Can't Get Enough Cursive

Cursive practice is in full force in Mrs. Hunter's class!  We've almost tackled all of the lowercase letters and will begin the uppercase letters soon.  The students are eager to put their skills to use and to use cursive during their everyday writing.

Please do not practice any cursive at home until we are done teaching the lowercase letters.  We use specific terminology to teach the formation of letters and we don't want to create any confusion.

When it is time to practice cursive at home, make sure your child is sitting in a chair at a desk or table with a fresh pencil.  They should be sitting straight up with both feet on the ground.  This posture helps ensure the best possible handwriting.

We've done a great job practicing so far.  Enjoy some pictures of our work below.

National Symbols with 30 hands!

Remember our exploration with 30 hands??  Well we were able to put it to good use while we studied our national symbols.  First, students researched on computers about two of our national symbols.  After their research was complete, they made a 30 hands presentation to present to the class.  They were required to state their symbol, and include at least one picture and two facts.  The rest was left to them!  They really took the project and ran with it and I was pleased to see them adding their own flair.  Many went above and beyond to make their presentations AMAZING!!

Exploring with Ipads

We're lucky at TMP to have some amazing technology right at our fingertips.  Our latest exploration was with Ipad app 30 hands.  This application is similar to PowerPoint in that students can create presentations but it is much more user friendly.  Using the app, students can type, write with their finger, or record their voice as well as draw pictures, take pictures, and upload pictures from the internet.   For our initial exploration, students were allowed to make presentations on anything they wanted.  It was wonderful to have their creative sides come through!  Enjoy some pictures from our exploration.

Our Class Rule

With our Government unit coming to a close, we thought it would be fun to do a real life simulation of how rules and laws effect a community.  The class was split into the three groups responsible for laws.  We had a city council to create our law, judges to interpret our law, and police to enforce our law.  At our town meeting, I met with the council who decided on three different possible laws.  Then it was put to our entire class for a vote.  Each student filled out a voter registration card and went to their polling place to cast their vote.  The law that came to pass was that any time students came to the carpet they would need to Army crawl.  Next I sat in on the judges chambers where they decided that anyone who broke the law would be required to dance like a ballerina for a minute.  On the day of the law, the police officers sent anyone who broke it to "jail" which was set up at the round table.  Two times a day, "offenders" could make bail by dancing like a ballerina while the judges watched.

This day was  A LOT of fun!  Students got to see the lawmaking process all the way through and what happens when laws are broken.  By the end of the day everyone, offender or not, was just dying to dance like a ballerina.  Enjoy some pictures of the event!

Dancing like ballerinas:

 Army crawling:

Go Noodle!

In 3rd Grade we are having A LOT of fun with a new website called GoNoodle.  It's no surprise to anyone that after long periods of hard work, 3rd graders need a break!  This program has almost a hundred videos that are 5 minutes or less and get students up and moving.  We've found that after these breaks students are better able to concentrate.  Our brain break time is in between writing and math and is a sight to see!  Enjoy some pictures and a video of us breaking it down. :)

If you'd like to use GoNoodle at home, simply visit https://www.gonoodle.com/ and sign up!

So what is this Daily 5 thing anyway???

Have you ever been looking at our schedule and wondered, "What is this Daily 5 thing anyway??"  If so, stay tuned!!

Daily 5 is our 3rd Grade literacy block.  It takes place from 8:00-9:20.  Within that time students have 20 minutes to read independently as well as three 20-minute choice times.  During these choice times students can pick from the following five activities.


Read to Self:Students read independently out of a book tub that contains both good fit books chosen by them from the class library and books I have specially chosen for them.  They are allowed to sit at their desk or on the floor as well as on comfy chairs and pillows.

Media: In this choice, students listen to books either on computers or the Ipad using the district purchased web program, MyOn reader.

Writing: In this choice, students fine tune their writing skills through a variety of different activities.  Students get the opportunity to write comics, fairy tales, and fiction stories as well as old favorites like narrative and informational stories.  In this picture, a student is practicing, "Roll a Story," where the roll of a die tells your story's main character, plot, and setting.

Word Study: In this choice, students have a list of over ten different activities to chose from.  These activities are specially designed to help them learn and understand their spelling and No Excuse words.  In this picture, a student is practicing their No Excuse flashcards.

Read to Someone (Not pictured) While doing this choice, students have an opportunity to read with another student in the class.  They can either read at the same time, take turns page by page, or have one person reads while the other listens.  This is a great opportunity for students to really talk about books.

Still have questions about Daily 5??  Just ask!

Ipad Scavenger Hunt

What better way to show off our classroom skills than with Ipads??  Over the past several weeks we have been learning classroom expectations and we put our skills to the test with an Ipad scavenger hunt.  On the first day, students were asked to take pictures of things around the classroom and on the second day they took videos.  Examples of things they captured included partners working together on a math game, students walking to line quietly, and pictures of our safe seat and class job board.  This activity really proved how well the students know our classroom and classroom expectations.  Enjoy some photographs of them in action below.