OH. MY!

Wow! We had quite a surprise when we walked into the classroom this morning… shocking, really. It appears as though the stuffed animals had a wild night during their school slumber party. While a few students thought I was the culprit, most were VERY disappointed in their "stuffies." Let’s just say this is the last time I allow stuffed animals to sleep in the classroom unsupervised. I know several furry friends that will be getting coal this holiday season.

Here’s the video evidence!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45lGovr5e5o&feature=youtu.be

ZAP!

Today was an especially good Friday, jam-packed with learning, smiles and LOTS of laughter. We had Junior Achievement with Mrs. Noble, played a new math review game, picked countries for our country project, and finally found out who our mystery person was… sneaky Ms. Wood!

I’d say the crowd favorite was ZAP! - our math review game. This game is kind of like a modern spin on jeopardy. The class is split into four groups. Each group must decide on a team name. Ours were quite interesting as you may have guessed: The Dunkin Donuts Fan Club, The Kentucky Fried Gummy Bears, The Northern Lights and Team Awesome. Each group is asked a math question. If they get the question correct, they get a point. If they get it wrong, the question moves to the next team. The team that gets it correct must pick a card from the ZAP! board. The cards are either good, bad or blank! If you pull a ZAP! card, all of your team’s points are erased. What I love most is that it’s anyone’s game at any point in time.

Check out the video below to see all the problem solving and collaboration happening! I was impressed. :)

Stay warm out there!

ZAP! video

Computer Science!

This week was Computer Science Education Week in schools around the world. To celebrate, Mrs. Wolinsky came into our class to teach Hour of Code. Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science and programming, which many had in second grade.

Coding is such a foreign and very new topic for me. I have always been a bit anti-technology... GASP! I know I am probably in the minority here, especially for my generation. Today, it seems that people are almost entirely "connected", yet often struggle putting their devices down to have face-to-face conversations.  I cringe when I go to a restaurant and see a table of four catching up on their social media accounts, rather than catching up with one another. Although this is true at times, it's hard to ignore the fact that technology has many positive impacts on our daily lives. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, if you ask me. While I could go on and on about this topic, it seems that I am veering off into uncharted territory.

The moral of the story is this: the Hour of Code activity showed me ALL of the positive aspects of technology and made me forget about the negative ones. To say I was impressed with these kiddos is an understatement! Mrs. Wolinsky began with a short video and introduction, then sent students off to try to code on their own! While I was nervous that a full hour on laptops would be a very individual activity, I quickly realized just how interactive it was. Students were working together, problem solving, and figuring out codes they swore they couldn’t figure out.  This activity took lots of perseverance and determination. Check out the short video below. If you listen closely, you can hear some of my favorite quotes. I just wish I could have caught more on camera!

• “Oh, I know what I need to do.”
• "I can help you with that."
• "Want to come sit with me?... Bring your computer!"
• "I did it!"... "What do you mean you couldn't do it?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjwIdymdZWU

Be sure to ask your child about their experience!  

Happy Friday!

"Fish are friends, NOT food!"

Our New Classmate

This is Bob. He likes long swims around his bowl, being read to by third graders, and a calm, quiet classroom. Bob is the 22nd member of our class and my favorite student (don’t tell the others). On Tuesday, we had a VERY official vote to name our new friend. Quite possibly even more official than the upcoming vote on November 8th. After each student gave an idea for a name, the class narrowed it down to our top four choices: Beyonce, Harry Potter, Bubbles and, of course, Bob. The vote ended in a tie between Bubbles and Bob, shocking us all! After an official recount, the tie remained. We voted again, this time voting only for Bubbles or Bob. There was lots of persuasion leading up to the final vote. In the end, Bob won by two votes. Some call him Bobbles, which I think he rather likes. Feel free to come in and check him out!

Harvesting Turnips

Our Three-Day Turnip Event…

For those of you who don’t already know, Y.E.S. has a wonderful garden. It is filled with lettuce, garlic, basil, pumpkins, carrots, cucumber, kale, potatoes and of course… turnips! (To name a few). We couldn’t let the cold Maine weather creep in before taking advantage of this outdoor space.  Last Thursday, our class took a visit to this amazing garden and harvested 9 and a half pounds of turnips! We donated five pounds to the cafeteria and decided to save the rest for a taste test. *Fun fact about Miss Frame: cooking is NOT my expertise, so I figured mashed turnips would be the safest bet. We spent our snack time on Wednesday learning how to peel and prep the turnips. (I’m sure you will have lots of eager helpers on Thanksgiving!) We then set the prepped and ready turnip pieces into the crock pot to cook for the day. Our plan was to mash them up and taste them at the end of the day. You may notice that the title of this post is “Our Three-Day Turnip Event.” If you guessed that the turnips were not ready after spending the day in the crock pot, then you were correct! Did I mention cooking is not my expertise? I wish I could say the kids were upset when I told them we would not be tasting that day, but they were overjoyed. Fast forward a day and the mashed turnips are ready to be tasted! This activity called for patience, teamwork, flexibility, and some bravery. The only rule: everybody had to try them. Watch this video https://goo.gl/photos/cPoAxT1nukJrgmcs7 to see what we all thought! There were many, many mixed reviews.

Book Tasting!

Book Tasting in Room 102!   

  

Today, all students in Room 102 were invited to El Restaurante de Frame for our first book tasting of the year! As much as I wish I could take credit for this awesome activity, I cannot.

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

When I stumbled upon this J.K. Rowling quote, I was on a mission to find an engaging and fun activity to get these third graders excited about reading. The students arrived after lunch to a classroom transformed into a fine-dining experience and “Chef Frame” at the door taking reservations. I have never seen so much excitement about books! It was a gigantic success and a great way to sample or get a “taste” of lots of different books. The kids were told to be risk-takers and stay open-minded when choosing a book. I was impressed with how well they did that. During the book tasting, they jotted notes onto their “menus” and filled their bookmarks with a list of books they can’t wait to read.  No more, "I don't have a good book to read!" excuses in this classroom! Enjoy your long weekend with this spectacular fall weather!

Here is a link to the book tasting video:

https://goo.gl/photos/7sPva4S1XmhU2xAEA

**Thanks to Mr. Abbott for help with the video!

Happy Friday!

“Whiteboard Work” and Happy Friday!

This week we added “whiteboard work” to our morning routine. With only fifteen quick minutes before we head to our special each day, this addition has been a wonderful way to set the tone for the entire school day. We share our thoughts at closing circle at the end of each day! Here are the “whiteboard work” topics of the week:

My favorite of the week: “What will you do, today, to spread kindness?” Some examples the kids came up with are:

“Give compliments”

“I play with them”

“Have chats with them”

“Tell jokes”

“Being nice to people”

“Hold the door”

“Say sorry and don’t be mean to other people”

“I try to make them feel welcome”

“I care when someone gets hurt”

“Be kind”

“Play with my little sister and make her happy”

“Get things someone can’t get”

“Include people”

“Help someone off the ground”

“Ask if they want to play”

“Say good morning to everybody”

“Help people”

“Sit with them at lunch”

“Help somebody on the slide”

“Smile at someone”

“Say ‘that is cool’ if they are drawing”

“Say kind words”

Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if everyone did these simple things? We can learn from these kiddos! :) Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!

Welcome Back!

A Great First Week in the Books!

(no pun intended)

What a great first week of third grade! We have a wonderful group of kind, clever, hard working and enthusiastic students in Room 102! We have had fun starting to get to know one another these past four days with lots of partner and group activities. These games helped us continue to learn about one another, as well as how to be a good partner. Make sure you ask your child what their favorite activity was this week. :) Next week, we will continue to focus on our routines and expectations. As a class, we are starting to design “Our Class Promise.” This is a set of rules and expectations the students find most important for a successful AND fun school year!

This week we focused on celebrating how each one of us is unique and special. We talked about what a boring world it would be if everyone was the same. I read aloud a few great picture books to go along with this topic. Be sure to ask your child about these fun picture books.