PYP Plant Unit Guest Speaker

 On Tuesday, Grade 3 had the pleasure of hosting Arran's dad, Mr. Daniel, from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. It was an exciting presentation and the students were captivated by the interesting content, numerous props and audience participation. Mr. Daniel gave a good overview about plants and discussed the plant he works most closely with, the banana.

We learned that the banana actually does not have seeds and farmers need to plant them using cuttings. The difficulty is that banana plants get sick because of nematodes. His organization helps farmers by growing bananas in the lab and giving healthy plants to farmers so that they can have a healthy crop. It was great to learn more about local plants. Grade 3 sends a warm asante sana!

 

Informational Writing: Kids News Websites

 The final writing unit of this year for grade 3 is Informational Reports. Students are researching and
writing reports related to our PYP Plant Unit. Here are some websites for kids that have many examples of non-fiction writing. Kids, take a look through them and see if you can get any tips for your writing. Enjoy!

National Geographic Kids
Scholastic News Online
Science News for Kids
Time for Kids
 

No Homework This Week

 I taught persuasive writing last week and here is one of the final drafts I received. 

Dear Miss Rorey,

   Do you like homework? Well if you do,nobody else does.We need no homework!!!!! You know why? Well here are my reasons.

   One reason is that you already give us work to do at school so why give us more to do at home.We can do more work in class.We can even make school longer.Miss Rorey you should know nobody in the earth likes homework.Please agree with me.

   Another reason is it wastes paper when we do homework.You always tell us not to waste paper so why are you doing it? You know what happens when we don't save paper.We might actually save a lot of paper if we don't have homework.

  

   My next reason is that you won't have to waste your time in life checking work.With all of the marking ,you might break your hand.You won't get bored of checking work and you will sleep through the night peacefully.

   My final reason is we can have more time to go shopping for you and buy you expensive gifts.I might even get you a flat screen tv and a sauna.Y-O-U you will be the happiest , most relaxed person in the universe.One more question do you want a mansion? If you do I might get you one.

    Please make people happy and make sure there is no homework.Thank you for reading my remarkable letter.

                                          Sincerely,

                                                        Deborah

    

P.S If you don't agree you will be hearing from my lawyer and I will get a lawyer.

No joke. And yes, her writing always has this much voice in it. Well, given that I could not stop reading and laughing, I figured that she did her job well by matching her reasons to her audience and convincing me. (A little bribe once in a while doesen't hurt either.) 

P.S. Deborah, I will wait for my mansion and there is no need to get a lawyer.
  

 

New Typing Resource

Happy weekend. If you are not too busy between the IST's Go Talent show and respite from the rain, check out this new typing resource. It is called Typing Club and it is pretty fun. I played for about 10 minutes in between my morning sips of tea.
 

Student Action: Plant Part Presentation

Shortly after arriving to school today after being sick all week, Arran surprised me with this lovely presentation. Nice work Arran!

Plant anatomy from Rorey Risdon

 

Field Trip: Glass Bottom Boat

Last week Grade 3 just finished our PYP Sharing the Planet: Water Unit and we capped it off with a field trip to The Slipway to ride on the Glass Bottom Boat. With all of the rain we have been having I crossed my fingers while we headed out on the buses to catch low tide. Everything was perfect when we got there. The water was low, the life-jackets were tight, our eyes were ready and the fish were abundant.
We went with the idea to not only observe the wildlife in the sea but also how much pollution is in the water right off of the peninsula. I am happy to report that we actually did not see too much of it. When we returned to the doc there was a little trash circle of plastic hanging out on the surface of the water, but it wasn't too bad.
All in all, it was a great trip. As one of the students enthusiastically exclaimed, "Ms. Rorey, that was way better than I expected."

 

Team Work for Conservation

The final project for our PYP Sharing the Planet: Water Unit required students to come up with a project of their choice to demonstrate their understanding of water conservation. Many students chose to work with partners or a group to show their learning. We had a few picture books, a some poster projects, a few games, two plays and some Powerpoint presentations. Overall, the projects turned out splendidly and splashingly.

What I was most impressed with was the amount of cooperation and teamwork it took to put these projects together. Even if a student worked alone on a project, they received help from teams that were already finished. There were kind words, pleases and thank yous, smiles, negotiating and compromising. These kids really have learned so many skills this year. Here are some photos to demonstrate the collaboration that occurred to pull these projects off. Wonderful 3R!

 

Planting in the IST Grade 3 Garden

While I was out sick yesterday with a headache and sore throat, the kids and Irene got to plant our garden with our Resident Gardener Frank. Yes, Frank is our transport manager at IST, but did you know he also runs his own farm? How cool. He picked up some manure and seeds from his farm and brought in so Grade 3 could get their garden started. The kids rolled up their sleeves, and pant legs and left their shoes on the sidewalk. They were ready to plant. I want to send out a special thanks to Irene for taking the photos... now I feel like I can experience it too, with all of you.

 

Inference Riddle Game

Use this game to practice your inferences. It will give you good reading practice. Remember, an inference is when you use what you read in the story and know from your experiences to learn more than what the author is telling you.  Click on the image below and enjoy!

Student Action: Water Conservation

Saniya entered the classroom yesterday with a huge smile on her face and a flash drive in her hand. "I've created a presentation about water conservation," she stated. Little did I know what a presentation it was. She did a phenomenal job and surprised me when she said she completed it herself. I know who to go to next time I have to give a presentation. Check it out. Who knows, you might learn a thing or two and be encouraged to go save the world!

Water + conservation powerpoint from Rorey Risdon