Looking Back and Wondering about the Future
As the new school year begins, it is the perfect time for students to look back on the learning that took place in the previous school year and connect it to new concepts being learned. This week in the library third grade students experienced the book What I Learned in Second Grade by Amy Schwartz (HarperCollins, 2004). Students were then asked to come up with topics they WONDER about as third grade students. This introduction to connected learning and wondering will lead into a research project which will consume many weeks of time learning about sources, asking good questions, learning to avoid information that is not pertinent to a student's topic. It is an exciting time for third graders in their information seeking and literacy skill acquisition.
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Reader's Theatre
Students have received a script for two characters. They will practice their lines, create a puppet, and perform their play.
Research Process - Octopuses
Asking questions is a basic skill we all use throughout our lives. We will be studying what it is to use our schema on a topic, ask questions about a topic and find out more information about the topic. This week the topic is octopuses.
Next week each learner will get a random topic as they enter the classroom. They will use grab bag of questioning words and will generate some questions on their topic. |
Asking and writing GOOD questions
What do you Wonder About?
Pick a topic, ask some questions, find some answers and create a FAQ about your topic. These will be displayed in the library. Here are some examples of real world FAQs.
FAQ Secret Service - Scroll down and find FAQ by kids
FAQ Dinosaurs
FAQ Secret Service - Scroll down and find FAQ by kids
FAQ Dinosaurs
Bluestem Reading and Voting
Big Bluestem, the Illinois state prairie grass, symbolizes the entire Bluestem Award and the variety of titles on the Master List each year. The deep roots of this dominant native grass of the tall grass prairie indicate the older titles with lasting appeal. New yearly growth relates to the newer titles chosen. Its changing colors are a reflection of the variety of literatures, and the three seed spikes represent the three grades of students for whom the program is intended: 3rd, 4th, and 5th.
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You've read and voted in the Monarch Award for three years, its time to step up your length of books and move up to The Bluestem Award. In order to vote in the Bluestem Award you must have read at least 8 of the 20 books. Look for the specially marked books in the Indian Trail Library.
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Kamishibai Storytelling
Muhashi, mukashi......Once upon a time Kamishibai storytellers would ride their bicycles into the park (pictured below right), set up their Kamishibai frame (pictured right) and clap their hyoshigi (pictured below) so children would come to them to hear and see a story. At Indian Trail, third grade students will be given a story to divide into segments, they will illustrate a picture to demonstrate that segment of text, and ultimately present their story as a team to other classes.
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Fairy Trail News - On the scene with the reporters of third grade
Students have been reading fairy tales in their third grade classroom. In the library we've been reading other fairy tales and writing catchy headlines you might find in a newspaper about that story. Press passes will be issued once students have completed their first reporter's notebook, article AND had it published on this website under The Fairy Trail News page. As soon as students have a press pass they will be allowed to create other fairy tale themed newspaper features such as a comic strip, artwork with a caption, a sports report, a recipe with directions or a game for the game page.
Click here for the latest Edition of the Fairy Trail News
Click here for the latest Edition of the Fairy Trail News
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International Bookmark Buddies Fall 2019
The Bookmark Exchange Project involves matched schools making homemade bookmarks. The Bookmark Exchange Project is a simple, fun way of sharing the pleasure and delights of books and libraries and of making new friends through school libraries worldwide. https://iasl-online.org/Bookmark-Exchange-2019
3rd Grade buddies Mrs. Rubin's class is partnered with Zagreb, Croatia Mrs. Shoemaker's class is partnered with Fajoes, Portugal Mrs. VanEtten's class is partnered with Vilkaviškis, Lithuania 4th Grade Buddies Mrs. Ahern's class is partnered with Lasi, Romania Mrs. Dlugie's class is partnered with Aver-O-Mar, Portugal Mrs. Leven's class is partnered with Loulé, Portugal |