Today is our picnic! Today is our picnic!

Today, Thursday, we have the picnic and we are super excited and some people are nervous or worried. Some people are nervous because they might mix up songs or might make a mistake in their play. Keira is nervous because she’s been having a stomach ache and doesn’t want it during the picnic. We’re excited for our parents to see our work and some people are worried about the rain and that we might do everything inside.

We made collages for our mammal study. They took a few weeks to finish and most people are done. Please come and see them hanging outside of our room but don’t touch them because they might break. Some pieces can move on most of the murals and we don’t want them to break.

Almost no one has finished their mammal study projects. Some people are close and some people have a long way to go. The black bears won’t have any more work time to finish their mammal study before the picnic but the grey wolves still have a work time to finish.

We are doing songs and dances in our classroom for our picnic and cookout celebrations. Sometimes we mess up the chant for the corn dance and the friendship song. We hope to get these right tonight at the picnic!

In Spanish we are making restaurant menus. We are working in groups of two and each group has the same menu.

See you tonight at the picnic!!

Blix and Keira

3S Update by Luciano and Brie

Last Wednesday, we had a Cookout and the point of the cookout was to try to relive how the Native Americans lived 500 years ago.  It was also to celebrate everything we learned about all year.  

We had a celebration.  We sang Native American songs and danced Native American dances.  Right before we started the celebration, we saw a deer!  Everyone started singing, “I sign for the animals” when we saw it.

We also played games on the cookout.  We played summer games like double ball, lacrosse, and another game with a feather.  We also played a game that is similar to a bean bag toss.

The class ate food that we made.  We made succotash, beef stew, salmon, and corn cakes with apple sauce and honey.  We made the fish by putting lots of clay on it and then we put it in the fire under coal.  Luciano wants you to know that it was the best fish he’s ever had! Brie really enjoyed the succotash!

The whole cookout turned out to be better than we thought it would be.  It was one of our favorite experiences of third grade!

You can come see our celebration and watch our pour quoi tale plays on Thursday at our picnic.  Hope to see you there, parents!

Brie and Luciano

Update by Maya and Caleb - 5/18/15

In Language groups this week everyone has started their Pourquoi tale plays. We started practicing our scripts. We are practicing plays to perform them at the cookout which is on Wednesday, May 20th. Save the date! The rain date is Tuesday, May 26th but it’s looking like sunny skies for May 20th.

A lot of people have started finishing their babies and we are in the middle of our loom beading. We are also practicing our songs for the picnic and the cookout. This is a list of the songs we are doing:

-Celebration

-Heal toe in circle

-Thankful pieces

-Gawawajine

-I sing for the animals

-Thankful pieces

-”Let Us Dance”

-Robin Dance

-Move into two lines

-4 Directions

-Lummi Sticks

-Thankful Pieces

Friendship Song

The class picnic is May 28th. At the picnic we do everything we do at the cookout but we don’t make the food. For example, we perform plays and songs for our parents.

During work time we are doing our mammal study. We would like to have our Book Creator project or poster done by the time of the picnic so that we can show our parents. In art we are doing collages of our mammal in their habitat. Some people are done and some people are not.

Only 3 more weeks of school! #awesome!

3S News Report by Natalie and Cassidy

Natalie and Cassidy's Babies

We are getting ready for the cookout.  It’s REALLY soon!  It’s next Wednesday on May 20th.  To get ready we are making plays, sewing our babies, beading headbands, we are learning songs and dances, and so much more!

We are turning pourquoi tales into plays.  A pourquoi tale is a story about how something came to be.  Alexa’s group is doing How the Birds got their Feathers, Jessica’s group is doing Turtle Makes War on Man, and Marilyn’s group is doing How the Chipmunk got their Stripes.  We have been working on writing our scripts.  When we are done, we will practice performing them.  It’s really fun working with everybody.

In Social Studies we finished Lightfoot and we are going to read a new book called Mary Jemison.  We’ve also been working on our mammal study.  Cassidy is studying the coyote and she learned that pups don’t open their eyes until they are 8-10 days old.  Natalie is studying the Canada Lynx and she learned that the Lynx’s fur changes color in the summer and the winter.  Natalie went to the Queens Zoo to see a Lynx and it wasn’t their! What a bummer!  She saw a black bear, a coyote, pumas, and other animals.

Do you have a fun fact about a mammal?  Comment with your fun fact on this blog post!

Here comes the spring...

Friday was the Spring Festival.  It was so much fun!  We finally got to play our recorder piece.  We played a song called Blueberry Waltz.  We also weren’t the only ones playing recorder.  Fifth graders played from their recorders also.  They also sang a bunch of songs.  Pre-K sang a song in Japanese about bees and it was cool.  First and Second Grades made up their own songs.  One of the songs was about mustaches.  Fourth grade baked bread.  We hope everyone had fun!  We can’t wait until next year’s Spring Festival!

Have a great week!
Pablo and Sawyer

Crazy Chaos from Colin and Henry

Crazy Chaos from Colin and Henry

This week we are learning a Lummi Stick song for when our parents come during our 3rd grade picnic. There aren’t any words in the song but there are vocables. We are using the Lummi sticks we made in wood shop to make rhythm patterns.

In art we are making animal scenes for collages. The animals in our scenes are the same mammals that we are studying. Colin and Henry are both studying the mountain lion.

On our iPads we are researching mammal videos for information for a book that we will write about our mammals. We are using books to find facts too.

In math we are currently studying geometry and angles. We are also studying dimensions and how squares and rectangles are alike. Here are some of the reasons: they are both polygons, both of them have opposite sides that are parallel and they both have four right angles. Also, on a square all four sides are congruent but on a rectangle only two sides are congruent.

In Language, we started reading pourquoi tales. We have been making story maps about the setting, characters, lesson or moral, problem and solution. We also talk about what the story is about.  Pourquoi means why in French.  These stories answer a question, like how something came to be.

In Science we have been trying to figure out what the three mystery liquids are with only using our sight. To find out the mystery liquid we are putting coffee stirrers in and observing. We are also pouring and mixing two liquids together to see what happens. FYI: no explosions!

Have a great weekend!

Last Week's Update by Spencer and James

We love the weather!  It is now spring!  It’s FINALLY not winter!!  We like spring because…

1. We get to go outside without coats! (no more snow gear!)
2. We can finally go on the field!
3. Finally we get to go outside for PE!  #morelaps
4. It means Spring Festival is coming up!

All three math groups are studying geometry.  We looked at different angles like obtuse angles and right angles.  To learn about angles we used an App called Sketchpad Explorer.  On the App, it shows all kinds of different shapes and also measures the degree of the angle.

This week, we started our mammal study and we know which mammal we are going to study.  Spencer is studying the bobcat and James is studying the coyote.  We watched videos and read books about our mammals.  We came up with questions that we have about our mammals.  Today we made categories for the questions.  Here are the categories: food, shelter/habitat, body/appearance, behavior, and life cycle/babies.  We will be researching these categories to learn about our mammals.

Goodbye!

#WEAREAWESOME

This Week's News from Joss and Taji

Joss got a cast this week! We hope she feels better soon. In music this week, Blake found a song for the third grade recorders. We are going to perform the song at the Spring Festival. We’re practicing the song Blueberry Waltz.

On Thursday we shared our historical fiction stories and books. The stories we have written have characters that we created and they are about the lives of Native Americans. For example, a story can include how the Native Americans hunted and about the Medicine Man and how long they lived. The story does not have to be true and that’s what makes it historical fiction.

Our social studies workshop projects are going well. Everyone finished their tunics and most people are done with their babies. In shop we are making our cradle boards. To make the cradle boards you have to make a huge board and you have to make a foot rest. We also finished our lummi sticks with the burning tools.

Joss is excited about starting her mammal studies. She’s wondering what mammal she’ll write about since platypuses did not live in this area. Taji is looking forward to finishing his baby in social studies workshop.

Welcome Back by Zachary and Keira

Welcome back 3S!  How were your two weeks off from school?

We wrote a lot of poems during language.  This week we picked one poem that we liked the most to share with the class.  We copied the words from our poem onto a blank piece of paper or right onto a poster.  Then we decorated our poster with colored pencils, watercolors, or markers.  After that we were able to decide if we wanted to add music to our poem while we read it out loud to the class.  This afternoon is our Poetry Slam!  We are really excited for it!

While we were doing poetry we learned about onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is when you write sounds as words.  Click here to see a word search using onomatopoeia.

Here is a video to watch about it:

Maya and Andrew's Update

Five days until spring break!!

A few weeks ago we tapped the Norway Maple tree.  Harry’s class has already collected some sap.  We collected some today.  We went outside and at first, we thought it was just ice and snow, but we realized that it was actually sap.  Someone tasted it and we found out it was sap!  We measured it and it turns out that we collected almost 3 liters of sap!  We are going to boil it and turn it into maple syrup.  Alexa and Jessica decided that we are all going to taste a little.

In math and science many of us just finished our design project and now we are sharing them.  Andrew and Zachary made a car and Maya, Brie, and Natalie made a sound-sensored fan.  It’s been fun seeing classmates working together and supporting each other.  People have great ideas and their ideas inspire others.  They also inspired the projects that were created.

Today is the 5th grade ballroom dancing presentation.  We are all so excited to watch it, but not so excited to participate in only 2 years from now!  

Stay strong...spring break is coming!

Andrew and Maya

Weekly Update by Natalie and Annika

We have been working on our design project.  Once we had our plan, we started making our idea come to life.  We got materials and started building.  

These are some materials we’ve been using:

littleBits

pipe cleaners

cardboard

duct tape

felt

netting

wire

paper plates and cups

recycled materials

foam

...and more!

We got a new app to explain our steps of building and making our idea come to life.  It’s called, “Explain Everything”.  To use it, we have been taking pictures of what we have been working on and then record our voices and answer questions the teachers asked.

In SSW, we’ve been working on our babies and some people have been finishing our tunics.  We are excited for finishing our babies.  We’re also making cradleboards for our babies in Woodshop.  To make the cradleboards, we have to drill holes for the straps that will hold our babies.  We also have to cut a footrest.  Once they are all done, we will try to experience the life of a Native American mother.

From, Annika and Natalie 

Last Week's Blog by Pablo and Arya

Two Friday’s ago was Parent’s Day!  On Parent’s Day, the parents came to school with their kids.  Our whole class did Morning Meeting with our parents.  Parents got to experience a lot of different things that we do in school on a daily basis. 

At the end, we had an assembly.  It was very crowded.  It was really crowded!  We sang seven songs in 30 minutes.  We sang the Orchestra Song and normally only the kids have a part in it, but for the first time, the parents had a singing part.  They were the bassoons.

We are starting a design project.  To start the project, we went to Quirky and we met with an engineer at school.  Quirky is a school of invention!  They make inventions to solve problems and they make things that are easily accessible.  We learned that there are a lot of steps to building and inventing something.  We saw a “Porkfolio”.  A “Porkfolio” is a piggy bank that counts your money.  They showed us a mini version and a regular-sized version of the “Porkfolio”.  The mini version was just a prototype.  They decided to change the final “Porkfolio” from its shape when it was mini.  We also got to go on a tour of the whole company.  On the tour, we got to see a laser cutter and a few 3D printers.  At the end, both classes competed to see who could design the best drone.  Our class designed a drone with a money slot that turns into a car and has a camera.  It’s controlled by your phone.  If you are lazy it can buy you stuff from the store. 

We also started a design project.  We started by planning and thinking about what we are going to design and make.  We got partners to work with and we drew a rough sketch of what we want to make.  Everyone’s design has to stand up, fit in a bin, and it has to be stable enough not to be able to be blown over.  It also needs to have a function.  We’re excited about this project, but we’re most excited about building it!

Goodbye peeps!  See you next week!  Hope you enjoyed the blog!

Arya and Pablo

Weekly Update by Ava and Sawyer

Last week, 3S went on a trip to the Natural History Museum.  First we went to the hall of North American Mammals.  We saw a lot of mammals that lived or are living in North America.  We were allowed to draw animals that lived in the Northeast.  Ava sketched a baby coyote and a cottontail deer and Sawyer sketched a wolverine, a porcupine, and a lynx.

In the afternoon, we went to the hall of Eastern Woodland Indians.  On our way there we stopped at a case that had furs of animals from New York State.  In the hall of Eastern Woodland Indians, we saw artifacts that different tribes used.  We saw a bunch of wampum, a large dugout canoe, bows and arrows and other weapons, lacrosse sticks and other games, instruments, traditional clothing, and so much more!  We also saw an empty case where false faces used to be, but are not there anymore.  A false face is a mask that holds a spirit and power.  It was supposed to bring good luck or scare away bad spirits.  The false faces are not there anymore because they are too special and sacred.

We enjoyed the trip a lot and wish we could go back again! (Hint hint, Mom and Dad!)

Weekly Update with Blix and Spencer

Bee Bot App

This week we started coding with Bee Bots and the Bee Bot app. So far we have also used Light Bot and we are looking forward to using Scratch Jr.. Light Bot is way more complicated than Bee Bot, we are still figuring out how to play and get past certain levels.

In SSW we started beading out tunics. First we drew pictures and then copied the picture on the tunic and then we started beading it.

Light Bot App

Last Friday was the Martin Luther King Jr. Assembly. we sang a song called 'Back of the Bus'. we remember Jay trying to film it but when our clapping got loud the sound didn't work very well. It was like we couldn't hear in one ear. The assembly was very good because every single grade sang a song. Spencer liked the song the fifth graders sang and Blix liked the song about the Underground Railroad.

Blog Update by Taji and Brie

An affinity group is when a bunch of people come together who have something in common.  Last week we started race based affinity groups (RBAG).  We started in the gym with all the kids in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  Laura, our ethics teacher, spoke about affinity groups and Rama interrupted Laura with a dance.  All of the teachers started to dance with Rama out of no where!  It was AWESOME!  We loved affinity groups.  After the groups met, we were able to talk about it.  We talked about the norms of the groups and how we felt about coming together with 4th and 5th graders.  At first we thought this would be hard.  After doing it for the first time, we feel really excited that we know other kids now and we feel more confident that we can share anything we want to in the group.

This is a video of the teachers dancing to “All About the Race”.  Enjoy!

Here is the official video that was posted by Rama:

Weekly Update from Caleb and Zachary

Week of January 15, 2015

In Woodshop we are learning how to wood burn so we can make lummi sticks and to make decorations we are going to wood burn on the sticks. Lidia is teaching us how to wood burn during woodshop. The tools are extremely hot so we have to be careful so we have to wear gloves and the tools are delicate. One is broken but it works well for making circles and different shapes like curvy lines and waves.

In science we are making a document about our trees and how they function. We are also learning the measurements of our tree, like how tall and how wide. 

In math we are learning addition and subtraction algorithms. Some people are also working on a big word problem like the ECFS bicycle picnic problem.

We have two trips we are looking forward to! We are going to the Natural History Museum and Greenbrook Sanctuary to hike. The Sanctuary was supposed to be a surprise but we found out. Ooops! We were told to bring a lunch, I wonder why. :)

In Social Studies Workshop we are starting to bead on our tunics. We already inked our design on the tunics so now we are beading over the design. We made these for the winter assembly.

In Art we are supposed to draw the details of trees and sky. Corinne is helping us think about the details needed of the type of tree we are making. For example, if it’s a climbing tree it needs to have branches in certain places.

In P.E. we are doing a lot of fitness and basketball. In ethics we are going into groups of our race to talk with 4th & 5th graders.

We are learning the names of our body parts in spanish.

In library we are doing book talks about books we have read.

Have a good 3 day weekend!