Create Your Own Homework

What fantastic work the children presented today!  After a week of having the freedom to pursue their own interests for homework, they showed creativity, varied interests and excitement in their learning.  Enjoy the photos from today's presentations; more presentations will take place on Tuesday.

Current Projects: Clarifications

I wanted to offer a little clarification on the recent projects going on in 3B.

1) The Make Your Own Homework has been a great success!  The children enjoyed presenting their topics of study and I was very impressed with the diversity and intensity of their interests!

2) We are currently doing a book report as an in-school project.  This is not to be done at home!  If your child has chosen a rather long book, they can bring the book back and forth to school each day for reading.  Otherwise, you shouldn't have to do a thing with this in-class project.

3) The interview project was introduced this week and a letter was sent home (it is also posted on the blog).  Most of the children have already picked their person to interview.  The focus of this is learning about our community and interviewing people that help our community.  Please be sure to follow the tips on the back of the instruction page:  practice with mom or dad before calling to schedule your interview; have mom or dad accompany you to  your interview and supervise; take pictures; invite your guest to our Interview Breakfast.

The children will be writing a list of 10 interview questions at school on Tuesday.  They will also be making a breakfast invitation to give to their interviewee.
Pace yourself according to what works in your schedule, making sure that you allow enough time for your child to write up their findings in a one page report.  The reports are due on June 17th and the Interview Breakfast is on June 19th.  This breakfast is for students and interviewees only and will be supervised by Kittredge staff (including Mrs. Desmond and myself) and Mr. Cushing.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

~Mrs. Ohrn

Interview Project

                                                                                    May 2013

Dear Parents,

         It’s interview time again in third grade and the children are beginning to learn about communities and how they run. Part of our study will involve the awareness of the many jobs that help our town, as well as the surrounding communities, to prosper.

         In class we have listed several professions.  The boys and girls are eager to begin their interviews so we’re sending this list to help them get started.

         1.  Decide who you want to interview.

         2.  Find out if that person is willing to meet with you for about a half hour.  Go with a parent to do the interview.

         3.  Make a list of about ten questions to ask this person about their job, be sure one of the questions asks how their job helps the community.

         4.  Have your questions looked at by Mrs. Desmond or Mrs. Ohrn before your interview.

         5.  Meet with your person, interview him or her, be sure to jot down their answers and take some pictures if you can.

         The final project should have a title page, a page listing the questions and answers and a written report about the person and his job, based on the questions and answers given at the interview.

         Pictures add a lot to the final report.  The report should be presented in a folder that will keep it neat and clean.  CVS sells the ones with a clear plastic cover and a binding to hold it all together.

         The reports should be turned in no later than Monday, June 17th.  We will have a Thank You Breakfast for our interviewees on Wednesday, June 19th, at Kittredge, from 9:00 – 10:00 AM.  We will make invitations for them in school and present them to the person at the interview,

Call if you still have questions.  Have fun with this project!  It has always been the highlight of our Social Studies unit.

Thank you,

Mrs, Desmond and Mrs. Ohrn

Rose, where did you get that red?

Today in class we did some creative writing.  Based on a famous poem titled, The Tiger, the children wrote question poems to objects in nature.   Enjoy the following short poems full of wonder and curiosity.

Wolf, why do you howl when everyone is asleep?  Dog, where did you get your bark?  Leopard, why are you so stealthy?  Mosquito, why are you so annoying?  Chinchilla, where did you get your fuzzy coat?  Tree, why are you so beautiful in autumn?  Flower, why are you so colorful?  Snake, where did you get your hiss?  -by Kyra

Caterpillar, why are you so tickly when you crawl up me? How do you make that silky chrysalis?  Caterpillar how do you turn into a butterfly?  Butterfly, how do you get your wings?  Butterfly, how do you fly?  -By Brenna

Caterpillar, why aren't you called a dogapillar or a squidapillar? - by Ben

Trees, why do you make paper?  Dog, why are you so cute?  Rose, why do you have a stem?  Stars, why are you so high in the sky?  Grass, why are you so green?  Slug, why are you so slow?  Ant, why do you steal my food?  -by Paige

Dog, why do you wag your tail when you're happy?  Dog, why do you perk up your ears when you hear things?  Dog, why do you bark so loudly?  Dog, why do you protect me so?  Dog, why do you lick my face to kiss?  Dog, why do you listen so carefully? -by Natalie

Squid, why are you so yummy?  Rose, why are you so red?  Chinchilla, why are you so fluffy?  Grass, why are you so green?  Bees, why do you sting so much?  Kittens, why are you so soft?  Maggots, why are you so gross? -by Ashley

Cheeta, why are you so fast?  Why do you eat me?  Where do you get your spots?  You're like a cat!  Where did you get your ears?  Come back, cheeta!
Tiger, why are you so mean to me? 
We are like brothers! -by Jacob

Pig!  Why do you have raw pork chops?  Rose!  Why do you take so long to grow?  Snake!  Why do you kill animals?  School!  Why are you sometimes fun?  Snail!  Why are you so slow?  Trees!  Why are you so fun?  Cooper (my dog)! Why are you so soft? -by Nick

Slug, why are you so slow?  Panthers, why do you have to be so scary?  Leopard, why do you have so many spots?  Grass, why do you stain my clothes?  Poison ivy, why do you make me itch? -by Jack

Cheeta, why are you so fast?  Why do you have a million spots?  Why do your eyes glow in the night sky?  Tiger, why do you eat cute animals?  Why do you look so angry but you are part of the cat family?  why do you have black stripes?  Why do you roar so much?  Cheeta, why are you so fierce?
 -by Anusree

Berries, why are you so good? You make me want to eat you all the time!  Berries, why are you so purple, red and blue?
Daisy (my dog), why are you so cute?  You make me go crazy, you're so cute!  Daisy, why is your hair golden?  Daisy, why is your nose so shiny and why are you so fast?  
Seal, why is your fur so smooth?  It makes me want to touch your smooth fur! Seal, why do you swim and do you have teeth? -by Charlotte

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events:  Please save the date for the following upcoming events:

May 21^st:  Town Meeting

May 29^th:  School Concert at 6:30 at the North Andover High School

May 31^st:  School Concert for Veterans and Grandparents during the school day

June 19^th:  Wizard of Oz Performance

June 20^th:  Lowell Spinners Night

Create Your Own Homework

     Next week, your children have a special type of homework assignment called “create your own homework.”  This is an opportunity for children to explore an area of interest that is not usually covered in homework assignments or classroom learning.  This project is exactly what the title states – children will have the opportunity to explore, learn, and create in whatever area they choose.

     There are only four guidelines for this project.  Children are expected to work on their “homework” at least 30 minutes a night.  Also, children should have a tangible “product” that they can bring in on Friday to share with the class (a report to read, poster to show and describe, an experiment to demonstrate, finished craft project, building/item they built or created, etc.)   Third, while parents can provide minimal assistance and direction, I would like this assignment to be something your child has created.  Finally, children should have fun and learn a lot as they explore and complete their project!

      The sky is the limit for this assignment, however, if your child needs some direction in making his/her decision, here are a few ideas:  do and write about a science experiment, create a board game, write a song/story/collection of poems, build something (lego structure, model, bird house), do a research project and create a poster about what you learned (your favorite animal, something you’ve always wanted to learn more about), do a craft project, create a piece of art, make maple syrup…….

         Please check your child’s agenda book each night for any additional homework.  We will still be having a test on the Revolutionary War on Thursday and a spelling test on Friday.

     Have fun, and please let me know if you have any questions J

                                    ~Mrs. Ohrn

1775

1775 was a very big year in American history!  Paul Revere rode through the streets warning residents that "the Regulars are coming!"  The battles of Lexington and Concord occurred in April and the Battle of Bunker Hill took place in June.  Did you know that Bunker Hill was actually named Breed's Hill?

Thank you for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week!

Thank you for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week!  The cards, delicious food and kind words were so sweet.  Thank you especially to Mrs. Winn for donating a new pencil sharpener 

to 3B!  We were all thrilled!  I am grateful to be your child's teacher and I thank you for all that you do.

Working on Area: Designing Dream Houses

Today in math we designed our dream houses!  The children built rectangular rooms and calculated the area of each room.  Then they found the total area of their dream house.  We have quite a talented and creative group of architects in 3B!

Meet our Famous People from Massachusetts!

What a wonderful job the students did today during our Biography Fair!  They were well prepared, articulate, engaging and joyful as we hosted the second grade for this special presentation.  After the children gave small speeches to the audience, they engaged with the second graders, acting in character.  What great actors and actresses!  A wonderful learning time was had by all and I am so proud of them.  Thank you to the second grade for being a great audience.  Stop by the Kittredge lobby to see our sculpture art projects on display!