What have you been up to this summer? Click on the "comment" link below to post a summary of your adventures. We'd love to hear an update!
Love,
Mrs. Foley
Mrs. Foley's Third Grade |
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In mid-June, my family took a trip to Disney World. What an amazing vacation! It was the first time Emma and Lauren had been on an airplane. Even though Florida was very hot and crowded, we enjoyed every minute. My husband, daughters, and I explored Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. Staying out late every night was so much fun. We saw several light shows and took advantage of the short lines for rides before closing time!
What have you been up to this summer? Click on the "comment" link below to post a summary of your adventures. We'd love to hear an update! Love, Mrs. Foley
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Idea Writing Box
Written by Alex Edited by Tatiana, Evelyne, and Lydia Mrs. Foley put out new writing tools called the writing idea box. She got the idea because when we read a story in our reading textbook, an author said she has a box that she puts things into. And then she pulls something out of it. We also do that. It's kind of the same thing. It's just that we don't make our writing into books. You might already know this, though. I'm work on a story called The Great Kaleidoscope. It's a really good story. I want to make it into a book so everyone in the world can read my book. Having an idea box is an inspiration for writing. Multiplication and Division Timed Tests Written by Miles and Sam Edited by Alex, Dean, and Anthony We have done multiplication and division. The order of the facts are 2, 5, 10, 0/1, 9, 4, 3, 8, 6, 7. If we pass all of those tests, we will move onto 11 then 12. There are some that are hard and some are easy, but no matter what we only have 1 minute on every test. If we don't pass the fact we're working on, we stay on that fact. When we pass our fact, we move on to the next fact. Multiplication and division timed tests are fast so that's why we do them. They help us write math answers faster. The class is working hard on our timed tests. Science Lessons Written by Krish and Corgan Edited by Miles and Jerzi First, we read a Scholastic News about floods in Louisiana. Then we did a bridge experiment to see how many pennies it could hold. The hopper experiment was easy to do. I know that this was my greatest experiment with my partner. Last, we did a sliding test. I loved all of these projects. Did you? Fractions Written by Vikhyath and Jacob Edited by Isaac, Sam, and Krish In math we are learning about fractions. Sometimes fractions are parts of a whole. First, we started off with basic fractions. For example, we had a square partitioned in four parts and that fraction would be called fourths. Next, our class learned about shaded fractions. For instance, there was one square that was partitioned into fourths. Two were shaded. That's 2/4. After that, the class worked on fractions on a number line. Last, the students practiced fractions on a website called "Power My Learning." Fractions were fun to learn in class! Minute to Win It Written by Charitha, Ingrid, and Dean Edited by Abhinav, Jake, and Luke At indoor recess, some of our teachers played Minute to Win It. Minute to Win It is a game where you have to complete tasks under a minute. Our art teacher, Mrs. Geggus, and the ELL teacher, Mr. Mattson, played a game where you have to stack cups the fastest. Water Cycle Program Written by Anthony and Jerzi Edited by Srujan and Ben We had a visitor come to our school and she showed the third graders how we should take care of the world. She brought a model of the land and showed how if you don't act carefully, you can hurt the wildlife. MLK Social Studies Project Written by Isaac and Tatiana Edited by Vikhyath, Adrianne, and Miles During the last few days, we've been working on a Martin Luther King, Jr. project. First, we made a know, want to know, and learned chart. Second, our class did a Nearpod lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. Next, we read articles and watched videos so we could gather information. Then the class wrote facts about Dr. King and how he made a difference on people and glued it on black construction paper. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA. Later on we wrote how he made a difference in the world. Lastly, we cut out the head using scissor and then we glued on the head. That'show we made our MLK project. Bowling Written by Adrianne, Evelyne, and Emma Edited by Corgan, Ingrid, and Charitha In P.E., we recently just started bowling. The goal of bowling is knock down the pins and have fun. In bowling we had a group of three and one kid rolls the ball, the other kid set-up the pins, then the last kid does an exercise on a mat. We could do wall push-ups, a plank, a regular push-up, and step-ups. And for bowling, we had six pins and two turns. The picker-upper picks up the pins and makes it in a triangle facing the bowler. The picker-up also hands you the ball. Bowling is a fun sport to play with our friends. Spelling Centers Written by Evelyne Edited by Jacob, Tatiana, and Anthony Sometimes for spelling we can do spelling centers. We can use Mr. Sketch markers. We write our words on the paper and then turn them in. The markers smell like fruit! And everybody loves Play-doh! We have tools to help us make words. Also, we can use magnets to make our spelling words. We try to get as many words done. And there's more! We can write with dry-erase markers. There are lots of fun centers. Valentine's Day Party Written by Lydia and Luke Edited by Abhinav, Tatiana, and Anthony On Tuesday, our class was having a Valentine's Day party with our friends and some room parents! We couldn't wait! We had one game. (I'll give you a tip: it included Nerf bows and arrows.) It was a metal wire bended into a heart shape, which you shoot an arrow through. Also, we had Capri Suns, strawberries, and cookies for our snack. We had an awesome Valentine's Day party this year! Distributive Property
by Charitha, Ingrid, & Evelyne Mrs. Foley had a really fun way to learn the Distributive Property of Multiplication. We pretended to be doctors. We acted like we were doing surgery! Mrs. Foley organized the desks in arrays. She called our classroom "Operating Room X." Get it?! For our first activity, we used counters to make arrays. Then we slpit the arrays into two other arrays with popsicle sticks. We called them scalples! Then we recorded the two smaller arrays on a worksheet. Then we put it altogether. For our second activity, we used Q-tips and red paint on trays to make arrays on another worksheet. Next, we divided the arrays into two equations. For example, 6 X 2 = (3 X 2) + (3 X 2). Go operation X! Yah! Rock Climbing by Adrianne, Houston, & Jeremiah In rock climbing, we had to climb sideways. We could not go too far up. We had to stay below the red line because if we went too far up we will fall. And we had to stay close to the mat so when we fall we cannot hurt ourselves. We had a lot of fun climbing the wall. Informational Game Book Report by Alexandria, Jerzi, & Emma First, we bought the stuff. Next, we made the game. We made fact cards and shared some of the facts we learned form our book. Then we practiced at our house. Then we presented the game. While we were presenting, Mrs. Foley was grading us. Some kids got to play on Friday. Other kids' games will be next Friday. Fossils by Anthony & Ben In science we learned about fossils. We learned why people think dinosaurs were reptiles. They think that because they found dino eggs and and they found skin. They also saw the skulls had extra holes. They thought they lived in jungles. Their climate changed so it is different from today. There are mold fossils and cast fossil. Petrified wood is made when a piece of wood gets buried in mud. Then minerals replace wood as time passes. Finally, rock surrounding the fossil is removed. Petrifed wood forms when trees fall into a river. Plant fossils tell us that the first plants did not have flowers or cones. As forms of life continued to change, so did the magnolia. Fossils by Dean & Corgan We watched a science video about fossils. In Antarctica, they found a forest tree fossil. So it used to be a tropical forest. Illinois used to be an ocean a shark tooth was found. We did a worksheet on fossils. Fossils can be found in dinosaur eggs. Dinosaur really means terrifying lizard. Multiplication Timed Tests by Tatiana, Lydia, & Miles In our timed tests, we are doing 2s, 5s, 10s, 0/1s, 9s, and so on. With a timed test, we have one minute to write our facts down. When we take a multiplication timed test, every time someone passes the test they get a star on the chart. When you pass a test, you move up one fact. If you fail a timed test, you have to start over with the same multiple until you get it right. You have to pass the tests fluently by th end of the year, but you can play multiplication games to help you. Hour of Code by Isaac, Abhinav, & Srujan Last Tuesday, Brian Hiles from State Farm came to our classrom to teach us how to code using the website www.code.org/learn. We played Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, and Ice Age. To finish each level there was a goal. For example, one of the challenges was the bird named Red had to defeat the green minion pig. To move the character you have to place movement blocks. We all had a lot of fun. Pioneer Games by Sam, Jake, & Kyle We played pioneer games in Fun Friday. One of the games we played was buzz saws. You hold two pieces of wood tied to a circular piece of wood in the middle and spun it and pulled it back and forth to make it spin. Our class also played jacks. First, the player bounces the ball. While the ball is in the air, pick up as many jacks as you can and try to catch the ball. If you don't catch the ball, you don't get any of those jacks. We played tops, too. You hold the tip of the top and spin it on the bottom. We had competitions to see whose top spun the longest. It was interesting seeing how much toys have changed over the years. We are glad to have modern toys!! Everyone had lots of fun playing pioneer games!!! Social Studies Brochure Project by Vikhyath, Luke, & Krish In social studies, we are working on a brochure project. We are making the brochure on Bloomington. Our class had to persuade people to come to Bloomington. The brochure has four parts: the physical geography, the natural resources, the climate, and the cover page. The physical geography is the lay of the land. Nautral resources are what we get from where we live and what we sell. The climate is the weather where you live. For the cover page, our class had to draw the state Illinois and mark Bloomington and come up with catchy saying. In October, the third grades took a field trip to the David Davis Mansion. There were six stations.
Station 1: We went in the Davis's house and made butter. These are the steps how to make butter. 1. First, pour heavy cream into a jar. 2. Put a lid on the jar. 3. Then shake it for 5-10 minutes. Pass the jar around the table and take turns. 4. Take off the lid to check if it has churned. (Churned is when cream turns into butter.) 5. Enjoy your butter with crackers. This kind of butter is different than butter in the store. They usually have preservatives and yellow dye. Station 2: At the David Davis Mansion field trip, we learned about the Monarch Butterfly. The volunteer showed us a chrysalis in a domed butterfly condo. The life cycle begins with the egg hatching. Next, a larva comes out and eats a lot of food: first its egg shell and then the milkweed leaves around it. Then it transforms into a chrysalis. After 7-14 days, it emerges from the chrysalis into a Monarch Butterfly. It dries its wings. When the weather gets cold, Monarchs migrate to Mexico. In the spring, they return. Finally, the butterfly lays eggs. The female lays one egg under each milkweed leaf. Eventually the butterfly will die. The life cycle starts all over again, and again, and so on. Monarchs are poisonous to predators because the milkweed has poisonous fluid that does not hurt the butterfly. Station 3: At the next station, we visited the barn and saw horses. The two work horses, Randy and Flint, were huge! We found out they have actually been in a few movies. Handlers nail the horseshoe to the hoof. It is a lot like our fingernails. The hoof does not have nerves. We also learned that they are measured in hands from it's shoulder to the ground. The back of a horse's neck is called its withers. In the barn for the horses, they had stables. They were slanted so the urine could run down and there was a hole at the edge of the stable. We had fun learning about horses. Station 4: Sarah Davis had a flower garden. Some of the flowers were planted about 150 years ago by Sarah. There are lots of beautiful flowers in the garden. We learned about how bees pollinate flowers. We also studied about different types of plants, flowers, and seeds. Lastly, our class reviewed how plants grow. We saw zinnias, daises, roses, you name it! Station 5: During the trip to the David Davis Mansion, a volunteer asked us what does the stem do for the plant. We responded that it takes the water and the food to the leaves. The master gardeners told us about how seeds travel through the air. They asked us about how they grow. Our response was it needs air, water, food, and space because Mrs. Foley told us about it. That's our parts of a plant center. Station 6: On our trip, the workers taught us how to wash clothes in the old days. We used a washboard and bucket with cold water. Next, we cleaned the bed sheets by rubbing the fabric on the metal in and out of the water with a little bit of soap. Last, we got to dump the water after. Also, students beat a rug with a beater. This was hard work! ~ Mrs. Foley's Third Graders Morning Routine - Every morning we fill out our assignment notebooks. Inside we have daily goals, reminders, what we've learned today, and work to complete. After we fill out our binders, we show the teacher. Then we follow a checklist on the SMART Board to do our DCCR math packet and a spelling activity.
Mrs. Foley's Recommended Reading - Every week Mrs. Foley recommends fascinating books for us. She tells us a little about it and the Lexile and points. Then she displays it and we can check it out. 10 Essentials - Our teacher has talked to us about manners and how to behave. There are 10 essentials.
Social Studies - In social studies we learned about monuments in the USA such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Everglades, Mount Rushmore, and The Statue of Liberty. We used the laptops for researching information about the places we studied. We also learned about space and the earth. We get to learn about lots of fun stuff in social studies. It's something new to explore! Science - In science we have recently learned that anything with a seed is a science fruit. Our class dissected fruits and vegetables such as radishes, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, and bananas. We also learned about selection and how fruits used to be small and not as sweet. Plant growers have chosen seeds from the sweetest and biggest fruit of that variety to replant. As an example, the first peach was the size of a cherry. Reading Counts - In our class we have something called Reading Counts. When you read a book, you take a quiz and earn points. The quarterly goal is 25 points. Each time you meet this goal, Mrs. Foley sends you to the office to create a piece for Mrs. Lindeman's bulletin board. "Reading Snapshots" was first quarter. At the end of second quarter, we need 50 points. At the end of third quarter, we need 75 points. At the end of the year, 100 points is our goal. So we'll keep reading! First you have to read the book 2-3 times if it is a picture book. For books read aloud by a teacher, you can take a quiz, but after 2 weeks, you have to read the book again before you take the quiz. Make sure the book is in your Lexile range. Sign up on the board when you are ready. Show the book to the teacher before you get on the computer. Bring the book with you. You have to get 7 questions right to pass the quiz and get the points. SUCCESS - During SUCCESS, children in third grade go to different places like Mr. Bohne's library, Mrs. Bass, Mrs. Foley's room, Mrs. Alfeo's room, Mrs. Davis' room, or Mrs. Bell. Mrs. Davis teaches us about owls, sea turtles, sea slugs, lizards, and chipmunks. All the stuff we learn is interesting and amazing. We read a nonfiction book and we learn more information. We also write what we know on a sheet of paper with a partner and share what we know with other students. Now our focus is deserts. SUCCESS if fun. In reading class we recently read The Ballad of Mulan. She went to war in her father's place for ten years. Her fellow soldiers were surprised that she was a woman. At that time, people didn't think women could fight.
Everyday after recess we have STAR time. STAR time is like DEAR time, but we have a theme of space. It means "Students Together All Reading." We either sit at our desks, the bungee chair, or anyplace in the room. You can read books from the school or classroom library. We have reminders to stay seated, hold a book, keep your eyes on the page, and be quiet. We can also take a Reading Counts quiz if we are ready. It's nice to have reading time. Did you know that we switch for social studies and science? Mrs. Foley's class goes to Mrs. Alfeo and Mrs. Alfeo's class goes to Mrs. Foley. It is cool having two classrooms and two teachers! In social studies we are learning about cities, counties, states, countries, continents, and hemispheres. Our focus on where we live. In science we learned how plants need bees. Our science mystery focused on vanilla bean pods and how pollination works. Then we dissected some foods with toothpicks to look for seeds. We had radishes, potatoes, cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes. If it had seeds, then it was a science fruit. If it did not have seeds, it was a science vegetable. In addition, students can sign up to a "Scientist of the Week" this year. The students get to bring in easy, safe, and fun experiments to show the class for 10-15 minutes. We do tether activities if we are done with an assignment. Our choices are finish late work, reading a book, sharpening pencils, going to the bathroom, taking Reading Counts quizzes, and beyond. Soon we will add more to the list. We do this so you will be occupied and note just stare around the classroom when finished with work. We can use the bungee chairs during this time. As you can tell, we'll have a great year with tether activities. When we go outside for Fun Friday, we go to the playground and have lots of fun playing with friends. Sometimes we have inside Fun Friday and play games like Battleship, Monopoly Jr., Clue Jr., Headbandz, chess, and checkers. It is important to share and avoid arguments. We can also free draw and color or just read. It's a lot of fun. We have many awards in our classroom. We have "Star Student" awards. They are small trophies that Mrs. Foley gives out for good behavior. Also, we have "Caution Superstar" awards. On Mondays, week-long awards are given for "A+ Attitude," "Participation," and "Heart of a Hero." From time to time, we also get "Super Stellar Spacecraft" awards for organized desks. For any good behavior, students can receive a bucket slip. After writing your name on the paper, it goes in our class pail. Mrs. Foley chooses 2 each week and those kids get small prizes. ~ Mrs. Foley's Class Welcome to Mrs. Foley's 3rd grade class! I am so happy to be your teacher this year. We are going to have a BLAST! Are you ready for launch? Buckle up for a fantastic flight, crew!
Splish, splash! This summer has been a blast so far! My family and I have been enjoying the fabulous weather and time with friends. There have been many trips to the pool and backyard fun with the sprinkler. My girls love, love, love the water. We've also visited several parks and the Miller Park Zoo. Over Memorial Day weekend, we had an extended family getaway in Michigan City, IN on Lake Michigan. The lake water was a little chilly, but that didn't stop my daughters!
While summer is the best time to be outdoors having fun, we take a little time each day to read and work on academics. It's about 45-60 minutes, but the time goes by so quickly. Emma and Lauren have review workbooks and also use website games. They really like logging their books and minutes for the summer reading program, "Read for the Win" at the NPL and BPL. Have you signed up, yet? Here are the informational links to both libraries. Bloomington Public Library Summer Reading Program Normal Public Library Summer Reading Program So, 3F kiddos, what have you been up to so far this summer? Click on the "comment" link below and tell us about your adventures! In partnership, Mrs. Foley Yay! We recently had our spring book fair! There were many books, collectibles, and posters which included dogs, cats, and sports. At lunch some people ate with a loved one. Grandparents and parents came to shop during recess. We are enjoying our new books!
Wow! Look at our coil pots! In art class we made pots out of clay. First, our art teacher, Mrs. Geggus, gave us each a slab of moist clay. Next, we used a jar lid to cut out the bottom of our pot, the foundation. Then we rolled out the clay to make coils and put them in a form of a pot. Next, we waited until they were bone dry and Mrs. Geggus set them in the kiln. Then we glazed our pots (put color on them) and put them back into the kiln. Finally, we took them home. Some people used them as a candle holder, jewelry cup, or just kept it on a table to admire. We loved our coil pots. In math we have been learning lots of useful information. For instance, we learned 1 kilogram is equal to 1,000 grams. We felt how a gram and a kilogram weigh. Our class also learned about capacity. 1 liter is equal to 1,000 mL. We now know about perimeter and area. Mrs. Foley taught us a trick so we don't get confused. The word perimeter has "rim" in the word. It is the outside of a shape. The word area has air in it. It is the space inside the shape. Well, that's handy! We are training to be experts on perimeter, area, weight, and capacity. Woo-hoo! That's the sound of kids celebrating that PARCC is over! PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of College and Career Readiness) challenged our minds, but we got through it. Sometimes we got extra recess for our hard work. Earlier this month, Mrs. Foley helped us by giving us practice tests. Every PARCC session we got brain power mints because it helps our brains think. There were two kinds of sessions: ELA and math. We were given scratch paper and a pencil. We had 1 hour or 90 minutes to take each unit test. We brought 2 books with to read if we finished early. Most everyone is happy that PARCC testing is over! Encouragement. This is what our PARCC buddies have given to us all throughout PARCC testing. During the two PARCC weeks, our kindergarten buddies, Ms. Kirk's class, gave us little trinkets like glow bracelets, bookmarks, superhero tissues, pencils, and lucky pennies with notes. They have rewarded us so many goodies because we have put so much effort into our important testing. They have granted us many rewards, and we are very thankful. For the 4th quarter book report, our topic is biographies. For our book report we have to make a paragraph, timeline, and a creative puppet. In our paragraph, we are expected to include why our person is famous, why he/she is successful, and what he/she gave to the world. We can get 20 points for this. In our timeline, we get points for spacing 5 or more events out correctly. We can earn 30 points for the timeline. Our puppet needs to look creative to get all 30 points. Some students are doing Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Bill Gates, and other people. We can't wait to present our book reports! On May 13 is Oakland's school carnival. The activities you can do include bouncy house, bouncy slide, car racing, musical spots, basketball, and petting zoo. The treats you can have are cotton candy, cupcakes, snow cones, popcorn, water, soda, cookies, pizza, and spaghetti. In the school. the activities we do are in the gym and include games with balls. The best thing is it is mostly free and you can be with lots of friends and family. We hope you can attend Oakland's Spring Carnival. Have you ever heard of the Million-word Reader Lock-in? Well, this event is one of the best parts of the school year. You can have lots of candy and fun. Different games that you would play include dodgeball, Bingo, and relay races. We watch a movie that is G or PG rated. One of the movies we watched last year was Paddington. The boys and girls are separated. After that we watch digital books and go to sleep. In the morning, we have breakfast and we say farewell to our friends. As you can see, the lock-in is very fun, so we hope you can achieve a million RC words. Did you know that Bloomington High School is running a camp for 3rd through 8th graders? They have many sports to participate in. For instance, they have football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball. The sports can be played by boys and girls. If you don't know how to play the sport, they'll teach you the basics. Would you be interested in playing any of these sports over the summer at a BHS camp? Yippee! Lots of people have been doing amazing things during the last few weeks! The A+ Attitude Award was given to Kaydence, Pranav, Malachi, Kayden, Emily, Nia, Lexie, and William. Claire, Avery, Harshita, and Devam earned the Heart of a Hero Award. Several students were excellent at participating: Malhar, Ella, Aswin, Tarun, Claire, Malachi, Alexis, Maicy, Kaitlynn, and Jase. Guess what! Ella is now a million word reader! Also, Avery and Alexis presented their science experiments. We are very proud of these people. ~ Mrs. Foley's Third Graders |
AuthorsEach month Mrs. Foley's third graders collaborate to write a blog entry summarizing our adventures at school! Archives
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