The Important Things About Learning in Grade Three

We started our special writing project by listening to the book, "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown.  We were amazed to learn that this book is older than our teacher!

Photo credit: Amazon

We talked about the organizational pattern of each page -- it starts by telling the important thing about something, then tells some details and then closes by saying the important thing again.

We then worked together to write a paragraph using this organizational pattern about some important learning from grade three.  Here is what we came up with...

From there, it was our turn to write a paragraph about what we think has been important learning in grade three (so far).

Baileigh -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is that you get energy.  You get to play dodgeball.  You get exercise by hopping.  You can plan basketball.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is that you get energy.

Trace -- The important thing about grade 3 writing is writing stories.  We do writing on writer's workshop.  We do publishing.  We do special projects.  But the important thing about grade 3 writing is writing stories.

Sam -- The important thing about grade 3 music is that we can play with instruments.  We play in the music room.  When we go to music, we switch stations and play drums and the wood blocks.  But the important thing about grade 3 music is that we can play with instruments.

Logan -- The important thing about grade 3 handwriting is that we learn to handwrite.  We now know how to do uppercase L.  Now we know how to do all of the lowercase letters.  Now we are on uppercase B.  But the important thing about grade 3 handwriting is that we learn to handwrite.

Mavry -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is that you learn new things every time.  We know how to juggle now.  I can do things I couldn't do before.  I have lots of fun.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is that you learn new things every time.

Tatum -- The important thing about grade 3 social studies is that you learn about things in the world.  We learn about maps, people and organizations.  You learn about quality of life.  You learn about homes.  But the important thing about grade 3 social studies is that you learn about things in the world.

Tristan -- The important thing about grade 3 snacks is that we get nutrition for learning.  I love beef jerky and the chocolate milk.  But the important thing about grade 3 snacks is that we get nutrition for learning.

Jess -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is we learn different sports like basketball.  In basketball, I now know that you have to stay behind a line if you are going to shoot.  If you are going for a slam dunk, you can jump high.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is we learn different sports like basketball.

Wyatt -- The important thing about grade 3 math is that we are learning about skip counting.  We now know how to skip count by 25's, 3's, 4's and 5's.  But the important thing about grade 3 math is that we are learning about skip counting.

Taya -- The important thing about grade 3 art is that we can paint.  It is relaxing.  It's a fun project to do.  Art makes people smile.  But the important thing about grade 3 art is that we can paint.

Makayla -- The important thing about grade 3 art is that it is fun and artistic.  We do many different projects.  All our art is always unique.  But the important thing about grade 3 art is that it is fun and artistic.

Hayden -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is that we have warm ups.  It is important to get our brains going to do activities and circus acts.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is that we have warm ups.

Ava -- The important thing about grade 3 library is that we get to have new books every week.  Then we learn new things about different books and series.  Then we sign them out and take them home.  You have to be quiet in the library.  But the important thing about grade 3 library is that we get to have new books every week.

Aidan -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is that we warm up.  It is important.  But starting warming up can start our day and get our brains going so we can learn.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is that we warm up.

Asher -- The important thing about grade 3 math is that we learn about skip counting.  We now know how to skip count by 25's.  Before, we learned about money.  We learned counting by 2's first and it was too easy.  But the important thing about grade 3 math is that we learn about skip counting.

Chacie -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is that we get lots of exercise.  We juggle scarves, run 4 laps around the gym, play tag and sometimes play dodgeball.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is that we get lots of exercise.

Breanna -- The important thing about grade 3 art is you learn to paint.  We know artists use paint.  Before we learned about artists, we learned about paint.  Also, we learned why art was created.  But the important thing about grade 3 art is you learn to paint.

Kade -- The important thing about grade 3 gym is that we have fun and exercise.  Gym is fun for everyone.  When everyone plays in gym, they are happy.  They gym is fun because people get to play with the equipment.  But the important thing about grade 3 gym is that we have fun and exercise.

Compton -- The important thing about grade 3 library is that we learn important stuff from books.  People enjoy stories.  The can not be noisy because the library is a quiet place.  The librarian works there.  But the important thing about grade 3 library is that we learn important stuff from books.

Mieka -- The important thing about grade 3 reading is you read.  You also learn.  You have new books.  But the important thing about grade 3 reading is you read.

We were wondering...

What is important about your learning?
What do (or did, if you are older) you learn about in grade three?

Not a Box Genius Hour -- Week 3

All week, our teacher had this picture on her desktop:

Photo Credit: Communities and Collaboration

So we started our genius hour by moving to the art room, sitting in groups of 4 and talking about what we thought this picture was trying to tell us.  Many of us figured it had something to do with teamwork, being creative and how 4 people could work together to create something.  We were also asked to try and give one word that described this picture.  We needed a few clues before finally coming up with the word "collaboration". 

We then watched this video about students and teachers collaborating.

Next, we heard about "collaborative circle paintings".  Some of the grade 2 classes and kindergarten classes have done these and they are on display around our school.  We watched this video of a grade 3/4 class doing collaborative circle paintings:

Since our theme is "not a box", we got to try this kind of painting but instead of circles, we could only draw boxes--squares and rectangles.  Here you can see our work at the beginning of the project:

Every student had 2 paint colors to work with.  As we worked, we listened to music.  Each time a song ended, we had to pass our two paint colors to the person to the right.  Then we had another few minutes to paint again, using our two new colors.  We continued this way until we had our original paint colors back. 

 

Then, after each song, we had to change spots. This got interesting, because now we had to work on a space that someone else had started on. Some of us did not really like this part because someone else was changing what we had started. It also got a little more tricky as our paper filled up -- where would we paint? We had to be brave and go over top of other people's work.  

In this video, you can see us working near the end of the project:

After we were done, we spent some time thinking about and discussing this project.  The first question we had to answer was  -- What one word would you use to describe your completed painting?  Our answers included: awesome, wow, messy, soggy, boxtastic, beautiful, extraordinary, amazing, colorful, worst, creative, horrifying, ozmazing, unique, genius, boxome, crazy, ripped, cool.

The other question we had to answer was -- How did you feel during the process?  Did it change during different parts?  Here are some of our thoughts...
     -- Breanna: creative all through the process
     -- Taya: not that good when we changed spots
     -- Evan: rollercoaster the whole way through
     -- Makayla: calm the whole way through
     -- Landon: disappointed because I wanted to do pirates
     -- Sam: mad and grumpy when we changed spots
     -- Kade: nervous because I was not sure what was going to happen and if I could do it
     -- Jaxson: mad because I didn't get to use a thin brush
     -- Tristan: a little sad because some people didn't like me going over their stuff

Now what are we going to do with our completed masterpieces?  That's yet to be decided.

We were wondering...

Have you ever done a collaborative painting before?
Have you ever collaborated on a different kind of project?