Shadow puppets and lung capacity

We had another exciting week of learning. We have continued work on our non- fiction books, practiced large number subtraction strategies, made lung models, tested the capacity of our own lungs, watched beautiful shadow puppet plays, and so much more.

As we are approaching the end of the year, we are working hard on mastering the skills of subtraction. We are practicing different strategies for completing multi-digit subtraction, and well as, working on automaticity with common subtraction facts.

Students are working on creating non-fiction books and the work they are putting onto these is amazing. The are adding different text features, as well as, interesting facts about the human body. These books should be coming home late in the week. It is important to know that many of the sentences students are using in these books are "borrowed" from some non fiction source books, so be ready for some complex reading! Also this "borrowing" skill will allow us to work on crafting our own information from source books early next year.

Speaking of next year, I am very excited about looping with this class. The loop model will allow us to pick up right where we left off, as well as, allow students to feel comfortable from day one. Over this year we have really created a kind and caring community in our class, and while we will allow benefit from a refreshing summer, the community we have will afford a quick start in the fall. If you have any specific questions about this looping model, please contact me so we can chat on the phone, or, preferably, meet in person to discuss it.

On Friday we tested the capacity of our lungs. We did this by displacing water out of containers. This is such an interesting experiment for third graders, and they are always amazed at the capacity of their lungs. Below are some "happy-snaps" of the action:

Man, so interesting, fun, and messy...there was lots of learning, and LOTS of water sloshing.

We also had the opportunity to go see some shadow puppets in Mrs. Knoedler's literacy classes. These show used well know tales, and brought them to life with shadow puppets. They are fantastic and difficult to describe, so I will default to some photos.

These stories featured expert narration from students, as well as masterful puppeteering!

Thanks so much for checking our blog, and, as always if you have any questions,or would just like to chat drop me a line so we can set up a time. -Dave