Inspiration, Imagination, Innovation!
Posts tagged 3rd Grade
Earth Day 2013
May 3rd
In celebration of Earth Day this past April 22nd, we made our third annual Paperless Earth Day books. You can see our past Earth Day books by clicking here (Earth Day 2011) and here (Earth Day 2012) . We used KidPix4 and TuxPaint to illustrate our ideas. Take a peek at some ways we take care of the Earth.
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These books are also embedded on our eBook page. You can click on this link or find eBooks in the menu bar above.
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Our classes also enjoyed playing Michael, Michael Go Recycle!
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…and reading an Earth Day book on Starfall.
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What did you think of our Paperless Books?
Can you share other ways that we can take care of the Earth?
How did your class celebrate Earth Day?
Notable Michiganders
Mar 15th
As part of our Michigan studies in 3rd grade, we have practiced our research skills to find some well-known people from Michigan. When the Techie Kids took a look at some of the biographies, they chose a person that caught their attention. Each child created a “cereal box” design featuring their famous person. They also shared something about them that they learned or felt was important.
We are pretty sure that you’ve probably heard a few of their names before. Take a look…
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If you would like to find some famous people from your area, click on the picture below to check out our Research page. Here, you’ll find 7 of our favorite search engines.
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Can you tell us about a famous or notable person from your area?
What search engine do you recommend?
Skyping Mrs. Kistler & the 49′ers
Mar 9th
Hooray! Hooray! It’s Skyping Day!
Today our first group of Techie Kids had their first chance to Skype while they were at school. We were able to meet Mrs. Kistler and the 49er’s. We were so excited!
This year, 3rd graders learn about our great state of Michigan. We have worked hard to find out about Michigan’s natural resources, symbols, and landmarks. Today we were able to learn about Texas from kids who actually live there!
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This is a Google Earth screen shot of the 49er’s state taken by Ben.
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Madisyn used Google Maps to calculate the distance between our schools. We found out that we are 1,469 miles away, which was about a 22 hour drive. We thought we’d need to pack some snacks, like pretzels, for that drive!
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Here is some of what we learned:
One of Texas’ natural resources is oil.
They use salsa as frequently as others use ketchup.
The bluebonnet flower is a symbol of Texas and you better not be caught picking one on someone else’s land!
Summers in Texas are very hot.
Dr. Pepper was created in Waco, Texas.
The Alamo, Sea World, and the River Walk are some of their landmarks.
One of their state symbols is a Cowboy!
Ants in Texas bite!
You better double and triple check your backpack before you go anywhere…you just might find a stowaway scorpion!
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Check out our backchannel!
Today's Meet with the 49'ers by
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Our student photographers and videographers did an excellent job capturing the excitement!
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Thanks for a great learning call, 49’ers!
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What will you remember most about our Skype call?
What new facts did you find out?
Do you have any other questions you’d like to ask?
Skyping with Mr. Kruger’s Class!
Feb 29th
Today we were able to connect with Mr. Kruger’s 3rd grade class in Minnesota.
It is always fun to meet new friends. Both of our classes were ready to talk about our communities. Here is some of what we learned.
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For fun…
They visit the Minnesota Zoo or the Como Zoo. The Como Zoo is free!
The 3rd graders can go to the Mall of America, but this isn’t just any mall. It’s the biggest mall in the United States. They even have roller coasters inside called Nickelodeon Universe! Mrs. Moore has actually been there and can verify that it would take a long time to visit all of the stores and see everything there is to see. 
Photo shared by jpellgen Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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Many students visit their cabins on the weekends.
Their community has the largest free fair in the state. It is held in August.
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Several of the students shared about some special jobs that their families have.
Gopher Sport makes athletic and fitness equipment.
Viracon-This company makes the glass and tints for windows. Their glass is being used in the new World Trade Center building in New York.
Construction and Insurance- This area provides insurance to many large companies.
Josten’s- They created the designs for the Super Bowl rings.
Mayo Clinic- This is a very special, well-known medical center that helps to diagnose and treat patients.
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Their community has about 25,000 people.
We discovered that our temperatures are very similar, which makes sense because we are very close in location. They are hoping to get some snow tonight!
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Thank you for helping us learn more about our world!
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Do you have any questions you did not have time to ask?
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Tell us a fun fact about the area you live in.
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Skyping with Mr. Eldridge and Hawes Primary!
May 30th
We finally had a chance to meet our friends in England. The 3rd Grade Techie Kids were able to Skype with Mr. Eldridge and his students at Hawes Primary School. We loved their accents!
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Here is some of what we learned.
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They call their recess, break time.
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Each break time begins with an assembly.
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They like to sing songs, play football, and hula hoop.
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The children enjoy Mr. Gum books. We had not heard of that series before.
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They also enjoyed Captain Underpants books. Many of us like those books too!
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Charlie shared that he enjoys pizza with cheese, ham, and tomatoes. They also shared how they are learning to focus on healthy eating habits.
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Hawes Community Primary School has 75 students who are age 5 through 11 years compared to our 400!
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They call jump rope, skipping and soccer is called football.
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They wear red, blue, or green shirts to school each day. We do not have set colors or uniforms. We thought it was a fun idea because their teams were already set by color for school competitions.
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Our school was built 35 years ago. Hawes school was started in 1879. That’s 132 years ago!
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We hope we can chat with our friends again soon. Thank you for helping us learn more about our world!
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What was your favorite part about using Skype?
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Do you have any other questions to ask the Techie Kids?
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What should we try the next time we Skype with our friends?
February Blogging Challenge
Feb 1st
We have been discussing digital literacy quite a bit these past months. We have been making connections everywhere we look. Additionally, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have been introduced to spreadsheets in Excel. Watch for the projects they are working on to be posted later…
I know that our time together each week is quite limited. I would like to make sure that we have not forgotten about our blog buddies and how to write quality comments. SO, in an effort to encourage you to practice your digital skills at home, I am issuing a blogging challenge! This month, students can earn 1 piece of candy per 2 quality comments left on our blog or on our Blog Buddies posts. Remember, a quality comment would include all of the items we have discussed in class. The top comment writer will receive a cool PRIZE! All other participants will have an opportunity to win a prize, as well, by having their name entered into a drawing.
Please post a comment here to tell us what you are learning from our friends and where you learned it. The student who finds the most interesting or unique fact will also receive a PRIZE. We will vote on the most interesting comments at the end of the month.
Don’t forget to ask questions and leave comments for other students.
Another part of the challenge involves practicing your keyboarding skills at home. You have an extra chance to earn 1 piece of candy each week that you practice your keyboarding skills at home. Visit Dance Mat Typing or E-Learning for Kids, from home, at least 2 times for 20 minutes each during the week. Then, leave a quality comment on this post with your first name and an adult family member’s first name who can confirm that you met this challenge.
Thanks to Miss Jordan and 2KJ for sharing this idea with us! You can read about their challenge here.
Happy Blogging!
What have you learned from our Blog Buddies?
Can you tell me about a time that you participated in a contest?
Skyping with 2KJ in Australia!
Nov 24th
We Skyped with Miss Jordan and 2KJ in Victoria, Australia!
2KJ has been helping us learn about the seasons all around the world. It is spring in Australia while it is fall here in the U.S.A. The third grade classes celebrated all their hard work on the BookQuest with a fall party. Since 2KJ has done such a wonderful job helping us learn, we thought it would be a great idea to invite them to our party. 2KJ and 2KM joined us LIVE on Skype. It was the first time that any of these Techie Kids have used Skype. They were so happy they could see and hear our buddies in Australia while they talked with us. Thank you to our special friends who made this party such a memorable experience!
We learned some super-cool facts about life in Australia.
Our party was at 5:30pm on Monday night, but for 2KJ, it was 9:30am on Tuesday morning!
Australia’s total population is around 21,000,000 people.
The students at Leopold Primary School wear uniforms and we do not.
It does not snow where 2KJ lives in Victoria.
We say that we “root” for a team. In Australia, they “barrack” for a team.
The Ashes Cricket tournament takes place in Australia during the summer.
They enjoy watching the Melbourne Cup and Geelong Cup horse races and participate by having “sweeps.” This is when the names of the horses are put in a hat and they pull out a name to find out what horse they want to win. They get a prize if their horse comes in first!
They like to eat vegetables, fruit, and Vegemite.
The students especially enjoyed hearing that Miss Jordan was able to look out the window at her family’s house in the country and see kangaroos. We thought that would be awesome!!
Thanks for teaching us so much about your country!
Image by Clement, Melissa. dsc_0297.jpg. 2009. Pics4Learning. 24 Nov 2010 http://pics.tech4learning.com
Our photographers went right to work to help us remember our party. Cameron, Kayla, Trisha, Bryce, Noah, William, Jenna, and Evelina were busy taking pictures of all the fun. Enjoy the slideshows!
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| Free slideshow created with Smilebox |
What was your favorite part about skyping with 2KJ?
What are some similarities or differences between our class and 2KJ?
Why do you think Skype is a good idea to use in schools?
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