A New Year!

 

Just like that it's 2014!  How time flies when you're having fun!  We started off the year with a recycling, re-purposing activity with my third grade students.  I chopped up all the beautiful Christmas cards we received, and the students used them to frame their 2014 Self Portraits.  They used similes and metaphors to describe themselves.  They were so clever and so well written!

Our 3rd grade class has also set out to span the globe to learn more about the Seven Wonders of the Natural World.  Week one we investigated erosion and the Grand Canyon.  Week two we dove deep into the Great Barrier Reef.  Students saw beautiful visuals, and learned interesting facts about this large and wonderous place.  

 

Week three we climbed to the top of Mount Everest following in the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hillary.  We compared explorers of yesteryear to explorers of today.  Interesting and thought provoking discussions broke out about what it truly means to be an explorer, and if we are fostering exploration in children.

 Our third Quest course started this week.  I'm leading a class called Sandwich Bag Science.  During our first session together student scientists made discoveries about air pressure and static electricity.

 

As you can see it was hair raising!

Our first grade class of scalawag scientists are setting sail on a pirate adventure.  Our unit involves science, math, social studies, research, and writing.