Bring on Testing Season!! :)

This year, our class has worked so hard and we have learned SO MUCH!!  I am very proud of each and every student in my class this year.  We have had lots of fun learning together and during the month of March we will get to prove our learning by showing what we know on the ISTEP test! Of course, we decided to throw in a little bit of fun to go with our serious preparation..... :)


Right before the big day, we had "Rock Star Day" !! Of my goodness!! Was it a hit!  The students {and teachers} got to dress as Rock Stars for the day.  It was so fun! The students wrote poems about a topic that we had learned this year, and then performed the poems at our Rock Star Concert.  Of course, Pop Rocks were served at this event.  :)  It was a really fun way to get everyone pumped up and excited to "Show What They Know"!  :)  Here are some pictures:

My awesome third grade team....I was probably a little too excited about busting out my hair extensions from my wedding!! Ha! :)


And here are the awesome third grade "Rock Stars"!!!!
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The kids had so much fun, and I think it really helped ease some test taking jitters!! Below is a fun activity for preparing for the written portion of the standardized test!! :)

This little lady, whose real identity will remain anonymous, is who our class deemed as "Mrs. ISTEP", the lady who grades the ISTEP test. We thought this is how she might look like before she had the chance to read about all of OUR AWESOME ISTEP answers.  We printed her picture and the students have been brainstorming ways that we can "charm"  Mrs. ISTEP and make her our new friend.  

We created this chart together.  For number four, we have talked a lot about using  SMART answers.  We have an awesome Reading Coach who came into our room and taught us the following about using SMART answers:

1.  ALWAYS WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES
2. BEGIN BY RESTATING THE QUESTION.
3.  STAY ON TOPIC- CLEARLY ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU WERE ASKED
4. IF ASKED TO GIVE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OR DETAIL- ALWAYS TRY TO GIVE AT LEAST TWO.


 We have been practicing this all year.  The students are doing a great job!  

This was a fun adjective activity.  First, we thought of adjectives that described Mrs. ISTEP BEFORE she read our ISTEP test, and then words that described her AFTER she had read our test.  We also drew before and after pictures.  :)

BEFORE picture 

AFTER picture

President's Day!

To celebrate President's Day, we studied two of our favorites, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We have read MANY books about both men.  I purchased Deanna Jump's Unit- America Math and Literacy Fun.  Click here to purchase your own copy!! It is full of amazing ideas.  I used this unit last year in first grade, but I adapted several of the ideas for my 3rd graders!  They particularly loved the step-by-step drawing of both Abe and George.  Below are a few examples.  They did a GREAT job!

A Visit From a Guest Illustrator!

Today we had visit from guest illustrator, Joni Walker!  She is a resident of  Columbia City and has illustrated several books.  She taught us about what she does to improve her artistic skills by practicing her drawing EVERY DAY!  She then walked us through a step- by- step penguin drawing! They turned out great! 

Remember to draw lightly with your pencil.  

It was fun to learn how to make the penguin look like it was walking! 

To make our work look nice and neat we outlined everything with a Sharpie marker! 

And finally, we colored in our work.  

Groundhog Day!

I love Groundhog Day!!  My class was so excited to participate in all of the activities of the day!  Thank you to Cara at The First Grade Parade for sharing your creativity!! The activities in this post are all from Cara's Groundhog Day Unit. She has been such an inspiration to me over the past year. Here blog has challenged me to continue to develop new ways to implement curriculum in a way that is standards-based, encourages deep thinking and makes learning....FUN! Pick up a copy of Cara's unit here.  :)  All of her units are incredible!!

We had a fun-filled day completely devoted to the one and only- Punxsutawney Phil!

We started our day off with a graph...."Will the Groundhog See His Shadow?" 

The students made their own graphs.

Then it was time to analyze our data.  Unfortunately, Phil DID see his shadow.....6 more weeks of winter for us! :(

We watched the video of Phil's weather forecast to check our own predictions.

Reviewing adjectives, nouns and verbs. 

In Reader's Workshop, we read, Wake Up, Groundhog! by Susanna Leonard Hill.  For our Readers' Response today, we talked about how groundhogs hibernate and they would miss many of the events that we celebrate during the winter.  Each student wrote a letter addressed to Punxsutawney Phil to tell him about some of the events he missed while he was asleep. :)

For our pre-writing activity, the students developed a timeline of several events in their lives from                                  October- February 2nd.

One student's letter to Phil.  

Happy 100th Day!!

Happy 100th Day!!  What a fun day in 3rd grade!  The students had the choice to either dress up as a 100 year old, or wear 100 things! I love this student's outfit!  :)

 These guys decided to sport a $100 bill.  :)

The students traveled to several stations during the morning. 

I purchased the unit "100th day of School:  If I lived 100 years ago" by Teach123, and it was a great unit!  At this station, the students used Ipads to research important events that occurred 100 years ago in 1912. We found several interest facts...the South Pole was discovered and the Titantic sank on its fateful voyage.  The students had a great time!                                                                                                                                        

Next up- the Physical Activity Station!!  100 jumping jacks, 100 situps, 100 bunny hops and 100 seconds of jogging in place!! Whew!!  100 seconds to sit and rest! :) 

A "Smart Cookie"  craft. Inside the students wrote about what they did not know on the first day of school and what they have learned at this point in the year!  

                                

A fun 100th day glyph. Click here for a free copy. 

A Readers' Theater about the 100th day of school...and.....finally... Party Time!!!! We ate cookies with decorated with "100" and popped 100 balloons!  What a day!  

Happy 100th Day of School!