with came from a DonorsChoose project.
Valentines 2019
Thank you families for organizing our Valentines Celebration. It included a photo booth, several Minute to Win It games, and fun foods. After two consecutive days of indoor recess, I think taking the hour we did for a series of fun activities was clearly welcome.
Philosophical Chairs Discussion
Can too much screen time get in the way of friendships? Or does playing games and being online create friendships? This was the focus of our Philosophical Chairs Discussion (PCD).
We spent two days reading and annotating a text around the topic. We then used the PCD protocol. Specifically, students divided themselves into groups who believed screen time got in the way of friendships, students who disagreed with this, and classmates who were neutral. As students presented their arguments, they could move from one group to another based on how persuaded they were.
Composing an Enchanted Land
Students finished their Enchanted Lands following several days making careful observation of art by Albert Bierstadt, Erik Johansson, and Salvador Dali; learning about foreground, mid-ground, and background; studying setting and magical elements; and how to use paint and collage to build out their piece of art.
First Day Back Following Winter Break
We got a lot done, following our three weeks of Winter Break. We compared unit fractions, wrote narratives with rising action, built background knowledge with the application EdPuzzle, and identified “One Word” for 2019. It was a great day of learning.
The White Elephant Game Exchange
Great fun! The students brought in wrapped board and card games for our white elephant gift exchange. Following the exhange, peers taught each other how to play the games.
Holiday Celebration, 2018
We had a great time with our 2018 holiday celebration. Our classroom Room Parents created an experience that kept the kids engaged for well over an hour with a Christmas themed relay race, an elf ornament, spiced orange pomander balls creation station, and a snowman wrap race. This was followed by lunch.
Thanks to all the parents, and grandparents, who helped with this by volunteering hours and food.
Field Trip to Learn about Arthropods
Great day for a field trip and a chance to learn more about arthropods in our neighborhood and habitat. Educators from the Truckee Meadows Parks led the effort and had students use aspirators, beating sheets, and a great deal of persistence to locate and draw insects into a tube. In turn, students ran a tally of what they found to learn what is most common in our area.
As always, thank you parents for all of your help.
Using the Pro Se Court Discussion Strategy
Our first Pro Se Court was a success. A Pro Se Court has students acting as plaintiffs, defendants and judges. In this case, a third of the class had to argue about the cons of zoos, the plaintiffs. A third of the class outlined the pros, the defendants; and the rest of the students acted as judges.
We spent part of the week reading about the pros and cons of zoos from four different perspectives. We annotated text and highlighted the most relevant evidence from each text. This is what allowed all students to be prepared for our Pro Se Court.
We had seven different judges and they ruled 5 to 2 in favor of the defendants.
