Finding Our Groove in 3rd Grade

Well, we find ourselves about five weeks in to the year.  Our third graders (and their teacher) are starting to find our groove.  We're getting the morning routine down - lunch count, fill out agenda, begin math warm up, and remind Mrs. Thompson to send the lunch count to the cafeteria.  We're starting to really dig in to our numeration unit, did some measurement with our science tools, and are having a great time learning about the solar system.

Here are some of the highlights from the last few weeks:

We headed to the lab to practice using our measurement skills and science tools.  The students really enjoyed being real scientists and putting their problem solving skills to work.

The students are really getting into our Math Workshop rotations.  Here are some of my companions thinking thorough place value in the Hands On workstation.  They are doing an activity called Build A Number.  Students roll a 3- or 4-digit number with dice, then build the number using place value blocks.  Some of the students have moved on to comparing 3-, 4-, and even 5-digit numbers with Build a Number and Compare.

We're continuing our adventures through time and space learning about the planets in our solar system.  Last week we studied the characteristics of the Sun and created artwork with coffee filters and markers, and a spray bottle of water (our hands were orange for the rest of the day!).  

We've moved on to the terrestrial planets, creating a flipbook to keep track of our research for our Interactive Notebooks- found this one on TpT that has worked really well.

We'll be spending the next week reviewing our numeration skills for our first big test, and begin planning for our solar system projects.  Can't wait to see what my students come up with!

Have a FANTASTIC day!