Miss Ross’ 3rd Grade

It can be a struggle to make the transition from summer mode to school mode. However, after preparing my classroom and attending staff training, my brain has reminded me how much I love teaching. Next Monday is the official start to the new school year and I cannot way to see all the learning that we accomplish. As the year begins, I wanted to share the new beliefs, vision, and mission for Birdville ISD. It is under these values that our district operates for the purpose of creating the best possible learning environment for students and adults alike.

Beliefs:

• Every student is uniquely capable and deserves to learn each day.
• Meaningful work engages students in profound learning.
• Personal commitment to quality from everyone in the learning organization creates student and staff success.
• Trusting relationships in a safe and caring environment are vital to an innovative learning organization.
• Student success requires community support and engagement.
• Quality public schools build and preserve a healthy democratic society.

Vision

• All students succeed in a future they create.

Mission

• We engage and encourage students and staff every day through meaningful work in a safe and caring environment.

Next Friday, February 13th, 5th grade will be hosting a Valentine Dance after school to raise money for their trip to Camp Carter. Here are the details:

Time: 3:30-5:30

Location: Cafeteria

Cost: $2.00

Only students from HHE will be invited and parents will not be able to attend due to limitations on space. Snacks and drinks will be available for purchase.

Return order forms and money to me and a confirmation will be returned to you. We will hold the tickets until the day of the dance. I hope your child is able to come show off his/her latest dance moves and support 5th grade!

We have finished our unit on simple machines, at last. As a bit a “grand finale” of sorts, students formed groups to create a movie about one of the simple machines using RCA Small Wonder video cameras. Storyboards were used to guide their thinking and planning. Each video needed to contain the following things:

• what the work is like before and after using the simple machine
• a definition and parts of the simple machine
• how the simple machine makes work easier
• at least 3 examples of the simple machine
• a title page and a credit page

The videos were assessed based on a rubric including understanding of concepts, examples, organization, spelling, and effort.

This task was definitely not an easy one for third graders. We encountered many bumps along the way in our attempt to put a movie together. You will notice that the videos are shaky, lack in editing, and don’t always clearly communicate the information. However, we definitely learned a lot about simple machines, making a movie, and working in a group. So, all in all, I’d say we were pretty successful. I can’t wait to see what our second attempt at movie making will be like in the spring.

You can view the videos by clicking on the video link on the left side of the page. Enjoy!

To learn more about pulleys, we created them in class. Check out our Photo Story to see what we learned!

Pulley Creations!

For the past few weeks, we have been learning all about force, motion, work, and simple machines. As you look around your home and neighborhood, see if you can spot some examples of simple machines. When you do, add a comment to this post and share with the rest of our class the object and the type of simple machine that you found. I wonder who can find the most examples.

Well, it is finally that time of year when students and teachers head back to school. I always had mixed emotions about this time of year growing up. School supply shopping and the thought of reuniting with my friends was very enjoyable, but I never looked forward to spending long hours in the classroom. You may be ready to get back into the classroom or you may be thinking that you could use another few weeks to chill. No matter how you are feeling about the start of school, know that I can’t wait to get to know you better. I am excited to see you make progress throughout this school year and learn along side of you.

Many questions arise during the first few weeks of school. Feel free to ask them on the blog by leaving a comment or you can contact me via email or phone. I’ll be glad to provide any assistance you might need. I look forward to a great year!

Take a look at how I spent my summer…

Seattle with one of my best friends, Camp Lone Tree with middle school students from church, visiting TCU with my brother and his girlfriend, and tie dying in my back yard

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your break from school last week. I used my time to take care of some doctor and dentist visits. Probably not the most exciting way to spend a break. However, I did get some good reading time in on the lawn of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. It is definitely one of my favorite locations to read. We haven’t had much time in class to discuss what everyone did over break, so I thought I would let you respond on our blog. Leave a comment and share with the rest of us about any exciting adventures you may have had.

March 1, 2008 marks the start of the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod is one of my favorite competitive events to follow, along with The Olympics, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and The World Cup. Just as the musher and sled dogs work together as a team to accomplish a goal, we strive to do the same in our classroom as we prepare ourselves to be life-long learners. Our class will be keeping tabs on two specific mushers: Paul Gebhardt and Sue Morgan. Gebhardt finished 2nd last year and this will be Morgan’s first year on the trail. It will be exciting to see how the two take to the trail this year. You can get all the latest updates on the Iditarod by visiting the 2008 Iditarod homepage.

After discussing different ways we could learn about multiplication and division word problems, the students decided that they really wanted to have some problems on our blog. Instead of just typing them up, we made a slide show with audio. Try to solve each problem before the answer comes up. If you can, you know you are an excellent mathematician! I’ll also post our slide show on the videos page along with a Division 101 slide show.

mult-and-div-word-problems.wmv 

We’ve been talking the past couple of weeks about the weathering of rocks and that reminded me of a picture I wanted to show you. This is one that I took in Gimmelwald, Switzerland  in The Alps this summer. Look how the rock has been weathered by the water that runs through it. What was once a rough rock is now smooth and sleek!