Show and Tell

Last week we had our first show and tell.  Some students brought interesting things from home, some brought valuable treasures, and some brought their talents.  Here are a few pictures...

Sydney explaining the healing power of the aloe vera plant

Kelsie and her bunny

Trey and his popsicle stick creation.  He made this all by himself!

Kathryn and Shelbie sharing their special talents with us.

Connor and his Scooby Doo

Maycee's snowglobe

Kelsey with a picture of her brother and a special military bear that he gave her.

Aaron and the DS game

Molly's wallet from Vegas

Zoe with her zsu zsu hamster.

We had a great time listening to the student's presentations and sharing their special treasures with them.

2010-2011 Meet the Team

We are off to a great start in Mrs. Rachael's class this year.  We have adopted the following mission statement for our classroom:
The mission of Mrs. Rachael’s third grade class is to promote, preserve, and practice Godly principles by learning organization both in the classroom and outside of the classroom.
We are utilizing a sports theme for the year. Please meet the team...

#1 Sydney

# 2 Kelsie

# 3 Steven

#4 Zoe

#5 Kathryn

#6 Trey

#7 Maycee

#8 Connor

#9 Bailey

#10 Aaron

#11 Shaw

#12 Shelbie

#13 Kelsey

#14 Molly

Civil War

We are at war in the 3rd grade!  Not literally, of course...we all love each other.  But we have been studying the conditions that led up to the Civil War.  Today we spent some time on a few activities to get us thinking.

  Students split up into groups of two.  One person in the group represented the Union, while the other person represented the Confederacy.  The scenario was this:  You are best friends and you have been sent to battle.  You are on opposing sides.  Each group was assigned a battle.  They were to research facts about their battle.  They had to write a letter to their friend explaining the battle from their perspective (North or South).  They had to discuss things they agreed with, things they didn't agree with, and fears they may have.  They also made a list of fascinating facts about their battle.

They did an amazing job.  I love the way this group thinks.  They come up with such great information and present it in such unique ways.  We learned about the Battle of Antietam, Shiloh, Fredericksburg, Fort Sumter, and Bull Run.

Caroline and Emma researching

Tatum and Vivian writing their letters

Katey and Karley hard at work!

Caleb decided to sketch a comic strip wuth his ideas about the battle.  Great job!

Asis listing his ideas

John Mark and Abram working on a comic strip.

Carson drawing a battle plan

Christian and Bailey working on the Battle of Shiloh

Random Photos

Carson, Bailey, and Tatum working on a center game

Karley and Asis checking over their final product

Abram and Katey working on soaring synonyms

Caleb, before he realized I was taking a picture

Once he realized the camera was on him, well, you see what happened

Farm Day

I think they may be a little nervous about the turkeys.

Emma and Abram

Christian and Bailey reading

Tall Tales

My wonderful little class has been working so hard lately on their writing skills. They have tried to be patient as I teach them the steps of the writing process, when I know they really just want to get right to the final copy and be done with it. Here are a few pictures of our group working diligently.

We have been learning all about fables, folktales, and tall tales.  Students had to write their own tall tale and illustrate it.  They came up with some great ideas. 

Our finished product..."The Tall Tale" written on extra tall paper...

Young Inventor

This was such a great idea...
The white board in my classroom has decided that it does not want to come clean anymore with just an eraser. I keep having to spray board cleaner, then wipe clean. I mentioned to the class that I wished there was some invention that would combine expo cleaner and an eraser. With this class, ask and you shall receive. Karley came up with this nifty little invention that does just what I need it to. Check it out!

If you look closely enough, she has cut out a place for the small expo bottle to fit.  She hot glued the bottle into the eraser, and left enough space at the top to refill the bottle.  I'm thinking she should patent this. Pretty creative, huh?