Student Ownership
10/5/2019
We love to read! Lots of shelves in our classroom are dedicated to books and our book boxes. Every day students keep track of the pages they read and regularly share what they're reading. They especially love bragging when they finish a book. Some of the kids noticed that though there are lots of great books, the books are not organized in any particular way. They changed that on Tuesday! They dumped all the books and collaborated to create categories on sticky notes for all the bins on their own. Along the way, they liked discovering books they haven't seen before and reorganizing their book boxes. They loved taking ownership of this part of their classroom! When students have a voice in their learning, they are more invested and more motivated to learn. We are excited to be wrapping up our science unit about endangered species in our area. As a way to demonstrate their learning, students chose one of the endangered species and created Google Drawings on their laptops. Later they shared their learning with 1st and 2nd grade students. Great job, Third Graders! Words Their Way
9/28/2019
Words Their Way is our differentiated, hands-on approach to word study. Throughout the week, students engage in different kinds of word sorts and games to understand and practice spelling patterns. The benefit to this approach is that students are learning patterns instead of memorizing isolated words. I wanted to share how some of these activities work in our class because they are also super simple to implement at home.
Blind Sort- With a partner, students write the spelling pattern categories at the top of a white board. Without the partner seeing the words, one person reads one of the spelling word cards. The partner tries to write the word in the correct category. It is similar to a practice test, except students are writing them into spelling pattern categories.
Adaptations
9/21/2019
Third graders have been busy exploring the driving question “How do we protect the endangered species in our area?” Before we could take action, we first needed to research about these endangered species. Students explored these species by doing various activities to learn more about a few endangered species in Alaska. After learning about animal adaptations, they made connections on sticky notes concerning how adaptations allow each endangered animal to exist in its environment. Though PBL units usually focus primarily on a science or social studies concept, students are learning countless skills in other areas along the way. For example, while they are reading for information on an online article, they are learning how to navigate a website by looking at the headings and captions, scrolling down with two fingers, and avoiding that really enticing lego advertisement on the side. :) As we were looking at a sea turtle article, a student made a connection that the nonfiction article sounded like a “news reporter” and not a “storyteller” (something we have been learning in our narrative writing unit). We often write reflections of our learning together, reinforcing how to write a topic sentence, details, and a concluding sentence. When kids used a tape measure to measure out a beluga on the floor, they needed to figure out how many inches were in foot to be accurate. For me, teaching in this interdisciplinary way allows my students to learn in an authentic and more meaningful way.
Math Scavenger Hunt
9/14/2019
The Bridges in Mathematics curriculum is a great balance of direct instruction, independent work centers, and exploration. On Friday, students practiced using tape measures correctly by looking for objects that had varying lengths. This week, our class began using math work stations. Work stations are math centers that students engage in to practice different math concepts while having fun in the process. These centers not only support their math education, but also give students opportunities to practice social skills, cooperative problem solving, and responsibility as they keep track of their progress. This is one of our favorite times of the day. :)
Work stations, and other exploratory math lessons, positively impact students because the best learning happens in a social context. Endangered Species
9/7/2019
We started our first PBL unit of the year! In Project Based Learning, students work on a project over an extended period of time that engages them in solving a real-world issue or a complex question. As they tackle a meaningful project, they practice critical thinking skills while learning key third grade science and social studies standards. Over the next several weeks, we will be exploring the question “How do we protect the endangered species in our area?” Throughout this unit, we will be going through the inquiry cycle in order to end with taking action in the form of a public product. Before our class can answer our big driving question, we needed to brainstorm smaller questions that we decided to research first. We then organized these questions in the order we thought we should research them. These questions were…..
An endangered species in Alaska that you can observe in our area (especially during the next few months) is the Cook Inlet beluga whale. To learn more about this species, students spent time exploring inquiry centers. These centers involved reading articles, watching live beluga cams, listening to short video clips, and measuring the length of one on the floor. Later students made posters of their learning. We are excited to learn about the habitats, life cycles, and adaptations of other endangered species in our area next week. Why does Project Based Learning work at PNA? This type of learning triggers curiosity. Students have an active role in the planning, learning, and even the outcome of the unit. As they work through a PBL unit, they learn how to take initiative and how their voice matters.
We are looking forward to another week of investigating! Community Building
8/31/2019
We have enjoyed getting to know each other during the first several days of school. What a great group of kids! PNA implements Responsive Classroom in order to create a safe, joyful learning environment for our students. One of the goals of Responsive Classroom during the first few weeks of school is building a classroom community. When students are a part of a strong classroom community, they feel more comfortable tackling challenges, take more ownership in their learning, and have a higher self-esteem. Setting aside time to build relationships at the beginning of the year creates a strong foundation for the rest of the year. As we began learning routines in different subject areas, we learned a lot about each other along the way. We learned about our learning styles by creating, sorting, and graphing our people glyphs in math. In writing, students shared their journal entries about memorable experiences. We begin every day with a morning meeting, which includes sharing something about ourselves and playing a game together. Morning meetings start the day on a positive note. As a way to explore how to use Google Docs on their laptops for the first time, students learned about each other by writing acrostic poems that described themselves. Every strong community has a set of agreements. We explored questions like “What makes us have a great day at school?” and “What are our hopes and dreams?” to guide us in creating our own classroom agreements. Together, they decided that these should be our agreements:
What a great year we have ahead of us! All Good Things...
5/24/2019
All good things must come to an end... This week, the third, fourth and fifth grade classes focused on wrapping things up with a fun filled assortment of activities, including Pacific Northern Academy's annual Field Day festivities, a locker clean out, a visit to the middle school museum, and some other wacky activities! Middle School Museum!But, even though it was the end of the year, the kids didn't take a moment to slow down, and the third, fourth and fifth grade took some (educational) time out to take a tour of the middle school museum. (And also sample some of the things that they'd be doing in another year or two, themselves!) The exhibits featured were all researched, designed and created by the middle schoolers. Field Day!The students also participated in PNA's annual Field Day, put together by our very own Ms. Molly! Stations included Strategiki, relay races, and other crazy games to keep the students energized. And, during games, the students even found some time to keep things going with... some dancing! Thank You!But, really now, all good things don't always have to come to an end, and we have a funny feeling that you'll be seeing and hearing from all of these rising students in the 3-4-5 Pod very, very soon! Good luck and thank you to you all!
Adopt an Animal: A PBL Unit
5/18/2019
The last PBL unit of the school year is an example of an interdisciplinary approach where students used reading, writing, math, and science skills in an authentic real-life situation with real results. This unit aims to answer the driving question: "How can we, as life scientists, persuade the community to adopt an Alaskan animal?" Key Knowledge & Skills: In reading, students read nonfiction texts, learned how to identify main idea & details; learned how to look for relevant details using different books; and learned how to synthesize information. ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.9 Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic. ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently. In writing, students learned how to write a persuasive speech with a strong thesis statement and details that support it. ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1.A Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons. ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1.B Provide reasons that support the opinion. ELA-LITERACY.W.3.1.C Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons. In science, students learned about animal adaptations: how habitats change and how animals use behavioral and structural adaptations to survive and reproduce. NGSS 3-LS3-2.Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment. In math, students learned about area and perimeter. MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.D.8 Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters. So what was the project about? ​Studens chose an Alaskan animal they were going to study. They read books about their chosen animal during reading workshop. They wrote a persuasive speech during writing workshop. They learned about their animal's habitats and adaption in science class. During technology class, they learned how to use the green screen and DoInk app. Students showcased their art skills when they created their animal's habitat in a pizza box. It is the class ultimate goal to persuade people to donate to Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Watch the videos below and hopefully you will consider helping the Alaskan animals through the AWCC. Remember that the kids wrote their own speech, created the background or the habitat they're in and filmed on their own.
Student Reflection:
Congratulations to
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Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
April 2021
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