Mrs. Rathbone's Third Grade Class

Did you get the memo?

2012-02-13T19:15:00.002-05:00

As we were saying the Pledge this morning I noticed that several of us were wearing the same color! I guess the boys did not get the memo!!

Learning About Graphs

2012-02-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

We are learning how to read and create pictographs and bar graphs. Students created their own graphs and wrote questions that other students had to answer about their graphs.

Welcome Miss Anderson

2012-02-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

Paige Anderson will be an intern in our classroom for the rest of the year. Paige is a senior at Chariho High School and is interested in becoming a teacher. Paige is also a former third grade student of mine! Miss Anderson is helping out in the classroom, working with small groups of students and individual students.

Meet The Crayfish!

2012-02-13T17:55:00.000-05:00

We are studying the structures of crayfish in science class. Students have been observing their physical characteristics as well as their behaviors.

Understanding Multiplication

2012-02-13T17:33:00.000-05:00

More Fun Learning About Plant Structures

2012-02-13T17:22:00.000-05:00

New Science Unit--"Life Structures"

2012-01-10T19:14:00.001-05:00

We have begun our new science unit on Life Structures. We will be studying the structures of plants and animals. We begin our unit by studying the properties of seeds. The children opened up various fruits to see what kinds of seeds were in them. Then they listed the properties of the various seeds. The children were surprised to learn that a green been is actually a fruit because a fruit is anything that contains seeds!! We will continue studying plants for a few weeks and then move onto animals.

Making Waterwheels!!

2012-01-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

We ended our Water unit by making waterwheels. The students were given some materials and asked to work together to build a working waterwheel. The children had lots of fun building and then trying different techniques to get them to work by squirting water at them. We had water everywhere!!

Chariho High School Chorus Entertains Us in the Halls

2012-01-10T17:50:00.000-05:00

Mrs Poore surprised us before Christmas by inviting the Chariho High School Chorus to sing to us in the hall. They snuck in while we were all in reading class and Mrs. Poore came in and asked us all to go out in the hall. We enjoyed the entertainment of Christmas carols and other familiar tunes.

Surprise Visitors!

2011-11-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

James' family added 15 baby chicks to their brood.....unexpectedly! Mama hen cleverly hid her eggs in the yard so they would not be taken in the daily collection. The hen was discovered sitting in the middle of the yard with 15 little ones. James' family brought them inside to keep them warm. Mrs. Penhallow brought several of the chicks to school so the children could observe and touch them. The children were very gentle and the chicks didn't seem to mind being held by so many hands! We will be hatching our own chicks this spring. Some of the eggs will come from the Penhallow's. Thank you, Mrs. Penhallow for sharing this experience with us.

....And More Water Discoveries!

2011-11-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

We continue with our observations of water. Our latest experiment had to do with surface area. Students discovered that the more surface area that was exposed, the more evaporation occurred. Students measured 25ml of water and placed it in four different containers. At the end of the week they noticed that the graduated cylinder had not lost much water but the flat lid had no water left in it. The children recorded their results in their science logs.

Jack-O-Lantern Jubilee!

2011-10-28T19:39:00.001-04:00

We had more math fun today at our Jack-o-lantern Jubilee!! The children practiced estimating, measuring, weighing and counting skills. We set up 5 stations for the students to rotate into to discover the weight, circumference and number of seeds of 5 different pumpkins. After we estimated weight, circumference, and number of seeds, we compared the actual numbers for each pumpkin. We opened up our pumpkins to count the seeds. We discovered that our middle pumpkin had the most seeds of all. It had over 600 seeds. That pumpkin only weighed 5 pounds! Our 19 pound pumpkin did not have nearly as many as the 5 pounder. A big thank you to our helpers: Mrs. Penhallow, Mrs. Babbitt, Mrs. Geer and Miss Parnigoni. We carved our jack-o-lanterns and donated them to the Pumpkin Glow.
We also used pumpkins to make pumpkin globes in another activity. We have been learning about the 7 continents and other parts of the globe. We placed the 7 continents and 4 oceans on the globe with the equator and the prime meridian.

M & M Math----Mmm, Mmm Good Lesson!!

2011-10-28T19:09:00.000-04:00

We had an interesting math lesson using a small bags of M & M's. The children sorted them into sets by color, added and subtracted M & M's, and compared their sets using greater than, less than and equal to. The children practiced estimation and place value using the candies. We also practiced graphing by making a bar graph to show how many of each color we had in our packets. The children also made a pie graph to show fractions of each color they had. After we practiced all of these math skills, we got to eat the M & M's. I'm sure the children would agree that eating them was the best part of the activity!!

Using Alliteration in Our Writing

2011-10-28T18:14:00.000-04:00

The children learned how to use alliteration in their writing. Alliteration is the repetition of the same beginning sound in a sentence. (ex. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers) We had some fun with this activity by writing alliteration sentences for "b" words about bats. Then we made bats to display our sentences. We also did another alliteration activity using "s" words about skeletons. We created silly skeletons with q-tips to display our silly sentences.

Learning About Nouns

2011-10-28T17:52:00.000-04:00

Miss Parnigoni developed a Smartboard lesson on nouns. The children had lots of fun with the games she created to identify nouns. Her interactive lesson allowed for great class participation.

Making and Using a Thermometer

2011-10-02T16:33:00.001-04:00

We made homemade thermometers in class and placed them in hot and cold water to see what would happen with the thermometers. The children observed the water level rise in the straw when the thermometer was placed in hot water and descend when it was placed in cold water.

Open House

2011-09-24T17:18:00.000-04:00

Miss Parnigoni and I enjoyed meeting you at Open House. The children were very excited to have you visit our classroom. They worked very hard over the last two weeks writing their books and poems and working on their backpack posters. We think you will enjoy reading their Me Books and Bio Poems.

If you have any questions or concerns throughout the year please feel free to e-mail me or write a note and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

More Science Fun!!

2011-09-24T16:55:00.000-04:00

We continue discovering the properties of water through our science experiments. On Friday we discovered that water flows by placing droplets of water on a slanted surface. The children experimented with different sized drops of water to see if heavier drops flowed faster or slower than lighter drops of water. We ended by having waterdrop races!

Marvelous Monarchs!

2011-09-24T16:25:00.001-04:00

We have observed our baby monarch caterpillars transform into beautiful butterflies. The tiny caterpillars ate and ate on their milkweed plants until they were ready to form their chrysalids. We watched the caterpillars make their button on top of the terrarium and hang upside down in a "j". Soon the caterpillar made its beautiful green and gold speckled chrysalis and hung there for about 10 days. Several of our butterflies emerged form their chrysalis when we were not in the room. Last week we got to see the monarch miracle. THe children observed the butterfly emerge from the chrysalis with wrinkled wings and a plump abdomen. Soon the butterfly pumped blood into its wings and they grew larger as its abdomen got more slender. So far, we have three female butterflies and one male. Two more should hartch this weekend. We released the other butterflies on Friday. We wish them a safe trip on their migration to Mexico.

Waterworks!

2011-09-17T16:23:00.002-04:00

We are learning about the properties of water in science class. We learned about surface tension by piling drops of water on a penny. It was fascinating to see the water form a dome and raise high above the penny surface. We also looked at how surface tension works with water in a plastic cup. We learned that soap can break the surface tension of water by putting a drop of soapy water onto the penny. It spilled onto the tray. We also learned that salt does not break the surface tension. We will be doing lots of experiments with water!!

Welcome To Our Class!

2011-09-07T19:22:00.001-04:00

Dear Parents,
Welcome to our class! Join me in welcoming our student teacher, Lyndsay Parnigoni to our class. We have enjoyed these last two days getting to know your children and preparing something special for you for Open House. We are very impressed with how the children are behaving and working! We believe we will have a great year. Third grade is a big transition year for students and does take time for some students to adjust to the new work demands expected of third graders. We understand that some students need more time than others to make this transition. Please fell free to write a note or e-mail me if you have any questions. I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Miss Parnigoni has wriiten a short bio for you to learn more about her:

My name is Lyndsay Parnigoni. I am a resident of Westerly and a senior at Keen State College. During the school year and summer I work for the Westerly Pawcatuck YMCA and have been for 8 years. This past year I became site director for the older children at Camp Watchaug which was a phenomenal opportunity! I am very excited to be student teaching for your children under Mrs. Rathbone! This semester will be a great learning experience and I cannot wait to get to know your children and help them learn and grow.

Here are some photos of our class !

URI Learning Landscape

2011-06-02T20:02:00.000-04:00

We had a lot of fun on our trip to URI. The gardens were beautiful. The children learned a lot about plants and their habitats, animals and their adaptations, using worms for composting, and things that harm our habitats. The children participated in hands-on lessons at different stations throughout the garden. Our students were very knowledgeable about all the various topics. I was very proud of them.
Here are some photos of our trip. I will post a slide show later with more pictures.

Discovering Things About Stringed Instruments

2011-06-02T19:40:00.000-04:00

We have been learning a lot about pitch by studying our homemade stringed instruments or harps. We experimented with different lengths of string, different tensions and different thicknesses of strings. The children discovered that the tighter the string, the higher the pitch, the longer the string, the higher the pitch and thicker strings have lower pitch than thinner strings.

Checking Out the Chicks!

2011-06-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

We have been weighing the chicks periodically. They are growing very fast! We are weighing them in grams and this has been helpful to us in our study of metrics in math. We gently handled the chicks and observed them on the floor!

The Peepers Have Arrived

2011-06-02T19:16:00.001-04:00

Our baby chicks were born last week. They arrived right on time on the 21st day. We had a great hatch this year. Ten out of our 12 eggs hatched! Above are some pictures of the hatching and soon after.

Mother's Day Tea

2011-05-09T12:15:00.001-04:00

Mother's Day Tea - slideshows
Our Mother's Day Tea was a great success! The children celebrated Mother's Day with their moms and aunts with tea, cookies, poetry and flowers!! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Mother Robin GIves Us a "Bird's Eye View"

2011-05-01T16:48:00.000-04:00

Mama Robin has been building her nest right outside our classroom window. We watched her bring pieces of grass and add them to the nest for several days. On Friday, she settled in! Mama Robin sat in her nest most of the day. Maybe we will have baby robins, soon. We can entertain them with our music in science and they can entertain us with their songs!!

Shake, Shake, Shake!

2011-05-01T16:32:00.000-04:00

We had some fun with the Shakers! The children found many different items to put inside their shakers. We tried to guess what was inside each shaker after it was shaken but very few were guessed correctly. After everyone shared their shakers the children worked together in small groups to put them in order from highest pitch to lowest pitch. Then they presented them by group and we numbered them 1-4 (highest to lowest). After that, we grouped all the ones together, then the two's and so on. Finally we figured out the highest pitched shaker to the lowest pitched shaker for the whole class!

Making Sounds With Nails

2011-05-01T16:14:00.000-04:00

We continued exploring pitch by tapping various sized nails. The children discovered that longer nails had a lower pitch than shorter nails.

How Sound Travels

2011-04-22T17:55:00.000-04:00

We experimented with tuning forks to learn how sound travels through solids, liquids, and gases. The students discovered that sound travels best through solids.

Dogs that Help Others

2011-04-22T15:09:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Gough brought her two dogs to school to talk to the children about therapy dogs. Mrs. Gough went through training with her two dogs so they could become therapy dogs. Mrs. Gough and her sister visit area nursing homes with the dogs so they can comfort the elderly and provide some companionship.

Reading Around The World

2011-04-10T15:15:00.000-04:00

The theme for reading week was "Read Around the World". Each class chose a country to learn about and make a display for the room. The children received passports to "travel" to the different countries and learn new things. Our country was Austria. We also traveled to Ireland, Australia, Belize, the Netherlands, Egypt and Germany.

The children wore red and white on one day to represent the colors of our flag. On Wednesday the high school athletes came to our school to read to different classes. Derek Adams, an all-state wrestler, read Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel to our class. Cody Rathbun, a baseball player, also came to visit and speak with the children. The Chariho mascot also visited classes during the visit. We ended our reading week with an all-school silent reading period out in the halls.

Our Community Projects

2011-03-20T21:07:00.002-04:00

community projects - slideshow maker with music

More About Sled Dogs!

2011-03-20T20:23:00.000-04:00

Miss Dion shows the children how to position their feet on the sled and how to hold on!

Miss Dion, Mrs. St. Clair's student teacher, came into our class and did a wonderful presentation on dog sledding. She spent some time with a friend's family who did dogsled racing as a hobby. Miss Dion explained to the children the long process of preparing yourself and the dogs for dogsledding. She explained how to care for the dogs and shared her personal experience of dogsledding. Miss Dion showed the children some great pictures on the Smart Board. Thank you Miss Dion!!

Sled Dog Racing

2011-03-13T20:27:00.002-04:00

After we finished reading Stone Fox in reading class we continued with the theme of sled dog racing with literature circle groups. We are reading Akiak, Togo, and The Iditarod. We began this unit reading The Great Serum Race, which explains how sled dogs played a every important role in Alaska's history with a diphtheria epidemic. Ask your child about the race to Nome!
We are also following the Iditarod Race and learning about the mushers and sled dogs teams with live video from the Iditarod.

We also had a guest speaker last week come to school with her whole sled dog team of 12 Siberian Huskies. Becki Tucker of Voluntown, CT is a musher and participates in many sled dog races. She owns 24 Siberian Huskies. Becki is also a veterinary nurse so she really knows how to care for her dogs. It was evident how much her dogs love her. Becki talked about sled dog racing and how she cares for her dogs. The dogs were very well behaved. Enjoy the pictures of Becki and her dogs!!

Becki puts booties on one of her dogs

Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring this event!

Beetlemania!

2011-03-13T16:54:00.001-04:00

We continue studying life structures in science comparing the Bess Beetle to the crayfish. Here the students observe the structures and behavior of the beetles.

Fun With Geometry

2011-03-13T16:27:00.000-04:00

We are learning about solids, shapes, lines and angles in math. We are also learning about different kinds of triangles and polygons. There is a lot of vocabulary to learn. The children have been given a vocabulary packet that they should review. Here we are learning about solids!

Observing Crayfish

2011-02-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

Smart Board Highlights

2011-02-26T19:41:00.000-05:00

Here we are practicing identifying adjectives. We are trying to use better describing words in our writing to make our stories more interesting!

Ashaway Grange Donated Dictionaries

2011-02-26T19:36:00.000-05:00

Superintendent Ricci introduces the ladies from the Ashaway Grange

The Ashaway Grange donates dictionaries to all third grade students in the Chariho School District each year. The dictionaries are a valuable tool to our students as they are learning how to use a dictionary properly in third grade. The children have already used their dictionaries during our writing and reading lessons.

IPEVO Document Camera

2011-02-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

We are having fun using the IPEVO camera to observe our crayfish up close and personal. We observed the crayfish behavior on the Smart Board. The IPEVO software allows us to magnify the image 3X so we can observe the details. After observing them for a while we took a picture of the crayfish.

Here is a photo of a crayfish shedding. One of our large crayfish shed his skin. A few days later it turned orange after being exposed to the air.

Smart Board Highlights

2011-01-29T14:45:00.000-05:00

In this picture a student moves the pictures in the proper order to show the life cycle of a plant

Now that we are studying up to the nine table in multiplication, we made our math games more challenging and competitive. These interactive games make learning our tables more fun!

IPEVO Document Camera

2011-01-29T14:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the PTO we have an IPEVO document camera that can magnify just about anything you want onto the SMART board. We used the camera right away in science class to magnify and observe the seeds we are germinating. You can then take a picture of it by pressing an icon on the Smart board and it saves it right to your picture file on the computer! Can't wait to use this camera when the crayfish and beetles come in! We love technology!!

Learning More About Seeds

2011-01-29T14:19:00.000-05:00

We are continuing our study of seeds by watching the germination of bush beans, corn, peas and sunflower seeds. We placed seeds in a seed sprouter and the students put some seeds in mini-sprouters. We used water to keep the seeds moist. We soon saw the seeds swell and lose their seed coat. Then a root pushed through and eventually we had a stem and some small leaves. We also opened up a bean seed to find the embryo inside.

We are now growing some bean plants hydroponically! We used six of our bush bean seedlings and placed them on a raft in just water with nutrients added. We will chart the growth of two of these plants and watch them go through through the life cycle.

Learning About Seeds

2011-01-15T19:28:00.000-05:00

We started a new unit in science called Life Structures. We are beginning with a study of seeds. Here the children are cutting open various "fruits" to study the properties of the seeds.

Owl Moon

2011-01-15T19:16:00.000-05:00

We read Owl Moon in reading class. The children wrote retells for the story after having the story read aloud to them and then reading it silently. The children used a rubric to assess their retells. Then we shared them anonymously and graded them as a class using the rubric.

We read other articles about the Great Horned Owl and listened to owl calls on the internet. Then the children wrote owl paragraphs including two similes in their written pieces. Later, they painted owl pictures using the technique of the illustrator in Owl Moon. On Friday, we dissected owl pellets to try to find out what the owls ate. The children recorded their observations in their science logs. It was fun learning about owls!

A New Sleigh For Santa

2010-12-22T19:53:00.000-05:00

The children designed new sleighs for Santa! Santa's sleigh needed to be updated so the children made new and improved sleighs for Santa. Santa should enjoy all the new gadgets on these sleigh designs! He has a GPS, hot chocolate dispenser and rocket boosters on some of his sleighs.

Smart Board Highlights

2010-12-22T19:41:00.002-05:00

We are learning about graphs in social studies and math classes. Here we are using the Smart Board to make a bar graph about medals won by the U.S. in the last Olympics!

Understanding Multiplication-----Making sets with equal groups

Multiplication has been lots of FUN! The Smart Board makes math very engaging. Here we solve enough multiplication problems to finally get our car washed.

Island Discovery!!!

2010-12-08T19:34:00.001-05:00

We are using an "island" theme to learn social studies vocabulary, map skills, and problem solving in our writing. The children made their own island maps which had to include several features such as a river, lake, mountains, peninsula and capital. They had to include a compass rose, map key and a true scale. In a writing activity they were given a few items (hula hoop, bottle, gum wrapper, a balloon and some rope) to use to help get themselves rescued. The children will be writing stories about their islands next week. More island activities to be discussed in a later posting.

Smart Board Highlight

2010-12-08T19:14:00.001-05:00

Here we are playing a game identifying the kinds of nouns

Multiplication was introduced to the students via an interactive Smart Board lesson.

Persuasive Writing

2010-11-20T19:24:00.000-05:00

We practiced our powers of persuasion last week in writing class. The children had to pretend that they were a turkey in Farmer Rathbone's barnyard. Farmer Rathbone was coming out to choose the Thanksgiving turkey. The children had to convince me that I should not choose them for my Thanksgiving dinner. We had a lot of skinny, dirty, disease ridden turkeys in the barnyard...or so they said! Some were quick to give up their friends or siblings. Such whiners!!!!! I guess I'll eat chicken for Thanksgiving dinner!

Waterwheel Wizards

2010-11-20T19:15:00.000-05:00

The children were divided into groups and given some materials to make waterwheels that would lift a load. We had lots of fun designing and building them but we had more fun making them work. Needless to say, we had water everywhere, but we know that it will eventually evaporate!!!

Smart Board Highlight

2010-11-20T17:55:00.000-05:00

Here you can see one of our students using the Mobi to control the pen on the Smart Board. This made our math class a little more interesting. We also had fun learning how to make nouns pural.

Jack-O-Lantern Jubilee!

2010-10-29T20:52:00.005-04:00

We had a lot of fun with pumpkins this week. We turned five large pumpkins into globes in Social Studies class. The children had to place the continents in the correct locations using the equator and prime meridian as a guide. Then they labeled the oceans.

Then we had a fun lesson in math where we estimated the weight, circumference and number of seeds in several pumpkins. We worked in cooperative groups to measure and count the seeds in the pumpkins. We discovered that our smallest pumpkin had more seeds than some of the larger pumpkins.

Pumpkins were raffled off to the students. Thank you to Mrs. Snow, Mrs. Pearsall Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Hood for helping out.

More Smart Board Lessons

2010-10-29T20:51:00.000-04:00

In this lesson, children clicked on a window in the haunted house that revealed a noun on candy corn. We then wrote the plural of the noun on the candy.

We played an addition math game on the Smart Board. The children rolled the die to place a number on the board and create an addition problem that would yield a greater sum than the other team could create.

More Fun With Alliteration

2010-10-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

We made silly skeletons out of Q-tips and wrote some very funny alliterative sentences on bone shaped paper. Some students used "S" word for their skeleton and others chose to use "B" words and name their skeleton _(Bobby)_Bones or something similar. These Silly Skeletons are Skipping in a Synchronized Sidekick!

Haunted House Stories

2010-10-22T22:28:00.002-04:00

The children are working on writing a haunted house story. We are focusing on writing a good beginning, middle and end and including lots of details using the five senses. They are doing a great job and we will share our stories next week.

Map Skills

2010-10-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

The children worked on their Haunted Hayride Maps for Social Studies. They made a key and then had to draw the map according to the directions, placing the symbols in the correct places on the map using the compass directions. We checked our maps by following the directions and creating the map on the Smart Board.

Water As Ice

2010-10-22T22:15:00.000-04:00

We have been investigating what happens to water has it heats, cools and freezes. We measured water and placed it in a vial and syringe and then froze it. The children discovered that water expands when it freezes

Estimating Sums in Math

2010-10-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

We have been working on adding larger numbers in Math. We have learned how to round numbers to the nearest ten and hundred to estimate a sum. Here we are using individual whiteboards to practice this skill.

Fun With Words......Alliteration

2010-10-15T18:59:00.001-04:00

The children have been having some fun with alliteration, the repeating of a letter or sound throughout the sentence. (ex. Peter Piper Picked a Peck........). We wrote sentences about bats, repeating the letter "b" throughout the sentence. Several Silly Sentences were Scripted by the Students. More Halloween alliteration to follow!

The Density of Water

2010-10-15T18:49:00.000-04:00

We observed that warm water is less dense than cold water by placing vials of each in room temperature water. It was exciting to watch the (red) hot water rise to the top and float while the (blue) ice water remained in the vial and sunk to the bottom!

More Fun With Our Smart Board

2010-10-08T20:20:00.001-04:00

We are using the Smart Board for a lot of fun interactive lessons. We use it in math every day to begin the lesson with an animated introduction to the skill for the day. Yesterday we used it to add numbers on a 100's chart. We are using it to practice cursive, too! We had some fun map lessons in Social Studies and learned about map keys, and compasses. Ask your child how we take attendance with the Smart Board.

I am also having fun with some other technology that I am using with the Smart Board. I have a Mobi which allows me to operate the Smart Board wirelessly on a small tablet. This allows me to move away from the board and walk around the room while still operating the Smart Board! I can even write on the board while standing in the back of the room. Oh, the wonders of technology!!

Literature Circles in Reading

2010-10-08T19:58:00.000-04:00

We are working in literature circles for Reading class. Three different groups are reading three different Cam Jansen Mysteries. Each student in the group has a job do before the group gathers for discussion. The students read a chapter together or silently if they choose. Then each child in the group chooses a job. They will then respond to the literature through the job they picked. After all students have completed their jobs, they get back together and discuss the book and present their work. Then they move on to the next chapter and pick a new job. Jobs include the Word Wizard, Discussion Director, Connector, Artful Artist, Summarizer and the Passage Picker. Ask your child what each job requires.

Investigating Water Temperature

2010-10-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

We made thermometers in class and observed what happened when we put them in ice water and hot water. We discovered that water expands when it is heated and contracts when it is cold. We saw this happen as the water in the straw of our homemade thermometer rose when we placed it in hot water and went down when we place it in ice water.

Welcome to Open House.....Mrs. Rathbone's Third Grade

2010-09-24T23:27:00.002-04:00

Learning About Water

2010-09-23T22:10:00.002-04:00

Observing what happens to water on paper

What does water do on wax paper?

What happens to water on aluminum foil?

Recording our observations

How many drops of water can fit on a penny?

We are learning about the properties of water in science class. The children experimented with water on different surfaces. They noticed that water beads up on some materials and it is absorbed by other materials. The children also observed what happens to water drops on a penny. They learned that water forms a dome on a penny because of surface tension.

Science Fun

2010-09-11T20:40:00.002-04:00

We are watching the development of some monarch caterpillars. The children watched one of the caterpillars make its chrysalis. It was very exciting! We released our first butterfly on Friday. We will be learning about water and its properties in the following weeks.

Using the Smart Board

2010-09-11T20:29:00.000-04:00

We are very lucky to have a Smart Board in our classroom. Here, a student practices a cursive "u". Look at all the fancy "u"'s that we wrote with the different pen choices on the Smart Board. We have been using the Smart Board in all subjects. We had some fun putting the continents on a map outline and labeling them.

Writing

2010-09-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

We will do a lot of writing in third grade. We are already preparing for Open House with several writing activities.

Place Value

2010-09-11T20:09:00.000-04:00

We are reviewing place value and learning the place value of larger numbers in math. The children have fun using white boards to show their understanding of numbers.

The Stars in Room 401--Mrs. Rathbone's Third Graders

2010-09-04T21:16:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Third Grade!!

2010-08-25T19:30:00.000-04:00

Dear Boys and Girls,
Welcome back to school. I am very excited about being your teacher this year! You will learn many new things in third grade. You will learn how to write in cursive. You will learn your multiplication facts this year, too. We will read lots of interesting stories in reading class. In science, we will be investigating water, sound, and the life structures of plants and animals. You will learn about your community in social studies class as well as other communities in different parts of the world. We have many exciting things to learn about in third grade...soooo......GET READY FOR THE ADVENTURE!!
You do not need many supplies to start the school year. I ask that you have a homework folder and a small assignment pad to keep track of your homework. Please have a few pencils and an eraser. I will supply everything else you need for class.