Our "Poet-Tree" is Growing!!

In Writer's Workshop, we are writing poetry. Students are publishing some if their favorite poems by cut out leaves, writing poems on the tree and then stapling the poems to our "Poet-Tree!"

Happy 100th Day!

We had such a fun day!! Everyone dressed up like we were 100 years old. The day was filled with fun reading, writing and math activities focused on 100!! We ended the day eating frosted cookies decorated with the number 100 and popping 100 balloons!!!

Polar Bears and Measurement Conversions!

BRRRRR!!!! It is chilly outside here in Indiana!!  The snow outside our classroom window is the perfect backdrop to learn more about polar animals. Below is a fun activity to teach students about polar bears, measurement, and measurement conversions all at the same time!!  We talked about how large a polar bear's paw is--18"x 12"!!!  Each student made a polar bear paw drawn to scale  After looking at our polar bear paws, we estimated the distance to different places in our building.  After we measured the exact distance {by walking our polar bear paws down the hallway! :)}, we could make measurement conversions.  Each polar bear is a half yard in length.  This made it easy to convert "polar bear paws" to yards, feet, and inches.  The students did a great job!!

We confirmed that two polar bear paws measure approximately one yard.

Measuring the distance to the office from our classroom.

                                         

                                              Recording our Measurement  Conversions


                                                       

After our measurement conversions, we also took a closer look at how blubber keeps polar animals warm! This is a simple, yet effective way to show students how blubber keeps animals warm in cold climates.  The first dish is empty.  The second dish is filled with cotton balls and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil.  We placed both cups in the freezer for 20 minutes.  After we took the cups out, the cup filled with cotton balls was almost 30

degrees warmer!! Amazing!!  We talked about how the cotton balls act like blubber to lock in warm air!  

Polar Bear Fact Craft!

Polar Bear Mosaics!

We have had so much fun learning about these amazing animals!! Click below to purchase more activities about polar bears and other arctic animals.   

Click Here to Purchase!! 

Click Here to Purchase! 

ENERGY!

As a STEM school this year, we have many different science opportunities.  This month in third grade, we are learning about energy.  In the pictures below, our STEM coach, Mr. Barkey demonstrates how sound energy travels by making a "telephone" out of cups.  As you can see below, a group of four students joined the telephone and whispered messages to one another.  It was fun for students to experiment with the difference between plastic cups, Styrofoam cups, and tin cans!  He had lots of fun activities to demonstrate all kinds of energy.  It was a great kick off to our unit!!