Welcome to a new school year in Third Grade.  We gathered for a "First Day" photo as you can see below and enjoyed getting reacquainted after the summer break.  We spent time sharing oral reports on books we read over the summer and learned facts about Guatemala-the setting for the story Abuela's Weave.  Peter from 3H brought in some wonderful items from Guatemala, and some of us danced to marimba music as we watched a Youtube video about that Central American nation.  Here is Megan pointing out its location on the map.

The children have settled into daily routines such as practicing math facts after they've unpacked in the morning.  Here are Amber, Nate, Nicholas, and Rose enjoying a game that tests their addition skills:

There's always a daily poem, a math problem of the day, a new word of the week, and a weekly science challenge as Shanki is demonstrating in the picture below.

We honored 9/11 through the reading of 14 Cows for America, the true story of the Maasai tribe of Kenya's gift of 14 cows to our country to offer hope and compassion after hearing about the terrorist attack.  The students followed up with their own "I will..." statements, in which they pledged to do some act of kindness in remembrance of the day.

We also celebrated Constitution Day on 9/17 by reading a news article and watching a video in the digital version of Scholastic News/Weekly Reader via our new Smartboard.  Here's Masoma holding a replica of the Constitution.  She happens to be standing in front of the signatures of all the students on the class pledge to uphold the "constitution "of our classroom.

The Smartboard has been enjoyed in other ways as well.  Amiteij is seen here with the"magic eraser" that he used to confirm the name of the continent he had identified.

We launched our science study of the Earth and its resources with an introduction to the water cycle.  Maya and Aarush observed the crystals left after the water in a salt solution evaporated.

It seems there aren't enough hours in the day to fit in the many things we do in Third Grade.  The children met their Senior Buddies today and are looking forward to spending time with them.  Before you know it, it will be time for ERB testing, Fall Fair, and Halloween!  October will be an exciting month.