Robert Munsch...

This week in Math, we started 3 digit subtraction. We have been practicing using a variety of strategies including the open number line (counting forwards and backwards), base ten blocks and stacking numbers.

We also learned a new 3 digit subtraction game, called "Slam Dunk". 

In Language Arts, we have continued our Tunisian animal research project. The students are working very hard to find information and make jot notes.

We have also been practicing our Spell-a-thon words.

3FT enjoying quiet Read to Self time...

We have finished learning about Tunisian culture. Students wrote a "pop quiz" using their lapbooks to answer questions.

We now have a Tunisian stamp in our passport! We will soon be flying to our next destination, Ukraine.

We received our fourth challenge by tree mail.

What a success! We haven't been on the island for very long but have already found a bit of food and now we have some shelter. We do have one problem though! The rain has started to come down quickly and it is beginning to make small puddles around our sleeping area. We are also worried that with the amount of rain falling, the river not far from us may begin to flood. We need to raise the area where we are going to sleep so that it is not on the ground. We head back to the plane and grab another large piece of tin for the floor of our shelter. It won't be the softest place to sleep but at least we will be out of the puddles and safe if the river floods. We drag the tin back to our shelter and start thinking about how we are going to raise it above the ground. Jason decides that we should use some tree stumps near by to hold up the floor. Which design will hold the most weight? Should we use one larger pillar in the center or four smaller pillars in each of the corners of our tin floor?

Our conclusion...four pillars hold more mass than one.

Tree mail...challenge number 5!

Thanks to your great work, we no longer have to sleep on the hard ground...in the monsoon! Now that the shelter is done, we need to furnish our living quarters.  Every house needs a table. We will need to return to the plane to find something we can use for a table top. For the base of the table, we will need to create a pillar that will support the table top and additional weight. The difficulty will be choosing which shape of pillar to use.  We will test pillar shapes which are triangular, cylindrical or rectangular.  We will conduct a fair test to discover which pillar shape can hold the most weight.

Our conclusion...a cylindrical pillar is the strongest because it does not have any corners and the weight is distributed evenly.

The school enjoyed a Robert Munsch performance on Friday afternoon. The kids were engaged and there were a lot of laughs.

Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!

Celebrating Tunisia...

We finished learning about Tunisia by reading about goods and services, natural resources and exporting products out of the country. To conclude our study of Tunisia we spent an afternoon celebrating their culture. We tasted a variety of food including couscous, dates and pomegranate. We created mosaics with beans, weaved bookmarks/bracelets and learned a new game called Mancala. Students also spent some time on the chrome books, learning the translation from English to Arabic.

In Math, we have been working on two digit subtraction using mental math strategies. We learned how to use a "friendly" number and counting up. Students were sent home with ten practice question that are to be handed in on Monday.

We read two selections from our "Collections" series. "The Big Sleep" which was a collection of facts about animals who spend their time hibernating during the winter. After we read, "Katie's Letter", the students worked together making a list of contraction words found throughout the story.

We have started a Tunisian animal research project as part of our Language Arts program. Students were paired up and choose an animal from Tunisia that they would like to learn about. They are using books from the Library and their chrome books to research information about the habitat, food, survival and any interesting facts that they may come across.

Scorpion- Alexis and Gio

African Lion-Milla and Jason

Serval- Doyle and Nevada

Camel- Spencer and Toby

Long Fingered Bat- Madison E. and Johnno

North African Elephant Shrew- Carmen and Logan

Desert Hedgehog- Madison H. and Austin

Tunisian Eyed Lizard- Benjamin and Madelyn

Final skating week...

Our students enjoyed skating for the last time in Grade 3. Thank you to all of the parents who took time to come help tie skates and to those who braved the ice with the kids! We definitely appreciated your assistance!

3FT showed their support against bullying by wearing pink on February 25th.  We also started the day with a good read aloud.

This week in Math, we began understanding subtraction of two digit numbers. We explored a number of different strategies with and without manipulatives. We practiced, practiced and practiced some more!

In Language Arts, we started reading from our new Collections book called "Beneath the Surface". We read the first reading, which was made up of a series of paragraphs about different sea creatures. We learned how to take "jot notes" by writing down important information in point form. Students were broken up into groups, assigned to a paragraph and worked on making their own jot notes. They presented the important information they found, to the rest of the class. 

We were VERY busy in Science this week and started receiving challenges by "tree mail".

                                                     

We have landed safely near shore and made our way to the closest beach. Ahead of us is a dense jungle and we see a huge storm heading our way, so we decide to make our way  to find some shelter. As we reach the edge of the forest, we notice a large crack in the Earth. Gio takes a step forward to take a closer look. It is very deep and looks like it may have been caused by an earthquake. He tells us that he can not even see the bottom. There is also hot lava spewing from the crack. The crack is not too wide, but we definitely can not jump over it. We will need to build something in order to cross onto the other side. We have decided to make a foot bridge out of a piece of wood we see nearby. We need to figure out if bending the wood to make a square frame or bending it into an arch will be stronger. We need to remember that this structure needs to hold each classmate and teacher one by one as we step over the crack.

   

Students were given paper, plasticine, containers and weights to test the square and arch frames. Our conclusion...arch frames support more weight! Great team work!!!

Our second challenge...

We made it across the hot lava! It was very scary and a lot of work. Most of us are starving and we haven’t eaten for HOURS! Ahead of us, in the dense jungle we spot some trees. It looks like there are bananas hanging from them. YUM!!! We all begin running towards the tree. SUDDENLY, Alexis stops. She is out of breath and pointing ahead at a fast moving river. We need to make it across the river in order to eat. We spot some tree bark near by and decide to build a few beams in order to make a bridge.  None of us want to be swept away by the current so we will have to work together and come up with the best design. There are three types of beams that we will need to test.

Students were give paper to create three types of beams, rectangular, box girder and accordion. Then they placed their beam across two books that were 10cm apart. They tested the strength of the beams using marbles as the weight. Our conclusion...the accordion beam held the most marbles. 

Our third challenge...

YAY!!! The beams for the foot bridge are strong enough for us to cross the fast moving river. We are finally able to enjoy a few bananas. Now that we have full bellies, we can concentrate on building some shelter. The fierce storm is still heading our way and we need somewhere to keep dry and get some rest for the night. Johnno has a brilliant idea and takes us back to our aircraft. We see that a few pieces of tin have come off the side of the plane during our emergency landing. Madelyn and Carmen decide to haul the tin to a small clearing in the trees. Jason decides to bend the tin to make an arch for our shelter. The clouds look dark and heavy with rain. We need to make sure our arch is strong enough to hold the downpour.  Does a wider gap cause the arched shelter to be stronger or weaker than a shorter gap?  We need to test this so that we can stay dry for the night!

Students were given poster board paper to make their arches. They were asked to test the strength of the arches by changing the width.

In Social, we read about communities in Tunisia and how they are run. We discussed leaders of government, religion and the family. We also learned about Tunisia's environment and how this affects the way people live and work here. We read about the plains, mountains and desert regions of Tunisia. 

In Art this week, we created optical illusion by making 3-dimensional effects. They started by drawing 6 intersecting lines on a piece of paper. They had to make sure that all lines were intersecting in the middle of the paper. Then they added their designs onto every second section and added their colour using marker. To finish their project, they added some shading with pencil crayon.

Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!