Mrs. Thorp's Third Grade Class Blog

Check out our trip blog to the Southwest Region and see where we have been for the last few weeks.  Also find out where your child would like to go sometime for real!

A week ago we took a field trip to Potter Park to celebrate Arbor Day with boys and girls from all over mid-Michigan.

In the morning we learned about different kinds of soil and which is best for growing plants and also about the different kinds of trees.  We learned what a watershed is and the importance of clean water for our environment.

We enjoyed a sack lunch on the grass with our friends.

After being entertained by a juggler and a tree sawing contest we headed for a walk through the zoo.

For the next two weeks we will be taking the Standford Achievement Tests.  Although your child will not receive a grade on these tests, the tests are a good indicator of what your child has learned in third grade.

How can you as a parent help?

• Remind your child to try their best  at all times.
• Help your child get a good night’s sleep every night.
• Feed your child a healthy breakfast before school.
• Assure your child that you know that he/she will do their best.

If you have any concerns, let me know so that I can help.

To conclude our trip to the West Region, the third graders each picked a city in the west and tried to persuade the rest of the class to move there. We used what we learned in writing class to write an opinion and back our opinion up with facts.

We researched our city on the computer.

We cut out pictures and planned our posters.

Finally, we presented our posters to the rest of the class and voted on which students did the best job of persuading us to move out West.

The winner was Las Vegas, Nevada!

We just finished a short science unit on rocks. We learned about the three different types of rocks and how each was formed. We got a close up view of rocks with our magnifying glasses.

Every week we will be taking a timed math quiz.  Most of the third graders know their facts but need to work in their speed. Here is  a  math concentration game that helps with that practice.

Let me know how you do!

This past week we studied the Bible story about Jesus washing his disciples feet.

This inspired us to be servants too. We each received a wash cloth and set out to use the wash cloth to do an act of service for someone else. Here is how some of us used our washcloths:

• Kirsten: I dusted Daddy’s office and computer, cleaned the pans and washed the table.
• Zac: I used my washcloth to clean the end tables and pictures of people.
• Gracia: I used my wash cloth to wipe off the dinner table, wipe off the piano, washed a bowl and fork and dish, wiped off frost on my parents’ car.
• Chance: I washed the stove while my mom was doing other things in the house.
• Morgan: I cleaned the sink in my bathroom.I used bleach and lysol to clean the sink. It was hard.
• Daisey: I used my wash cloth to wash the T.V.’s and windows in the whole house.
• Faith: I used my washcloth to wash my sister’s body.
• Garrett: I washed the table. I washed the cupboard. I washed the floor. I wiped the dog’s muddy paws. I washed the washcloth in the laundry.
• Alexa: I used my washcloth to clean the porch windows and the living room windows at home. I did it after the church service on Wednesday.
• Sarah: I used my wash cloth to clean the windows upstairs in the rooms and in the bathroom.
• Shianne: I gave my mom a foot massage at my house on Tuesday.

For the last week and a half each third grader has been following one of the mushers in the Iditarod. We have been moving our musher along the trail on a map of Alaska.

Well, today we found out that three of our mushers have arrived in Nome, Alaska.

Even though they were not the first three in the Iditarod. Three of us picked pretty good mushers and received the Third Grade Musher Awards.

Congratulations to all the mushers.

Today we had a fun Pajama Day!

We spread out our blankets and pillows and had a relaxing time reading library books.

Reading is fun when we can read on the floor in sleeping bags.

We also brought our Teddy Bears to school. In art class we drew our Teddy Bears.

We put all our pictures together to make a big Teddy Bear Quilt!

Third graders like to practice their oral reading skills with buddy reading.

This week we are reading a book called Yosemite and the Badge.  It takes place  in Yosemite National Park and is about a boy who is earning his Junior Ranger Badge.

It was a good time to read this book because in social studies we are visiting California.  If you have not checked out our trip blog, please do so.  We are having lots of fun traveling through the West and we are learning lots of new things.