Massachusetts V.I.P. Museum

The Massachusetts V.I.P. Museum opened today only from 9:00 to 9:45.
Admission was free!
Students did a wonderful job sharing all they learned. And boy, did they look good too!

Check out our video!

MA VIP 2018

It's MAY!

IMPORTANT DATES!    

• May 8 & 9th -  MCAS
• May 11th - 1/2 day
• May 14th - V.I.P. Notes due!
• May 14th - Start of Wheelock Reads Week
• May 15th - Suzy Kline visits Grade 3
• May 25th - Massachusetts V.I.P. Museum open to all visitors from 9:00 to 9:45!  Admission is free! 
• May 28th - No school
• May 31st - Field Day!
• June 5th - Mr. Grenham (Dale Street principal) speaks to Grade 3 students
• June 7th - Wheelock Night of the Arts
• June 8th - Tie Dye Day! 
• June 14th - Flag Day - wear red, white and blue
• June 15th - Transition Day
• June 18th - last day of school (1/2 day)

Well, on Friday we hit day 150!  That means that there are 30 days of school left. To be honest, I love this time of year. The weather is nicer... finally, and there is so much going on. I also really like what we learning about right now. 

We just completed our maps of Massachusetts. They look awesome!  Students also learned about the New England states and capitals and were tested on their locations on a map. Tricky spelling on some of those states!  

We also are learning about the events leading up to the American Revolution. The Pilgrims, the Puritans, and now the PATRIOTS!  No, not the football team.  

The original Patriots... the men and women who began the United States. 

We also discussed that there are 2 sides to EVERY story and that we needed to see history through different lenses. As an example, we discussed the Loyalists and the Patriots. The Loyalists were colonists who wanted the taxes to end, but did not want to start a new country. They wanted to remain LOYAL to the King. The Patriots, fed up with the taxes and the King's authority, wanted liberty at any cost. 

This week we read about and discussed historical events including, the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. We then watched a Schoolhouse Rock video called "No More Kings".  You are all younger than me, however, you may recall the Schoolhouse Rock segments that were on television. I LOVED them as a kid. And once the songs are in my head, forget it!  They are there all day. The link to the video is below if you want to watch it. It is very cute. 

NO MORE KINGS - Schoolhouse Rock

And there have been some great visitors to our school recently. First, the Bay Colony Educators. Tim and Carol are amazing and do a terrific presentation to all third graders about colonial life in 1750. They are dressed in time period clothing and discuss clothing, chores, education, chores, games, chores, and rules. YES... chores. Third graders are really surprised to learn that children worked REALLY hard in colonial times. There was time to play, BUT it was nothing like life in 2018. 

This past week we also went to see Mark Rothstein, a Guiness Book of World Record Champion Jump Roper!  His message is perfect for students at Wheelock School. He talks about getting exercise to stay healthy and keep your heart strong. He also speaks about respect, integrity, and teamwork. The students LOVE him and can't wait to go back and participate in a workshop with him after the show. This is only for third grade students so they were psyched!  After he visits, jump roping at recess is HUGE! 

Congratulations to our own Ryan F. who had an amazing 54 ONE LEGGED ATOMIC JUMPS! 

What else?  Well, we just finished a read aloud called Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan. It is the story of an unlikely friendship between two fifth grade boys, Joe and Ravi. Ravi has recently moved to New Jersey from India. Joe is a student who spends time outside of the classroom in a resource room because he has auditory processing disorder, which sometimes makes it hard for him to learn. Both boys are subjected to bullying by a popular boy in the class. The story is told chapter by chapter alternating between the two boys. It was a nice way to learn more about Indian culture and also about how students learn differently. The message tells us... there is more about people than meets the eye. 

In MATH we have been working a lot with fractions! 

We started with discussing, "What is a fraction?" It could be a shoe size, a measurement when cooking, or how much of the pizza you ate. We then looked at fractions as a part of a number line and on a ruler. 

We have looked at equivalent fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers. 

As always we continue to review concepts we have already reviewed such as expanded form, rounding to the nearest 10, 100 or $1.00, addition and subtraction with regrouping, graphing, elapsed time, etc.  Our math brains are hard at work! 

Speaking of MATH, we have our MATH MCAS this week. Students have been practicing with both paper/pencil tests and we did two sessions in the computer lab with online practice. We reviewed how to use an online ruler, explaining answers for open response questions, and best test taking strategies. The test will be on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please make sure your child arrives on time to school. 

Victory Garden - Third graders made their last school visit to the Victory Garden last week. They carried buckets of mulch, prepared the hoses for irrigation, and enjoyed some time outside. They eagerly completed these tasks... which leads me to believe you have some very capable yard help this spring!  

I love carrying mulch!

This is great exercise! 

Straightening out the lines! 

Planting seeds! 

Oh, I am so good at this! 

Olympic soccer player and champion mulcher! 

Thank you Mrs. Wilson! 

Kindness Rocks Project - Thanks to our Medfield PTO for the Kindness Rocks Project. Each Wheelock classroom was given a book. All grade 3 classrooms received a book called Only One You by Linda Kranz. It tells the story of a mother and father fish sharing their words of wisdom with their son. We then read about the Kindness Rocks Project. Here is a link to learn more about it! Kindness Rocks Project

You go, Isabella! 

That smile! 

Great advice! 

A little more about ACADEMICS! 

We are working hard on our persuasive writing pieces. Students chose their topic. We looked at transition words in sample letters. 

We have carefully looked at our choices and decided if they were worthwhile topics. As an example, Lexi wants her own room! However, upon reflection, she realizes it is not a worthwhile topic as there is not space in her house for her to do that. Isabella also realized that a trip to Hawaii may not be in the cards right now as she has several younger siblings and this may not be the best time for travel!  

Once we were ready with our topics we needed to come up with our ideas or STRONG reasons. We looked at lists of persuasive words and highlighted them in the samples we read in class. Then we tried it with our own topics. Students completed their introduction paragraphs and we will continue on next week!