I can't believe I am sitting here on fall break. That means that I, specifically, survived the first quarter of my first year of teaching. Phew! It's been a crazy first quarter. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing, but we are surviving. When I sit and reflect about the first day of school, and where we are now, I can't help my beam with pride. These third graders have already grown so much together. We have made significant gains, and are heading in the right direction in so many areas.
I can't wait to see what quarter 2 brings; I have a feeling it is going to be even more enjoyable, so much more fun, and so exciting to learn so many new things.
Quarter 2 brings multiplication and division to us. That is pretty much all we will be working on in Math, and phew, it's going to be tough; we are up for this challenge though!
In reading, we will focus a lot on synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and inflectional endings. We will also learn dictionary skills, how to use a thesaurus, and different types of functional text like maps, graphs, directions, recipes, and schedules.
Science will be fun and interesting. I believe our next kit will be Elements of Sound. This will be a first for me, so that is why I say interesting, but science is always fun. :)
My plan is to video tape as often as we can, to perform some skits, make some homemade applesauce (Because, I need a little bit of fall in my Arizona life), become better readers, master multiplication and division, and to be creative, exert energy, and learn together while having fun.
Our end of the quarter project this time is going to the Cardboard Challenge. I am super super excited for this, and I think the kids are going to LOVE it. We are going to be collecting cardboard materials, and then will have a day (or two) or preparing, planning, and building a game out of recycled materials and cardboard only. We will then spend a day playing each other's games and learning about why we chose to make what we did.
Oh, and Let's not forget that we have our FIRST Mystery Skype planned for next Wednesday. The kiddos don't know what day it will be yet, BUT, I am so excited to see them through this project. They have already come so far with their geographic skills and I hope that they are still able to present themselves with confidence to this classroom.
Phew, so much going on in the upcoming quarter. I can't contain my excitement!
To celebrate, I've added another free TPT item ... we will be reviewing and practicing our multiplication facts with this Roll, Write, Multiply activity!
To end quarter 1, and the last blog post from quarter 1, we have our FINALIZED video of our non-fiction vs. fiction project. I was brought to tears watching the evolution of these kids on camera. They video taped each other for this final cut, and I edited. So much fun. They still aren't talking very loud yet, but golly... look at how far they have come!! Love love them!! <3
Happy learning! See you next quarter,
Ms. Niehaus
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