littleBits are like Legos, but they use electricity. The pieces have magnets in them so they can connect. We have made alarms, cars with headlights, catapults, and a lot of other stuff. Our teacher gives us all new activities each time we do STEM. Our class was split up into groups of two or three. There was a blue group and a red group. If you were in a blue group, you had to use a 9-volt battery. If you were on a red team, you had to use a laptop for an energy source. Our class loved this activity.
by Jackson, Oliver, & Isaiah
littleBits are like Legos, but they use electricity. The pieces have magnets in them so they can connect. We have made alarms, cars with headlights, catapults, and a lot of other stuff. Our teacher gives us all new activities each time we do STEM. Our class was split up into groups of two or three. There was a blue group and a red group. If you were in a blue group, you had to use a 9-volt battery. If you were on a red team, you had to use a laptop for an energy source. Our class loved this activity.
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by Liam V., Liam P., & Jesiah
A week ago, we started reading trickster tales. A trickster tale is a genre in which somebody tricks someone else. There could be an animal or person. The trickster tales we read were Aunt Fox and the Fried Fish, Rabbit Races with Turtle, and Hungry Spider. Our favorite was Aunt Fox. You can learn a life lesson. One life lesson is don't brag from Rabbit Races with Turtle. Each story had a Reading Counts quiz. We thought they were fun. by Sara, Alayna, Charlee, & DaMia
Every third grader in District 87 got a dictionary from the Bloomington Rotary Club. They gave us a word to look up, snowflake. The dictionary had a map in the back. There was a sticker on it that said Rotary Club. They said not to take it off so we know where we got it from. We took them home and left them there forever. They were so heavy in our backpacks that we almost dropped them. When we got home we were really excited to look up more words. After winter break, we wrote thank you letters to them. We had so much fun with them. We like all the definitions and words in our new dictionaries!! by Cora, Chloe, Eli, & Tyler
This year we used STEM supplies to make American landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, Hoover Dam, Pentagon, White House, Liberty Bell, and many other places. Everybody had a group of two or three people. Also, we did research on the computers in social studies and used kid friendly websites such as Kiddle. We also visited a site called Google Earth. Everybody had fun building landmarks from around the United States. by Oliver, Jax, and Jayden
Our class used laptops to review addition and subtraction facts. We used paddle boards to work out each equation. First, our teams chose a, b, c, or d. You had to finish a problem in 30 seconds. There where 5 kids in 5 groups. As students got correct answers, an egg or crate would open to see the monster inside. When the game ended, Icy Freezers were 1st, the Flame Crushers were 2nd, and the Carton Crunchers were 3rd. Monster Lab was one of the most exciting games we've ever done. by Cora and Jackson
This quarter we are learning about seeds. Some seeds are inside of plants and covered by a seed coat. They travel by animals, water, or wind. We got to go out to the butterfly garden and we got some seed samples. Our group brought them in to look at more closely. Then we used magnifying glasses. We got to go to the David Davis Mansion to learn about seeds as well. Unfortunately, that trip had to end. But it was awesome! Making Butter by Charlee and Fallon On our field trip, we went into the kitchen. Charlee’s grandpa, Mr. Alan, showed how the Davis family used to churn butter the old-fashioned way. Volunteers gave us a jar of half and half. Then they told us to shake. We had to shake for about 4-5 minutes. Helpers told us what they did with butter. They put it on toast, corn, and rolls. They gave us a cracker to try the butter that we made. It tasted good! We loved making the butter! Washing Clothes by Liam P. and Maci Washing clothes at the David Davis Mansion was fun! First, each person scrubbed cloth against a scrub board. Next, individuals hit a rug with a wooden tool called a rug beater while we waited for the cloth to rinse. After the cloth finished rinsing then we all went outside to ring it out. After that, everyone went back inside to put it on a clothesline with pins. Finally, our group went outside to go to our next station. Both of us were happy and excited to wash clothes at the David Davis Mansion because it was good exercise and a fun activity. Sarah’s Garden by Alayna and Sara In Sarah’s garden, we looked at beautiful flowers and the flowers smelled really good. We loved the sunflowers. We learned about original flowers that lived 150 years ago. It was cool and fun. The flowers were blue, yellow, red, orange, and more colors. Alayna liked the blue flowers and Sara liked the purple flowers. They have a fence to keep the animals out. We explored so many flowers, and we had fun. The Barn and Stable by Chloe, Camila, and Zoey Last week we went to the David Davis Mansion on the 15th. One of the stations was the barn and horse. The horse’s name was Randy. We got to pet him and his fur was super soft! Randy is white and has little black spots. Every time the lady said something, he agreed and disagreed by shaking his head yes or no. The manager said he was bigger than a riding horse because he was a field horse. She also said he does not like baths. Did you know that you can train a horse to sit down, but they prefer to lay down? Randy likes to eat grass, hay, and carrots. When we came to see him, he looked eager to meet us. His tongue and teeth were ginormous, too. We loved Randy a lot, and he loved us, too. He was very adorable. Now, let’s talk about the barn! In the barn, we learned about a side saddle. Zoey thinks it’s cool. Back then, ladies only sat with one leg, not two. It wasn’t appropriate sitting straddle on a saddle. The manager taught us that they store the hay on the top of the stable and it shoots down to the stalls. The manager showed us a horseshoe. They nail it into the horse’s hoof, but it doesn’t hurt them at all. After that, she told us about the baby horses, aka foals. They live in a separate area. We loved the barn! Special thanks to Mrs. Ramirez for some of the photos posted here.
by Lyla, Isaiah, and Dmitriy
When Mrs. Foley brought in the Lego WeDo 2.0 kits, we did Lego robotics. First, we went on the app. Then we opened our kits and started to build Milo the Rover. Next, we put together the three parts. We also put the battery on Milo. And then we started coding him to do funny stuff like the disco and playing music. In addition, we made him go in circles. In all, it was fun! If you use Legos, think creatively. by Harsith, Randhir, and Jesiah
When we first started XtraMath, we thought it was pretty boring. But after sometime, it was fun and it improves our math skills. There’s race the teacher and you have to find the answer before the teacher. It’s pretty hard, but we like it. We do it on our laptops. There is another game on our laptops. It is called EducationCity. It has four tabs with activities. There are about 10 games on topics such as place value and addition/subtraction in each tab. It is a fun and hard way to do math. We also do partner games such as Rounding Roll It and Monster Multiplication. |
AuthorsEach month Mrs. Foley's third graders collaborate to write a blog entry summarizing our adventures at school! Archives
May 2020
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