Week 3: Sept. 19-23, 2011

Three of our monarch butterflies emerged from their chrysalids this week. It is so amazing to watch the process in our very own classroom. The painted ladies and cecropia caterpillars are forming their chrysalids/cocoons too. We worked hard in math this week reviewing multi-digit addition/subtraction problems. In science we are discussing the importance of coloration. We did a lesson on warning and startle coloration. It is fun to see the students apply their coloration knowledge in the activities. In health we reviewed our bus safety rules.

Week 2: Sept. 12-16, 2011

Monday morning we discovered five of our six monarch caterpillars had become chrysalids. We were hoping to catch our sixth caterpillar enter the chrysalis stage on Thursday, but instead he/she waited until we all went home for the day. Bummer. The students are still bringing in a few different kinds of caterpillars and it's fun to compare them. We had a lesson on insect coloration with Mrs. Koch on Monday. We will be investigating coloration in monarchs and other insects this fall. During the week the students did a 'Hide A Butterfly' lesson to learn more about camouflage. Their finished product will be displayed at the Monarch Fair in November. On Wednesday we had our first media lesson. Students were able to check-out two books. After discussing and working on our own classroom rules and expectations for the last week and a half, our rules and expectations were finalized. On Friday we had our first all school assembly to unveil our 2011-2012 school rules and expectations.

Week 1: Sept. 5-9, 2011

We had a great first week of 3rd grade! We went over a lot of classroom procedures, made new friends, discussed hopes and dreams, observed our monarch caterpillars, reviewed place value in math, and did a lot of beginning of the year assessing. By Friday I think we were all a bit tired!