Imovie~Narrative story trailer

As a way to add to the Lucy Calkins Narrative Writing unit, we made iMovie small moment trailers! We used our small moment story mountains to help us create these masterpieces. So many important skills went into creating these trailers. The students followed a rubric, synthesized their stories, found pictures to match ideas, used show not tell, and finally prepared their pieces in an iMovie trailer. The students then created their own "movie poster" and learned all about QR codes. This was an incredible effort by all our 3rd grade students! Please stop by to scan your child's QR code (must download a QR code reader to your smartphone.) If you don't have a smartphone, you can ask your child to show you on their iPad. Enjoy!

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The Marshmallow Challenge

Friday we worked on a STEM project that helps develop the 4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. It was The Marshmellow Challenge. Students were given 4 items: spaghetti, string, tape, and a marshmellow. The challenge was to build the tallest freestanding tower in 18 minutes and the marshmellow had to be on the top of the tower! It was fun to see all the different ideas! Ask your child how they felt about this challenge.

Flexible Seating

Thank you for coming in today! Many of you were excited to see the seating that we will be using this year. Students will be taught how about the many options for seating, as well as, how to pick the best spot for them based on many factors. Flexible seating is a concept rooted in educational research that encourages students to choose their type of seating based on their learning preferences. For example, some students prefer to stand while learning, some students prefer to sit on the floor or on their knees, some students prefer a traditional table, and some students prefer to sit and have their work elevated in front of them, facilitated by a drafting table. I am especially aware of students who might need to move while working. These students can enjoy doing their work seated on a movable chair or yoga balls. All together we have about 40 different seating options available for our 20 students. Whether your child prefers to sit in a traditional seat or explore...

What a hot week! In and out of the classroom....take a look!

Monday Buddy Reading: Students read a Time for Kids magazine with their reading partner looking for strong vocabulary words. This was a way to practice working on reading comprehension, collaborating with a peer, and practiced our reading strategy of finding good words in reading to increase our vocabulary. Tuesday Real World Math: Students continued working with their math partner to discuss the Real World Math problem from Friday. They used the app, Explain Everything, to set up slides to show their thinking in all areas: Notices, Wonders, Main Question, Low-High Estimate, and Math Work. This app allows students to show their thinking in many ways: drawing, typing, pictures, and audio recording. Students had time to work with their partner and then voice recorded their thinking at home on how they solved the main question. This is an activity in math we will do each Friday using the voice recording as a way for students to explain their thinking and develop th...

Mrs. Katchen's Class 2017-18

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