Building Bridges

This activity was a few weeks ago, but I told the class I would add some pictures to the blog from it. They had a great time!

The first model was a bridge built with stir sticks (tiny straws). They had to build it across a space of 10 inches, and they had to make it wide enough to hold a 9 oz. cup. After they built the bridge, they had to test how many toy dinosaurs it would hold. They made predictions first and then tested it.

After the first bridge fell, they had to construct a 2nd bridge made from craft sticks (popsicle sticks). They all guessed this bridge would hold more, but one group built their straw one so well that it actually held more than their craft sticks. They were very surprised at how well the bridges held. It was a fun activity to reinforce what we had read about the design process.

1. Identify the problem
2. Do research
3. Develop possible solutions
4. Choose one solution
5. Design and construct a prototype
6. Test the prototype
7. Communicate results
8. Evaluate and redesign

Here are some pictures from our experiment.

I think it's safe to say they had a great time. I hope they also took some learning away from it as well!

ND State Testing...

The third graders are doing an awesome job testing this week. We have completed 4 out of 5 language arts tests and 1 out of 3 math tests. We will complete the math tests tomorrow afternoon and the language arts will be in the morning after Mass. 

Thank you for providing your child with as much rest as possible and a healthy snack. They have all been very excited about the snack part of it! 

We are also busy practicing for our Mass this week. We have not had a lot of time for other subjects. They did start a new writing project on Monday and we will be working on grammar practice as well. 

Another note: I was having some computer problems with PowerSchool where I enter in all of our 3rd graders' grades. It would not let me on the program, so I was stock piling all of their graded work. I finally got it back up and running this morning and finished entering in all of the grades. You will see A LOT of papers in your child's folder tonight. 

I hope to see you all at the Harvest Hoe Down! Have a great week! 

Also, if you have not heard Julia Lee (Mrs. Lee's daughter) is having some tests and procedures done at the Children's Amplantz Hospital in Minneapolis. Here is the link to follow her story on CaringBridge. Many prayers are greatly welcomed!!!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/julialee1        

(if you have never been on a CaringBridge site before, you will be asked to register) 

Conferences and Field Trip

Tomorrow St. Michael's is going to the speaker Rachel's Challenge at the Chester Fritz. We will be leaving the school around 12:30 and we will return before the end of the day. No permission slips were sent home because all families signed a general field trip permission slip at the beginning of the school year. There is no cost for the event. 

I did talk to our class a little bit about Rachel today to prepare them for tomorrow's speaker. Rachel was one of the first killed in the Columbine shooting in Colorado in 1999. Our conversation brought up a lot about bullying and they did want to talk about school shootings that they had heard about on the news or from others. We discussed some of it very briefly, but if you would like to talk to your child a little more, please do. I know they probably still have questions about the topics, and they will have more after tomorrow's speaker. The speaker will focus on paying it forward and creating a culture of kindness, so the message will be more positive than negative. 

Also, conference forms went home on Monday. Please sign it and make a note of your conference time. If you need to reschedule make a note of that on the form, so I can contact you for a different date and time. Thanks so much and if you have any questions or concerns please let me know! 

Donations and Midterms

A big thank you to the families who have already donated items/money for our class Fun(d) Fest Auction Basket. I will be taking donations up until this Friday October 5th.  Please remember it is not required, but you do receive commitment points for your donations to the basket. 


Midterm grades will be coming home in the Friday family file folders. 3rd graders receive letter grades. I will print a page that shows their progress to this point. Please remember it is not a final grade for the trimester. I used last Friday as a cut off date. Anything not turned in by that date will not be included in this update. If you have any questions about your child's grades after you see the midterm grades, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail me. 

So far, I have been impressed by how well they get their work done and turned in to me. Keep it up at home. Please be sure to check their folders for past projects and papers. They do not need to stay in the folder once they have been graded. 

October will be a busy month with days off, North Dakota State Testing, Harvest Hoe-Down, Fun(d) Fest and many other extra activities not related to school. I will keep you up to date on here and send any additional information home with a note as well. Happy October! 

Fall Fun(d) Fest

Hi everyone! Just in case the note I sent home today (Friday) does not make it home, here is the exact note again! Please know that it is not required to donate, but all donations are appreciated. Fun(d) Fest brings in a lot of money for our school for supplies and items we may not otherwise be able to purchase. Thank you in advance for your generosity. I do not mind shopping, so please feel free to send a monetary donation if you don't want to brave the stores! You can check the sign up sheet outside the door anytime, and if you have any questions please let me know! 

Fall Fun(d) Fest

Silent Auction Basket

3^rd grade will be putting together a Fall Harvest Basket for the Fun(d) Fest this year. I am looking for donations for our basket. The theme is fall harvest, so anything that has to do with Thanksgiving or the fall season will be great. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated!

Examples: decorative cloth napkins, placemats, napkin rings, harvest decorations, pot holders, seasonal coffee, wine, cookbook, candles, meats, cheeses, Hugo’s gift cards, etc.

If you do not want to do any shopping, but would still like to donate, I will take monetary donations. With these donations, I will purchase any other items not donated that we would like to add to the basket.

I will put a sign up sheet outside my classroom door. If you would like to sign up for a certain item, please do so. You can e-mail me your preference as well at jenny.steele@sendit.nodak.edu, and I will add it to the list. This will help us get a variety of items.

Items and monetary donations can be brought to the classroom on or before October 5^th.

Thank you in advance for your help and generosity!

Mrs. Steele 

Parachutes!

We are beginning our science chapter of Technology and the Design Process. To introduce the chapter we did an experiment in design and teamwork yesterday. I put the class into groups of 2 or 3. Each group was given string, a plastic bag, paper, aluminum foil, a metal washer, a ruler and tape. From their materials I told them to design a parachute. Once they completed their designs, they had to test it by dropping it from a height of 2 meters. Another member of the group timed the drop with a stopwatch. They each did 3 trials on parachute #1 and then had to start the whole process over to see if they could make one that took longer to fall to the ground. 

First of all, they did an awesome job! Second of all, I think they had a great time doing it! I saw some pretty neat designs and a lot of groups really learned by trial and error what type of material worked the best and which did not. They also learned how to correctly time the falling parachute. They kept track of their trials in a result chart and had to draw a diagram of their parachute. Feel free to ask your child about the materials they used and how their two parachutes were different. 

Here are quite a few pictures to document our fun science morning. 

Mass

Thank you to everyone who made it to our 3rd grade Mass last Thursday. The class did an awesome job for their first one as 3rd graders. Our next two Masses will be on October 25th and December 6th. We hope you can join us for those ones as well.

Remember that the 2nd Tuesday of every month will be Rosary in the church. Your child may bring his or her own rosary on those days. Another reminder that Fridays will all be regular uniform days unless you get a notice from the office or it is written in your child's planner.

Planners are a great way for you to check for what your child did in our classroom for the day. You will see all the subjects we completed for the day. I do not need you to initial or sign the planners, but I would like you to get into the habit of checking them. I will have them write any changes to upcoming days and any other notices that come from the office in the blank section at the far right of their planner. As you have noticed their spelling list is listed in their as well. Please be sure to have your child study the words for each Friday's test. Homework for each day should be starred as well. If you have any questions about the planners, please let me know.


The St. Michael's Bridge Builders Breakfast will be this Sunday. The children's Mass will be at 10:30am. Please make sure your child wears Mass uniform (black pants and red shirt). I hope you can all make it.

I unfortunately will not be there on Sunday. I am an officer in the St. Mary's Altar Society and we have our annual fall dinner that day. I get to be in the kitchen there all day! If you really don't want to cook at all on Sunday, head to the St. Mike's breakfast and then come to the St. Mary's dinner later. We'll be serving until 2:30pm! Have a great week everyone!