We have had another great week of working and thinking together. Yesterday’s trip to the zoo was wonderful. The weather was glorious. The animals were stunning and your children were fabulous and respectful zoo visitors. It was interesting to note how many of the animals at the zoo were endangered and threatened. The children are curious about that and feel that it is one of the “pro’s” for having zoos.

Habitat Studies

One of our main science explorations in third grade is learning about habitats and biomes around the world. We explore micro-habitats as well, with our goal being to help children become more aware of the power and impact of one person and one act. We’ll explore food webs and food chains as we think about how everything is related.

At the zoo we saw a group of animals from Australia and animals from the Serengeti Plain in Africa. We saw animals from the Rainforest and lots of birds from all over, with some snakes and lizards as well. We’ll use what we saw yesterday to begin a list of questions to guide our learning so we can understand how each of us can make the world a better place.

Mindful Search for Writing Ideas

We are exploring qualities of good narrative writing. We are working to understand how character description, setting, dialogue and interesting details work together to make writing “sing.” We know ideas are important. We know details are good and that the whole piece needs to be organized. We have each completed one piece of narrative writing. We are exploring how the mindful details we notice outside can add to what we put on paper.

Twice this week at school and once at home, the children took time to notice the small things happening around them. One of the poems we read during shared reading is Happy Thought by Robert Louis Stevenson. The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings. Our time noticing helps us appreciate and actually see what is around us. We will use these mindful collections to identify habitat connections in science, as well as inspiring writing details.  Third grade writers often feel as though there is nothing to write about, and yet stopping to notice reveals so many different things. We can write about the breeze or the rocks or the toad or the ladybug or the feeling of the sunshine or the cricket band in the grass beyond.

Personal Weather Reports SEL – self-awareness

This week we added a daily temperature record to our morning routine. We also collected a list of different types of weather. We are using those weather terms for ourselves as we practice making personal weather reports. We are trying to become more aware of how we feel inside and how those feeling impact those around us, and our own learning. It was interesting to begin exploring the idea of feeling a sunny day inside yourself as opposed to a windy day, or a blizzard. We’ll keep practicing so more of the children understand how weather can be a metaphor for emotions so they can develop strategies for changing their “forecast” if they find themselves in a fog or a storm or a drizzle.

Bits and Pieces –

• Our first challenge with Mr. Caron will be September 29th. It will be outside on the nature trail weather permitting.
• We finished James and the Giant Peach and are working to make a model of our favorite characters, along with a description of our favorite events.
• We began The Trumpet of the Swan and are keeping a journal of our thoughts while reading it much like Sam does in the story. We’ll see how the Philadelphia Zoo in the story compares The Franklin Park Zoo. I wonder what habitats will seem the same and which will be different.