March, 2008
As we finish up our Postcards from Space projects, we are traveling to a planet earth continent, and visiting our Australian friends. Jenny Eather, a talented Australian teacher, has created some challenging web sites. The links below will take you to her Maths Dictionary Page and her Rainforest Math activities.
We are also beginning our eagle watch. The BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham maintains a web cam on a Maine eagle's nest. From their web page:
Welcome to BioDiversity Research Institute's live eagle webcam. The camera is 70 feet up in a white pine tree on the coast of Maine, and is providing live video of a nesting pair of bald eagles, 24 hours a day. These eagles are the most successful pair in the state. They have nested at this site for 13 years, and raised 20 offspring.
We watch the eagles via the BioDiversity site but learn about eagles in general from the Journey North site. Journey North is also the source of our Tulip Bulb project as well as our GT students' Mystery Class project.These are great sites to visit with your child!
January, 2008
Third graders will be embarking on a project we call Postcards from Space, based on the book by Loreen Leed called Postcards from Pluto. We will tour the solar system, select a planet to research and then organize our information in a graphic organizer (Kidspiration). Using our research we will write a postcard to someone, design a stamp and cartoon and also find a graphic to use for our postcard. We have a lot of work to do!
Some helpful sites to explore about Space:
(December was a blur.....)
November 12
Plimoth Plantation has created an extraordinary web site that allows children to explore and discover information about the Harvest Celebration of 1621. Have fun visiting the sites below.
November 5
Thirds graders have been busy learning about latitude, longitude, the equator and prime meridian. In Kid Pix, they learned how to open a file (a world map from Mapquest), mark designated locations and make a map key, save and print.
Challenge: With an Atlas or map that has good clean lines of latitude and longitude, find the coordinates of various locations.
October 22
Because Journey North uses latitude and longitude coordinates when giving information about schools involved in its various projects, we are looking at that information. I am learning about what those lines that criss cross our maps really mean, along with the children! The link below is a great site to visit with your child to discover some valuable mapping skills.
DRS students are planting their tulips in anticipaion of Spring. We will share our data with schools across North America and learn how seasonal change affacts all living things.
October 15th
This week, third grade students will learn how to log in to Net Trekker, an Internet search tools that provides pre-screened Internet sites for children based on grade and reading ability.
September 24th
This week and next students will be taking NWEAs - Northwest Evaluation Association's measure of academic progress. From their web site:
NWEA partners with educators to offer student assessment, scientifically-based research, and professional development.THE NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSOCIATION, a non-profit organization, engages in ongoing, supportive relationships with partnering school districts and education agencies throughout the United States.
Our third graders will take the math and reading assessments now and again in the Spring. The tests are taken on the computer and students are usually done in an hour or less for each test. They are not timed however and children can take as much time as they need.
Technology at DRS
•Students begin the year with their own AlphaSmarts. We use these portable keyboards to introduce children to touch typing; by January you will be amazed at how accurately your child will be able to type! The students are excited to have their own AlphaSmart for typing and writing.
•Each week your child will have an hour of technology. Classes will be divided into two groups. Each group will spend thirty minutes into their classroom for AlphaSmart lessons and thirty minutes in the computer lab (in the library) for computer.
•We try to keep parents aware of what we are doing each week via my web page. Just link to
and select Technology on the left hand tabs. We will let you know what software we are using and we are connecting it to classroom curriculum. I often give additional links so that you can explore additional information with your child.
•An exciting new project for us this year is our participation in Journey North.
Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. They track the coming of spring through the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, robins, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, gray whales, bald eagles— and other birds and mammals; the budding of plants; changing sunlight; and other natural events. Find migration maps, pictures, standards-based lesson plans, activities and information to help students make local observations and fit them into a global context. Widely considered a best-practices model for education, Journey North is the nation's premiere "citizen science" project for children. The general public is welcome to participate.
•Third graders will be involved in the Tulip Bulb project and we would love to have a few parents with garden skills assisting us as we plant our tulips. See Mrs. Hutchins or Mrs. Young if you would like to help.
•In the Spring we will also be observing Maine’s own EagleCam to observe how the seasons affect not only plants but all living creatures. We get quite involved in nesting, egg laying, the hatching and maturing of the eaglets!
•All lessons and projects will be integrated with curriculum areas and stress learner outcomes for both technology and subject areas.
•Some software we use with our third graders:
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