The students are already involved with new learning even though this is only their third day back after Spring Break. They are concentrating on compound words and contractions during Word Work.
Given the number of boys that are in the class, I was sure that our non-fiction reading of stories about the Titanic's tragic voyage 101 years ago this month, would be very popular. They are learning how to use 'Thinkmarks', a tool to purposefully record their thinking as they read.
Later in May, all Grade Three students across the province of Alberta are required to write a story using a picture prompt as one part of the Provincial Achievement Tests. The students are beginning to practice that skill. They have written a great deal in the classroom this year, but most often about topics that interest them, or about themselves. The practise is to learn to write about something that someone else chooses for you to write about.
The four countries that the students are studying as part of the Social Studies curriculum this year are Peru, Tunisia, India and Ukraine. We are tying in the cultural aspect of the Easter season with the traditional writing of Pysanky, Ukrainian Easter eggs.
The students watched the process via some YouTube videos, and I shared some eggs that I was given when I was in Ukraine. These are wooden, created for the tourist trade. Traditionally, pysanky are written on raw eggs.
Each student was given the opportunity to choose a traditional design and then colour it with felt pens, following the colours in the order that the eggs would be dyed: white, yellow, orange, red, green, (blue and purple, though these colours are not traditional) and black.
The designs have meanings behind them and most often, flowers, water and the cross can be found.
These will be displayed, but the students will be involved in another project, thanks to a generous donation at Christmastime, allowing us to buy the supplies needed.
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