Prove It! The Important Part of Mental Addition and Subtraction by Mrs. Schuh

I must have said "You guys are knocking my socks off" at least five times today (this makes me giggle because my last name is Schuh)!  I kept thinking, "I have to blog about these thinkers!"  

   In Science, Mr. Kearney began talking about soil.  The class immediately connected their new knowledge on soil to what we learned in Social Studies about ecosystems.  As a class, they concluded that soil is an ecosystem with only a few thinking prompts from Mr. Kearney and I.  It gave me chills to hear them connect the learning so quickly and authentically!  

   In math, we celebrated all the mental addition and subtraction strategies we use.  Again, the conversations gave me chills.  I wish I could have bottled them up and saved them!  We used our review packet to discuss mental computation strategies and how to show thinking in as many ways as possible.  The only directions I gave the class were to talk first-share your answers and how you got them.  After each voice was heard, I asked them to prove their answers in as many ways as possible.  I had to grab an ipad to document this amazing thinking and group work!  Please check out the work below and continue to ask your third grader how they know their answers are correct (in any subject-not just math!).

Playdoh Landforms by Ceci

Hi my name is Ceci. I will be telling you about are playdoh landforms! We made landforms such as mountains, islands, volcano, and mesas. We made them out of playdoh! First I want to say mesa is the spanish word for table. So it is a lot like a table but also like a hill with out a peak. You probly know what an island is. But we found out islands are just mountains that are growing under water.  After we made a mountain, we put our mountains together to make a mountain range.  Check out our colorful mountain range below!  I think you know all the other land forms.  I thought this was a fun time to learn about landforms!

Our "Happy Place" By Mrs. Schuh

   Parks, a hospital, nature, reading nooks, and more were created to contribute to our collective "Happy Place!"  Before we could jump right in to a bonafide "Happy Place," we had some work to do!  As a class, we worked hard to discuss and agree on the following 'Ways We Want Our Class to Be." 

We support each other by listening and cooperation.  We like to say “You can do it!”

or “How can I help you?”

We value learning, creativity, and kindness.  We remember to “just be nice”

and use our manners.

We take responsibility to keep our selves and others safe.   We value being unique (different is good!).

We are a positive, happy, smiling, fun team that loves to explore!  We try to smile often, have fun,

and try new things!

     We created a "Happy Place" and allowed creativity, passion, and a little engineering to drive individual projects.  Students were inspired to create something  (anything that makes themselves and others happy) to contribute to our "Happy Place."  They were given a small LED light and "button battery" without directions on how to create their "light."  All students successfully created light and incorporated their light into their Happy Place project.  (Are you getting all these metaphors? :) They proudly let their lights shine!)
   As students presented their project to the class, they explained why their addition to the Happy Place was necessary.  Students learned about each others' passions (parks=nature, hospitals=helping others, etc.) and were very proud of the Happy Place they created as a team! 

Collaboration, Curiosity, and Can-do! By Mrs. Schuh

   There is much to celebrate about our start to 3rd grade!  This group of students waltzed into 3rd grade ready for anything!  This class has an overall "Can-do" attitude-such a delight and extremely fun to plan for learning!  We have spent much of the month of August getting to know each other and forming team spirit.  I enjoy watching them collaborate and learn about each other! 
   As I shared on Curriculum Night, my goals are to help each child feel safe and positive at school.  I also strive to incorporate collaboration and curiosity (inquiry) into each lesson plan.  Parent communication is always on my mind, and constantly looking for ways to improve!  I plan on blogging alongside my students this school year.  As a parent myself, I constantly check my daughter's classroom blog.  I can't get enough of the photos and stories her teachers post.  As a teacher, I realize the importance of allowing my students opportunities to share their learning.  So, my "Schuh's News" blog will be a shared blog this school year and I hope you find yourself checking in often to see what is going on in with the Schuh Stars!  

Meet the New Schuh Stars!

This first post of the 2014-2015 school year was written by all 19 Schuh Stars!
   Walking in on the first day of school was exciting because we started 3rd grade with our new teacher Mrs. Schuh!  Mrs. Schuh is a very nice person and if you were a little nervous, she helped by saying "It's ok, because the day will feel like it goes super fast!  Everyone is nervous, and so am I!"  Mrs. Schuh also told us about our schedule and routines.  She asked us to be experts of one nook in our room.  When we explored our nook, we got to tell the class about it and name them!  Our nooks are named 'The Living Room,' 'The Great Un-Nook,' 'The Computer Kingdom,' 'The Book Nook,' and the 'Math Corner.' 
    Mrs. Schuh writes our schedule in questions because she wants us to think about what we are learning and be able to answer the questions after we learn and explore!  Also, on the first couple of days, we did not get much homework!  If we did get homework, it was fun!  We were really tired for those first few days!!!

solar s'mores

Hi I'm Ella, and I'm going to tell you about our solar s'mores in our class.   We were learning about geography in Social Studies and learned about natural resources.  Natural resources can be renewable or nonrenewable.  I think we should use more renewable resources, like sunlight, because you can save it instead of using it and then buying it again and again.   
    Well Mrs. Schuh asked us how we can cook without using nonrenewable energy.  We came up with solar energy!  She showed us a video about the people in Africa using solar energy to cook their food.  That night for homework we made a plan on how to create a solar cooker.  The next day, we shared our plan and got to work on making our solar cookers!  She got Imos pizza boxes  and split us in to teams. Then all of the kids in each group got the  supplies they needed like siccors, glue and ruler's.  mrs. Schuh also got us some tinfoil and clear rap and then we got in to work. In our groups we cut the boxes in the different designs. all the other third grade classes also did this.  mrs. Carson's  class did it in shoe boxes but it still worked.
   when we were all done we put them on the black top right before recess because the sun's rays hit the blacktop.  We left them there the hole day and then at the end of the day we came back to eat our solar s'mores.  When we looked at our marsmellows and they did not really melt but the choclate did. We talked  about it and ms.Katinas  said that the marsmellows did not melt cause it is white and it reflects on the sun but since the choclate is brownish blackish that that is why it melted. The solar s'mores were so good! Then at the end of the day we ate are solar s'mores and then went home.

To see more photos of our solar s'mores, please visit our classroom website!

100% smart poster

Hi my name is Lauren and I'm in Mrs.Schuhs class in 3rd grade.  I'm going to tell you about the 100% smart poster.  So our class figured out that no one is the smartest, we just all have different strengths.  So it's not fair to say that you are in the smartest class  because everyone is smart at something, but we are all different!  For example, some of us are body strong.  It means that they learn by being active and use self-control!  Some of us are also music strong.  This means that they like to play instruments and sing a lot.  I have some music strengths, so I like to learn by making songs and repeating things to get them right.  Now that we know that everyone is 100% Smart, we celebrate it pretty much every day!  We learn by using our mistakes and learning through what we are strong!  Here is a picture of me with my strengths.  One of my biggest strengths is nature.  That is the brown piece of the pie!  I love to learn in my natural surroundings and I like animals and nature!