Beginning day 1, 3rd graders are exposed to multiplication. Arrays, equal groups, factors, and products are just a few vocabulary words they hear frequently. Hands on learning in math is a great visual for the students to understand the concept.

---

Save Pythias!

In our Open Court reading text, we read “Damon & Pythias”, a Greek legend set on the island of Sicily. The story represents what true friendship means. This gave me an opportunity to throw in a fun STEM investigation, Save Pythias! This activity included building community, engineering design, and Greek legends! Based off of the popular Save Fred activity, this includes a fun twist.

Poetry Cafe is underway!

A tradition every 3rd grader looks forward to is, Poetry Cafe! Within a 3 week study of poetry, students not only read and learn many poetic devices, but write a few poems, too! Last week we read poetry outside a few days while the weather was cool. It’s so nice to escape the classroom from time to time!☺️

We will host a Poetry presentation next week for our parents. We plan to record it and upload to our St. James YouTube channel.

WHAT MAKES AN OBJECT FLOAT?

Investigation 1: Does an orange sink or float? How does peeling an orange effect it’s density? Using the scientific method, students made a hypothesis, Measured, and collected data during this investigation! You can imagine the sweet citrus aroma that filled our classroom!!

Investigation 2: Don’t sink the boat challenge!

Adding coins to the boats increased the density of the boat. When the density of the coins and boat is greater than the water, the boat sinks. Students added as many pennies as they could before their boat sank! One student counted 28 pennies!

2022-23 is looking fantastic with this group of students! They are looking forward to learning multiplication & division, chapter book studies, World Geography, hands-on Science lessons and auditioning for solos in our upcoming Spring Musical & Candlelight ceremonies!☺️

We have been busy learning about each other, classroom routines and finding our groove! Students completed an All About Me poster as their first class project. Each student presented their poster to the class. This gave each student an opportunity to sharpen his/her speaking skills.

In addition to many perks of being a 3rd grader, each student received a Chromebook to use at school. This technology will allow us to connect with the outside learning world and assist with fundamentals like, typing skills! I introduced the Typing Without Tears program (added bonus to our current Handwriting Without Tears) and the students are loving this curriculum!

Field Day is a tradition that every student looks forward to at St. James! Coach Nicole, with the help of parent volunteers and upper Middle School students, prepare fun & competitive stations. Students are partnered and given a punch card to keep up with which station has been completed. And of course, all students participate in adorable tie-dyed T-shirts!