Pirate Day 2019

ARRRRRR We Learning?

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2019 was Epic!  ARRRRR!  In fact, we were having so much fun learning pirate style that we kept it going for two days!  Here are just a few of the highlights.  Our classroom was transformed....complete with the Jolly Roger hanging high.  The students' faces when they walked in was priceless.

We started the day with a naming ceremony.  To be a pirate, you need a strong pirate name.  Students chose names out of a skull goblet generate the silly names.  The students had new names like Big Buckle Charlie and Fearsome Pegleg Patsy.  Some students even put their pirate names on all their papers.  Ha!  It sure made correcting their work interesting.

We found a mysterious note.  The note said that we were captured by pirates that wanted our ship and treasure.  If we could follow the clues and answer a series of math problems, we could escape capture. The students had 60 minutes to "escape the room."  The students worked so hard!  Their cooperation, perseverance, and problem solving sure made this captain proud!



The students escaped with  minutes to spare.  They even found a chocolate treasure with pirate jokes attached.  The students enjoyed sharing their jokes with each other and eating chocolate treats.  They also had some time to read pirate stories.

During our pirate days, we also did some writing.  Students stayed with the pirate theme to answer the five w's.  We brainstormed who, what, when, where, why that would have to do with pirates.  Then, the students wrote a poem.  The students did some amazing work.  Check out their pirate drawings and poems in SeeSaw.

Rodeo Round UP....or down.

The third graders have been working on rounding this week. We started with a lot of number line work and talking about what decades certain numbers fell between. For instance, if given the number 57, students would say, "57 is between 50 and 60, it is closer to 60." Soon the students understood the "rules" for rounding. We made an anchor chart about when to round up and when to round down. In small groups the students made a giant number line and color coded the decades.  Then they went through each number and colored it according the decade the number would round to.

I'm sure you've seen all the work the students have done on SeeSaw.  We have also been playing games in class and practicing this concept in our math journals.  They are working so hard.





Here is an easy little game to play at home if you are interested in giving your child some extra practice.  You will need playing cards to play this rounding game of top it.  Players will pull two cards and make a two digit number.  Then, they rounded the number to the 10s place.  They compare their number to the opposing player and the greater number takes all the cards.  The winner has the most cards at the end of the game. You could adjust this game for rounding to the 100s place as well.

Open House

Thank you to all the families that were able to make it to open house last week.  It is a very busy time of year, I appreciate you for making the time to come in and visit.  If you were unable to attend, I have embedded the presentation below.


At Open House, I had a helping hands table set up.  The table had volunteer opportunities and donation suggestions.  I can't thank you enough for your generosity with time and donations.  Many of the "hands" were taken and some of the items have already come back.  It is so wonderful to have the support.  Thank you!

If you are interested in volunteering or donating to our classroom still but didn't get a chance at open house, please get in contact with me.  I also have an Amazon classroom wish list linked to the blog.  See the button bar at the top of the blog.

While donations and volunteer help are amazing and much appreciated, the best way to support our classroom is to connect with us.  Please know that you don't need an open house to "see" our classroom.  Your child's SeeSaw Learning Journal is a great way to get a view into our day to day happenings.  You will need to download the free app.  I have sent home a qr code that links you directly to your student's work.  At home, you will only be able to see and comment on your child's work.  At school, all the children will be able to see your positive comments.  The app also allows you to message me directly.  Please connect with us!  More than one parent and grandparents can all connect to the same account.  Let me know if you want me to share the qr code again.

Friendship ~ The Main Idea

At the beginning of the year, we certainly focus on making new friends and maintaining positive friendships.  Friendship and kindness will be a year long theme, something we need to constantly develop and enhance.  We, of course, also have third grade reading content standards to master.  I just love how beautifully the friendship theme and the important third grade standard of understanding main idea and detail come together in Nancy Carlson's delightful picture book How to Lose All Your Friends.

After a couple reads of the text, students got into teams.  They worked together to find the main key star ideas and the supporting details.  Using a color code (yellow for key star idea and red for supporting detail) the students matched details to main idea and sequenced the story.

The main character's behavior in the book was quite appalling.  We discussed many ways the girl could have behaved differently to keep friends instead of losing them.  The ideas the student came up with all aligned with our Eagle Elite 18.  

The students are becoming very good at identifying the main idea.  In our school rules and procedures, the students saw three important key star ideas came up.  Be kind, be safe, and be responsible.  Another activity we did was taking different school rules and procedures (details) and sorted them into the main idea categories of be kind, be safe, and be responsible.

Toy Story Breakout! Save the Toys!

We had a Toy Story Breakout!  Students came in to see the Breakout box with a lock. Actually, when looking closer there were four different clue boxes all with different locks.  Then, there was a puzzle up front.  Once the students put the puzzle together, they saw a message.

Oh no!  Woody and Buzz are trying to make it home to Andy.  Help them complete the challenges to get back to Andy.  Find the gas station and get started.

They had to solve a series of clues to unlock each of the locks.  To solve the clues, students used reading strategies.  For example, in the gas station challenge the children used their inferencing skills.  We read scenarios about Toy Story characters and had to infer how the characters were feeling.  In later challenges, students had to use their knowledge of main ideas and details, sequencing, and even nonfiction text features.  The students were working so hard on finding the lock combinations, I don't think they realized how much content they were tackling!

In the end, the students had solved all the challenges and opened al the different locks.  There was a letter lock, directional lock, a four digit combination, and a key.  It was time for the big reveal!

Students each got a "Forky" kit.  How fun!  They took their Forky kits home to "make" a new friend.  In the kit, there was also a mini book to write about their Forky adventures.  I can't wait to see what the students come up with.

Measurement Mania

Our Toy Story theme included many measurement activities. We worked on the third grade standard of measuring accurately with a ruler to the nearest 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch. We also had many opportunities to discuss the difference between centimeters and inches. Further, we compared and contrasted intervals on a  number line to a ruler.


One of our first activities was "Pin the Parts on Mr. Potato Head."  We had a giant Mr. Potato.  Students had to measure the parts in both centimeters and inches before we could decorate the potato.

We had an "Infinity and Beyond" challenge.  We built a giant number lines.  We measured the intervals so they were all equal.  Then, we placed different locations, like Pizza Planet and Andy's Room, along the number line.  We determined the distance between the different locations.  Last, students went back to their desks.  They had to use their own number line and army men to solve word problems.

In "The Claw" activity, students had to reach in to the machine and grab out an alien.  The aliens were actually green Easter eggs.  Inside the alien, there was an object to measure next to a paper ruler.  Students had to determine if the they were measuring in centimeters or inches.  Then, there was a bit of a challenge. The object was not lined up with the edge of the ruler, so students had to know to count the intervals or subtract the starting point.

We also did an activity called "There's a Snake in My Boot."  We selected measurement word problems out of a pair of boots.  Students used a ruler and playdough to model the problem and discover the solution.  Thank you to Kori Markussen at True Tales of a Teacher, Amy Lemons at Step Into Second Grade, and Hope King at Elementary Shenanigans for your inspiration to make this Toy Story Transformation a success for my students.

You've Got a Friend in Me

Off to a magical start in third grade!  What a great group of students, I am so lucky to be their teacher. We are going to be a great classroom family.

As a third grade team, we started the year with a Toy Story theme.  Just like the toys in Andy's room come alive, we hope to make learning come alive for the students.  Another great theme is "You've Got a Friend in Me."  Back to school is the perfect time for meeting new friends.

We spend the first week getting reacquainted and learning more about each other.  One of our activities was called "Who is in My Circles?"  For this getting to know us activity, students filled in a tiny center circle with some favorites; favorite subject, favorite book, favorite food, etc.  Then, each child left their paper on their desk.  We all traveled around to each desk and put our names in the different concentric circles.  If you also LOVED the same thing, you signed your name in the first surrounding circle. If you like the same you sign in the next circle out.  Finally, if it is not something you like, you sign in the outer most circle.  The students made some great connections with the other children that they learned were in their circles.  This activity went home in your child's Wednesday envelope.  Please take a look at their circles.

 Another getting to know us activity was called "Maze of New Friends."  In this activity, students had to complete a maze.  However, every path had a series of doors to "unlock."  In order to unlock a door, the students had to find a friend that met a certain criteria.  For example, you might have to find a friend that has a younger sibling or find a friend that swam in the ocean.  The students were interviewing each other and learning all sorts of fun facts about their classmates.  Of course, we also talked about using good eye contact, answering questions with complete sentences, and thanking each other for the information.

Last, we had some "Getting to Know Us" homework.  Each student completed a riddle about themselves at home.  In class, we make a self portrait to go with the writing.  Come check out our giant "Guess Who?" game in our third grade hallway.