Ladybugs, Beetles and Ants for a Snack?

This year the University of Missouri Extension Eating from the Garden program visits our class twice a month.  Ms. Betsy comes to our class to teach us about gardening and eating fruits and vegetables.

Today Ms. Betsy brought Chef Chris with her.  Chef Chris taught us how to make tasty ladybugs made from apples, blue berries, grapes, and cream cheese.  She then taught us how to make a beetle out of a strawberry, grapes, and a little bit of chocolate.  Chef Chris also taught us how to make ants on a log out of celery, cream cheese, and raisins.

We had so much fun!  Thank you Chef Chris and Ms. Bestsy for spending time with us.!

It's Time for Some Fire Safety!

This week at SVN the third grade is learning about fire safety.  Today the Kansas City Fire Department came to SVN and gave the students a lesson over fire safety.  The KCFD brought their fire safety house and taught the students about the importance of having a fire escape route and working smoke alarms.

In the fire safety house students got to experience escaping a smoke filled room.  They learned to drop to the ground and crawl to safety.   Everyone is very excited about making a fire escape plan and checking their smoke alarms at home.

Food Power!

This year SVN took part in the University of Missouri Extension Food Power program.  Students went to different stations in the gym and learned about different body parts and how those body parts helped us with digestion.

Math Work Stations

This year in third grade we have been participating in math workstations.  Every Thursday we spend an hour engaged in math centers.  Two popular centers this year are the Smart Board workstation and the IPad workstation.  

Math workstations are a great way for students to continue to build on math skills previously taught.  It is also a great way to provide differentiated instruction for all students.

Reading is much more fun with a friend!

Today in third grade we discussed how many things in life are so much better when you have a friend. We decided that our reading life would be much more powerful if we had someone to talk with and share with about what we were reading. Each third grader met with a partner and conducted interviews to discover who their partner was as a reader.

Welcome Third Grade Class of 2011-2012

This year's third grade class is excited to begin sharing with everyone the many wonderful things we do in third grade. So far this year we have began a fall garden, we have started Reader's and Writer's Workshop and we have made many new friends.

Follow our journey this year as we grow and learn!

Thank You Dear Third Grade Friends

Dear Third Grade Class of 2010-2011,

Thank you for making this year such a wonderful time.  I truly enjoyed working along side with you and being your third grade teacher this year.  We had a lot of fun and I have learned so much from you.

I know many of you are excited about next year and you can't wait to start fourth grade.  I can't wait to see all of you in August.

Love,
Ms. Reeder

It's the News! Third Grade Style

After taking the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP test) this April our class decided to change gears during writing and social studies time to do a school news activity.  During writing time students chose a topic or activity that was happening at our school and researched it.  Then they chose who they wanted to interview and wrote down questions.  Next the students wrote letters to the people they wanted to interview and asked permission to interview them on camera.  Finally each student chose their camera operator and interviewed their subject.  Each student did this with very little help from their teacher.

This time of year in third grade students become very independent and they are able to work on their own.  I was very impressed by the questions and their confidence in tackling an activity that required them to be so independent.

Please take a moment to view our Scuola Vita Nuova Third Grade News Hour.

SVN's Family Movie Night!

At SVN our P.A.C. (Parent Advisory Counsel) sponsors a monthly Family Movie Night.  They choose a family friendly film to show in the gym and sell popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, and provide water.  Each month third grade looks forward to this night. 

This month the P.A.C. showed the film, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2.  Take a moment to look at our pictures from the night.

Let's Interview the 8th Grade!

Today the third grade interviewed the 8th grade about their upcoming trip to Washington D.C. Each year 8th grade takes a trip together. This year they are going to Washington D.C. For many students this will be their first time to Washington D.C. and their first time flying.

Aldo, Alexander, Ryan, and Julian researched the places 8th grade are planning to go and they created interview questions. Later they asked to interview the 8th grade class. Take a moment to view their interviews.

8th grade also has a blog.  They will be blogging about their upcoming  trip to Washington D.C.  You can find their blog at this address: www.svnmiddleschoolblog.blogspot.com 

This Week's Feature Bloggers: Alexander and Aldo

This week Alexander and Aldo are the third grade bloggers of the week.  They decided to write about what they had learned in P.E. this week.

This week in PE we learned that we need to exercise every day to get our body heated up.

Taking away Ms. Reeder’s Gatorade bottle from her and making her chase us is good exercise.  And running away from girls is good exercise too.

Scooters!

Bean bags on my head!

Hopping

Yeah!

Art is Everywhere!

This past month SVN welcomed Ms. Brianne Teevan-Bongiovanni from Bambini Creativi an Early Learning Educational Project. Ms. B used to come to our school every Friday and work with Mr. Nick's pre-k class. She created many different art activities on Friday and invited everyone to participate including third grade.

This semester Ms. B joins SVN's team as an additional resource teacher for classrooms who are working on different projects.. Third grade is planning a project with her in April.

Welcome Ms. B!





The song playing in this video is "Imagination" performed by Rickolus.  The song can be found on the Do Fun Stuff  Vol. 1 album available on iTunes.

Read Across America Day!

Wednesday, March 2 was Read Across America Day.  At SVN many classrooms celebrated the day by reading Dr. Seuss books, making green eggs and ham, and creating Dr. Seuss style hats and illustrations.  Every student at SVN also received a brand new book.

Third grade decided to document this exciting day by creating a movie.  Take a moment to view their film.

18th and Vine Museum

This week's feature blogger is Alejandra. Alejandra has chosen to write about our class field trip to the Negro League Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum.

On Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 the 3rd and 4th grade went to 18th and Vine for a fieldtrip. We went to the American Jazz Museum and the Negro League Baseball Museum. We learned a lot! We learned that Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player to play in the Major Leagues. We also learned that Ella Fitzgerald is Ms. Reeder’s favorite singer.

We had lots of fun. It was the best day ever!

The Declaration of Independence Project

Third graders attending a public school must be able to state the main purposes of the Declaration of Independence. One way I decided to address this g.l.e. (grade level expectation) was to group the third grade into two groups and have them write a play about the Declaration of Independence. Each group was given a list of objectives and a scoring guide. After writing their script as a group and assigning each other parts they then went on to create props and back grounds.

During the writing process of the play the students realized they had to do a lot more research on their own. This research led to a greater understanding of the Declaration of Independence as well as a greater understanding of the American Revolution. After the project was completed the students performed their plays for each other. During and after the project many third graders commented on how much fun they had and how much they wished to repeat this project again. A lot of students even gave up their recess time to work on the project!

Take a moment to view our photos from the project.

Science Food Fun!

Friday, December 17, SVN's elementary building decided to have a cooking day during our science class. Pre-K, first grade, second grade, third grade, and fourth grade each cooked a different item during science. After cooking each class shared what they made with the other classrooms.

Third grade decided to make nachos. We used lots of different ingredients. Each third grader added an ingredient to the nachos. After cooking all day we served up our nachos and shared with the other classes. Take a moment to look at our photos from the day.