Amazing Day of Learning with KidWind!

Noah and Dorian racing boats using wind energy that they made sails for out of construction paper.

I hope the students who participated in the KidWind Challenge last Friday had a chance to tell you about how wonderful it was!  I, along with the people from KidWind and Mrs. Sovereign, were amazed about how much effort and learning the students put into creating their wind turbine!  They were all so focused and involved!

There was a lot of tough competition.  At the end, three of our 3B students placed in the top 10.  They were Jacy, Jasmin, and Abriana!  Their team placed 4th out of all teams when their wind turbine was measured for speed and energy produced.  Nice job ladies!  The girls each received a tshirt from the people at KidWind!

This was part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) grant that grades 3-5 and kindergarten received at the beginning of the year.  Students have been learning about wind energy as well as wind turbines themselves.  All their learning was then applied to a Challenge activity, if they chose to enter.  Congrats to all students in 3B who entered and tried their very best.  I am proud of each of you!

Using power produced from pedaling to race cars.

Those students not involved in the Challenge did get some time to go through some stations and experiment with wind energy, human energy, and other activities/stations set up by the people from KidWind.  It was a super way to end a fantastic week!

Arbor Day Fun!

Hopefully you have found a spot for the wonderful tree each student received last week at our Arbor Day field trip!  I shared with the students how each of my children, Elyse, Alex, and Kirstin, still have their trees from 3rd grade growing around our house.  Students were amazed with that.  They were very excited to get the trees home and decide where to plant them.

We had a wonderful day, chilly at times, but wonderful learning about all sorts of things.  Trees, plants, animals, and water were just a few.  We even saw a dinosaur throat!!! (ask your 3B student about it).  :)

Super Job on Vehicles with Simple Machines

The students did an outstanding job with their vehicle creations as a wrap up to our science unit on simple machines!  I was very impressed!  Abbey's car won for both speed down the ramp as well as distance before it stopped!  Nice job Abbey!  We also had a separate division as some of the cars were built with motors and that was very cool!  Carter put a lot of time into his vehicle and had a motor ran by batteries attached.  His car really flew down the ramp!  Obviously, that car won for speed and distance overall.  Hannah and Noah H. made their cars out of legos but have pull back wheels so we will race their vehicles today to determine who is the winner.  Hannah won for speed last week, but we will see if she wins for distance.

Nice job all of 3B!  It was a fun way to wrap up a unit.  I will be sending home the assessment sheet for  each student by Wednesday.  I hope they had as much fun building them as we had racing them and discussing simple machines!

KidWind Challenge Day....Friday

I know everyone has heard from their 3B friend or student about the fun we are having making wind

turbines!  It has been wonderful, and the students have learned a ton!

To wrap up our study of wind energy and wind turbines, the company itself, KidWind, is coming to Cresco this Friday, April 26th to hold a "Challenge Day"!  Along with this, they will have stations set up for kids to experience how a generator works, how to generate human power, moving a sail car, and test how fast wind speed is.  Everyone is very excited!

Students in 3B had the chance to sign up to participate in the KidWind Challenge of creating the wind turbine, blades and all, and testing the speed, seeing who or which team makes the turbine that creates the most energy.  I am excited that a lot of students have showed interest in signing up to participate in the "Challenge" itself.  They will be given a box of blade materials and decide how to make the best set of blades, competing against others.  I am not sure if all will be able to participate, as I am unsure if there is a limit, but I will let them know soon!

Arbor Day Field Trip....Thursday!

I wanted to let everyone know that all third graders in the district will be taking a field trip out to Vernon this Thursday.  We will be traveling to the Nature Center where the students will rotate through stations learning about wildlife, water cycle, plants, and so much more.

Important things to note: 
1.  Students do NOT need to bring their own lunch that day.  Sack lunches will be provided by the district.  If your child brings a sack lunch to school once and a while, please do NOT send a sack lunch with them on this day as one was already ordered for them.
2.  The field trip will be from 10 AM to 2 PM.  If you, for some reason, need to reach your child during that time, please call the school and have Linda contact me, Mrs. Kerian.
3.  Because of the current weather ups and downs we are having, we are asking that students do not wear shorts or capris because we will be walking outside in taller grass.  I would also recommend all students wear tennis shoes.
4.  Students may bring hats to wear as wear as well.
5.  If your child burns easily, I would suggest putting sunscreen on them before heading to school that day.  Better to be safe than sorry.

If you have any questions, feel free to call.

MAPs Testing, Book Orders, and Behavior

I am beginning to wonder if spring is ever going to show sunshine.  This rain and colder weather is just ugly.  Let's just cross our fingers the sun decides to shine sooner than later as we all could use a little sunshine in our lives.  

The students took their first MAPS test last week.  This is the assessment students in the district take twice a year.  It is done on the computers with unlimited time given for students to complete the various test.  Students in 3rd grade take three tests: reading, language, and math.  Last Thursday, students in 3B took the reading assessment.  I was pleased with the effort from most, and a little disappointed in the effort in some.  We continue the assessments Monday and Tuesday of this coming week.  Please remind your 3B student to try their very best, as always, and get plenty of rest the night before.

With this, the 3rd grade teachers have been given permission from the Food and Fitness Committee to do a little "reward".  If the student's score on their MAPS test goes up in one of the three test given, they will earn a sugar cookie from the Cresco Bakery in the form of a star!  If they go up in two of the tests given, they will get to add yummy frosting.  And....if they go up in all three tests, they get to add sprinkles, little candies, and have a juice box!   Wonder how many students are going to go up in all three?  I am hoping lots!!!!  

I am sending book orders home today.  They are due Friday as I would like to get them in so they get sent back to us quickly.  Please remember to make the checks out to me, Mrs. Kerian, so that I can order them online.  If you send a check made to Scholastic, I have to mail the order in and that takes longer.  Thanks!

A big thank you to the parents for their support and comments about behaviors that have been popping up in 3B.  The response from the letter sent home last Wednesday was very positive and appreciative so thank you.  Feel free to continue to contact me with questions or concerns about how your child's behavior is going.  I saw big improvements towards the end of the week, which was tough because of the gloomy weather and rain.  We still had some issues with getting homework done, but we are making improvement.  

Enjoy the rest of the week!  I hope we run into Mr. Sunshine along the way.  

More Kid Wind Opportunities

The students have been learning a lot about wind turbines!  Last Wednesday, we spent the morning learning about pitch and the various parts of the wind turbines.  Students had the chance to create their own wind blades, attach them to a hub, and see how fast they could get them to blow on a wind turbine.  Some students had success immediately but had to go back and figure out how to make them go faster.  Some students did not have success right away and needed to apply some changes.

We continued our discussion, learning, and application the rest of the week.  I was amazed how hard the students worked at trying to get the "fastest" wind turbine.  You could have heard a pin drop when they were manipulating, cutting, and testing their wind blades.  It was great!  We learned that certain things come into play:  type of material, size, pitch, and number of blades.

Information will be coming home this week about a Challenge Opportunity put on by the Kid Wind Organization.  We are fortunate that they are coming to Crestwood Elementary Friday, April 26th, to hold a Kid Wind Challenge Day.  Great things ahead for 3B!

Super Singers! Great Music Program!

A quick comment about the 2nd and 3rd grade music program held last week.  I was very proud of the students in 3B! Not only did they exhibit great behavior, but they sang their little hearts out!  It was adorable.  There are quite a lot of "super singers" in our 3B family!

And.....everyone looked so pretty/handsome!

Book Clubs Continue and Going Strong

Many groups are on their 3rd or 4th books for book clubs.  Some changes have been made in group members.  Some girls in 3B started their own book clubs independently.  All of the above are wonderful!  Friday, many groups selected their new books to start and the "happiness" in the room was great!  Many groups had some tough decisions and said, "Well, we want to read this one now, and then we want to read that one next.".  Wonderful words to a teacher's ear.

Please remember that your child will usually have reading to do for his/her book club during the week and weekend.  The pages they have to read is decided by their group, not me.  Students are reminded the importance of using their post-it notes to record their thinking and be ready to share their thoughts on "book club" days, which are usually Monday and Friday.

I sent out some Tweets Friday looking for other classes reading some of the books we are so that students can connect virtually as well.  Let's cross our fingers we have some responses soon.

Simple Machine Group Presentations

As you can tell by all the post lately, we have been busy.  Students finished up their small group presentations on a simple machine.  Even with all the days off and loss of science time, the groups did well presenting the basic information about their assigned simple machine.  Not only did they have to do some reading and research, they all had to prepare their presentation and decide what should be done to make a model.  Great learning!

Wheel and Axle

Lever

Wedge

Pulley

Incline Plane

Gear

Screw

Another Great Mystery Skype....Tough One!

We had another super Mystery Skype last Friday with a 3rd grade class from Baltimore, Maryland. (Students did not know where they were from before we started.) The format of this one made it a lot tougher and students had to use a lot more critical thinking to first determine the country, state/providence, and then the city.  The format we used this time was:

1.  Group that went first had to ask the other group a "Yes" or "No" question.
2.  If the answer they received was yes, they returned to their information to narrow down anther question to ask.  If they received a "no", then the other group got control of asking questions until they asked a question in which the answer was "no".

Hunting online for their state

Matthew asking them a question.

The "Map Questers" hard at work.

Students really had to focus in on what was being asked and use that information to eliminate areas on the map as well as use the computer to focus in on finding answers to "yes" questions.  It was tough, but there were a some 3B students who were great critical thinkers and helped us figure out they were in Maryland.  We then determined, by asking questions, that they were in Baltimore.

This bunch, also known as 3B we found out, in Baltimore had a tougher time finding our city/town.  They were surprised at how small our town was compared to their's.  We ended up having to give them a clue.  Eventually they figured out we were in Cresco.  The great part of this activity, besides the critical thinking and map skills involved, was the motivation.  Many students at the Baltimore school gave up their lunch period because they did not want to stop.  They were bound and determined to figure out where we were in Iowa.  Many students in 3B responded that they thought this way of doing the Mystery Skype was "awesome"!

We plan to connect more with this great bunch from Baltimore and build our learning community!  It was so fun!

Haven asking them a question via Skype.

Listening and answering questions they asked us.

They were guessing where we were in Iowa.  

Rappin Out the Place Value Rap

We had a super time (and finally presented) our version of "The Place Value Rap".  Not only was this a fun way to end our week Friday, but many students use the song to help them review and work through problems with place value.  I absolutely love the picture above!  We had a super time!

Great job 3B!  (Video is below!)

Literacy Tech Night 2013

I know I am a little late but better late than never.  :)

Here are some great pictures from our Literacy Tech 2013 night held in March.  The students did a super job showing their parents, family, and friends some of the fun things we do with technology in 3B.

Enjoy!

Is Spring Finally Here?

Well, hopefully the beginning of April is a sign that warmer weather is to come.  The sun is shining and the forecast looks good.  Let's cross our fingers that Old Man Winter decides to find another home for a while.

I hope all of you enjoyed your "spring break".  I ventured with my family to Chicago for a long weekend and had a wonderful time.  The weather was almost 60 there our last day so I was hoping to return to similar weather.  No such luck, but I am not complaining.

The countdown begins now.  Before you know it, June will be here!  3B has a lot to get done before I am "officially" done with these great students (although I hope I am never really done with them).  Here are a few things for the upcoming week(s):
1.  I will be sending your child's math test home tomorrow.  This is a test over decimals and place value.  Please look it over carefully.  I was pleased with how the students did considering most of the skills on this test are "beginning" or "developing" for 3rd graders.  You do not need to return the test.
2.  The month of March was so crazy for us that we did not get our "Place Value Rap" done like we had planned.  I would like the students to bring props (hats, wear hooded sweatshirts, sunglasses, and chains/necklaces etc.) to take the roll of a rapper this Friday.  We will try and get our "Place Value Rap" done and posted for everyone to see.
3.  Students will be presenting their "simple machine" group project this week.  I am anxious to get them presented and see what the groups came up with.  We will then have a final activity used for the assessment at the end of the unit.  Stay tuned for that.
4.  Being I was gone last Thursday, we did not get to use our "effort points" from Iowa Assessments as planned.  We will plan to do that this Friday.
5.  All "Scribble Press" books will be uploaded/linked to the students' blog pages this week.  I thought I could get them done last week, but have a few more to finish up.  Look for them by the end of this week.
6.  Book Clubs will resume on Friday.  Being most groups have finished a few books, we took a break over the holiday weekend and will resume this Friday.

Enjoy the sunshine and have a super week!