From Space, to Our Community

We concluded our space unit today with a surprise presentation from one of our students in the morning class. Over the weekend, Trevon did some research and learned all about a new planet that is in another galaxy. It was very interesting! Mrs. Owen then showed us a video of something that has been happening in space this month: storms on the sun created a solar flare, which has caused beautiful auroras in the skies around the North and South Poles.

Click here to see these videos and more exciting space videos from NASA.

After our talk of space, we  moved into our next reading unit: Communities Across Time. We are learning all about how communities change. Click here to see some pictures of FSU in the past, and here to see some old pictures of Tallahassee. We looked at these today, and the class thought it was hilarious (and a bit outlandish) how different things are today than they were in the past.

Moon Phases

Here is the moon phase calendar I promised I would post! Have fun looking at the phases from today, the past, and in the future!

Link to Moon Phases

Planet Project

Reading Classes: I hope you all are finding all the materials you need for our planet project. Remember your dioramas are due February 29th!

Here are a few examples of planet dioramas we viewed on the web the day your project was assigned. Remember to have all of the components, and most importantly: BE CREATIVE!

REMINDER!!!

FIELD TRIP MONEY IS DUE

TOMORROW!

The trip cost $12 for each student. We will be going to the

Challenger Learning Center on February 16th!

Sun

We have started a new unit in our reading classes. We are learning about astronomy, or the study of space. Our first story is titled "Sun." We have learned a lot about the sun being a star, and how it affects our lives here on Earth. Our third graders will be doing lots of space activities in both reading and their science classes. Also, if you have not already done so, don't forget to send in your child's money and permission for the Challenger field trip! This trip will be a great extension to what we are learning in school!

I wanted to give you all a sneak peak at "A Different Perspective" of how our Earth's size is compared to the sun, and how our sun is actually a lot smaller than a lot of the other stars we see in the sky. In our story, we learned the reason the sun looks like it is the biggest star is because it is the one that is closest to Earth. But in reality, it is not actually the largest star in our galaxy. We'll be taking a look at this in class tomorrow, but here is a preview!

FCAT Practice

Parents,

As you know, FCAT time is inching closer and closer for our third graders. We have been working diligently in our reading class to make sure we are preparing for our big "Show What You Know" test. You have probably noticed more FCAT Practice papers coming home with your children over the past few weeks. Please be sure you are going over these with your children as much as you can.

FCAT Practice, before the winter holiday, was being taken as a classwork grade. We were doing these together in class, or together in centers. Beginning this nine weeks, that is no longer the case. We are now treating these as tests. This will allow us to get a clear picture of what skills the students need to work on before the big test gets here. We want all of our students to be ready to "Rock the FCAT!"

Here are some things you can expect to look for on your child's FCAT Practice:

• Underlining/highlighting in the story: Right now I am allowing the students to highlight where they find their answers. As time progresses, we will be moving to strictly underlining where answers are found, as students are not allowed to use highlighters on the actual FCAT. If your child is not underlining or highlighting, please make sure you talk with them about this. It is so important for them to get in this habit, as it is proven to improve test scores!
• Circling key words in the questions: Please be sure you are talking with your children about the differences between who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.
• Crossing out answers that are not possible: We have been talking a lot about using the process of elimination to help us determine which answer could be the best choice.
• Making sure all questions are answered: If you see your child has skipped questions, please be sure to remind them to check over their work before submitting it to the teacher. Remind them the FCAT graders from the State of Florida, are not going to come hunt them down so they can complete their tests! :)

Thanks for your help! Be sure to check out the FCAT Tab on the blog, as well. Having your child get on FCAT Explorer is a great (and fun) way to help them prepare as well.

Catching Up!

I hope everybody is enjoying their break. It's been a while since I have had a chance to post to the blog, so I wanted to catch you all up on our school happenings before we left for break.

The last story we read in our reading classes was "The Go-Around Dollar." In this story, we learned all about how money is made and ways the government keeps people from counterfeiting. (Ask your child what that word means. He/She should be able to answer you right away!)

We added a little science to our reading lesson regarding the dollar, and shredded a dollar bill in a blender. Using a super strong earth magnet, we were able to extract some of the iron from the ink in the dollar bill. We learned a dollar bill is made from special paper and special ink, and iron is just one little special element they add to the ink. Our story said if you send a destroyed dollar to the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing, they would replace your dollar bill. We wrote a letter and packed up the shredded dollar, and will see what happens!

We had two very exciting homeroom days before we left for the holidays. Breakfast in PJ's was fun (Thank you Angela's mom and Cyrell's mom for volunteering) and then we made candy cane cards and ornaments our last day in school.

Check out the slideshow to see all of the fun we have had in the month of December!

Create a digital slideshow