Sunday, November 22, 2015

Kindergarten Reading Buddies

In October we began our Kindergarten Reading Buddy Program with Mrs. Rowell's class.  We meet every other Wednesday to share some favorite picture books with our new friends.  

 This experience provides and authentic way for third graders to practice fluency through repeated readings of familiar books while also allowing them to assume a leadership role as they mentor their kindergarten partners.
 For kindergarten students it provides an opportunity to develop a positive relationship with with both a role model and with books.    

This Friday, students spent time creating "hands and feet turkeys" for their kindergarten friends.  

Our kindergarten buddies surprised us with a class book and "hand turkeys" that they had made! 


Mrs. Rowell and I enjoy seeing the genuine excitement on the faces of both the older and younger students when we have a chance encounter with our buddies in the hall.  This program helps to build a sense of community here at GEMS.



Sunday, October 25, 2015

Life Cycles



This month we began our study of  life cycles. We have three essential questions guiding our learning during this unit:

  • What characteristics do all living things have in common?
  • How do organisms grow and change throughout their life cycles?
  • What structures allow organisms to survive and thrive in their environment?

Students have had the opportunity to observe and illustrate a variety of plants and animals.
Students are observing plants in various stages of their life cycles.

 Students observed Jimmy the gecko and enjoyed watching him gobble up crickets and warm up by laying on his favorite rock.

 Students created germination bags to view our pea seeds in the first few days of planting.  This gives us a chance to see what is happening beneath the soil.
Students planted pea seeds so that they can observe a pea plant life cycle up close.

We learned that all living things...
grow and change
breathe
eat/drink to get their energy
move
reproduce
die

  Some students do not believe that plants move on their own, so we have designed an experiment to see if we can gather evidence to prove of disprove this.
Students went on an observation walk to gather and classify living, non-living, and dead things they found along the way.



This week students are designing creative amphibians.  These animals must have features to allow them to survive both in water and on land.  They are using what they know about real animals to decide how their creative animal will eat, protect itself, and move on land and water.

Sunday, October 11, 2015


Book Lunch Bunch




We held our first Book Lunch Bunch on October 2, 2015! All students who read our Picture Book of the Month, What in the Wild? were in attendance.  We ate lunch together, discussed the book, and read it together for a second time.  Our group was small, but I hope it will grow in numbers next month. 



Our picture book for the month of October 
is by one of my favorite authors, Patricia Polacco.  It is called Thank You, Mr. Falker.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Read to Someone

Reading is a great activity to share with a friend! Over the last week, we have been learning about what "Read to Someone" looks and sounds like during Reading Workshop.  We have also learned about how to be a great reading coach to our partner.   Have you every wondered about how to best support your student's reading at home?  This week I will send home a "Coaching Strategies" bookmark.  This bookmark is filled with reading and comprehension strategies we use in school and can be a great resource for supporting your child at home.  




 Students in Mrs. Sullivan's class get cozy during Reading Workshop with a good book and a friend.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Hopes and Dreams


Students have completed their Hopes and Dreams Clouds which now hang from our classroom ceiling.  Each cloud outlines the student's hope or goal for third grade and their dream for the future. We used these hopes and dreams as the catalyst for creating our classroom rules.  We talked about the need to support everyone in reaching their goals and students brainstormed what rules needed to be in place to make that happen.  This fits in nicely with work we are doing with Georgia government right now.  We are exploring rights and responsibilities of citizens in a community.   



Friday, September 11, 2015

Butterfly Life Cycle

Mrs. Harvey provided our class with a monarch caterpillar so students could witness the life cycle of a butterfly.  Our caterpillar decided to do most of his changing overnight when we were all asleep, so we watched videos that showed the different changes in action.  Ask your child about the molting and chrysalis videos; students were captivated.  Wednesday night our butterfly emerged and we had a new friend to greet us Thursday morning.  This was the same day we were also welcoming a new student into our class! We released our butterfly Thursday afternoon so that he could begin his long journey south.

 We will be studying life cycles and food webs during science beginning in October.

Friday, August 7, 2015

Room B-214

The start of the school year is fast approaching and I am beginning to feel the excitement that comes with preparing for my new class of students.  I spent many hours in July moving my classroom across the hall and trying to create a cozy, comfortable learning space for us.  Here is a sneak peek at our space.  I can't wait for the students to add some life and pizzazz to the space!
Writing Center & Classroom Entrance
Library Area
 Library Area & Conference Table
 Art Area
 Academic Choice Corner
 Mrs. Sullivan's Desk
 Math Corner
 Meeting Area
 Student Desks
Please "Leaf" Me Alone, I'm Reading Chair

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

6th Grade Buddies


Today was our final meeting with our 6th grade buddies.  Over the last few weeks our buddies have answered our questions about 5th grade, given us a tour of the middle school, and helped to make us feel more comfortable about our transition.  



Today our buddies presented us with 
"Middle School Survival Kits" and wished us luck next year in 5th grade.

Next, we played Middle School Jeopardy and learned more about what we can expect next year!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Four Winds Finale

Today was the Four Winds Finale on Ecosystems. We had an on-site field trip to the stream behind the school.  Students spent 30 minutes at various stations and had the opportunity to watch a puppet show about invertebrate adaptations, explore the stream bed for signs of life, paint or draw a stream picture, and work in small groups to design adaptations for an insect out of common household items.  We appreciate the volunteers who organized this event and were there to run the stations!  Thank You!




The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Last week students had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Mathieu's Spanish class to hear original stories her Spanish students had written based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  The stories were written and read in Spanish and then translated by the authors into English.