Third Grade Butterfly Garden

Third grade has recently wrapped up our study on Monarch butterflies.  During Module 6 students were asked to complete the following performance task:

Monarch Migration– Monarch butterflies travel south to warmer locations such as Mexico and Baja, California so they can survive the cold winters. The migration trip is what helps them survive and feed their families. But, as the human population increases along these migration routes, there are new challenges for these butterflies. There are actions that communities can do that will help to make sure that monarch butterflies can continue to migrate. Our third graders will pretend to naturalists who study animals, such as insects, in their homes or habitats.  Many naturalists are worried that the habitats of monarch butterflies are changing and therefore the butterflies then disappearing. Our goal is to inform people about the monarch butterfly life cycles and migration habits and give our opinion or make an argument to convince them about the best actions the public can take to ensure monarch butterflies survive. People who live in the towns or cities that are located along the flight path need to know more about what they can do to make sure the monarch butterfly can survive their journey.

This learning inspired our students to plant our very own Butterfly Garden at Brecknock.  The Butterfly Garden is located in the Memorial Garden courtyard underneath the third grade classroom windows.  It includes a variety of annual flowers which will provide nectar to adult butterflies. Each student planted one. We also scattered seeds to grow perennials including milkweed (a necessity for Monarch caterpillars). The students in Mrs. Muhr’s Language Arts class also created some informational fact cards to help inform visitors about Monarch butterflies. We hope you’ll stop by the garden and check it out!

Mrs. Muhr’s Language Arts Class
Mrs. Blankley’s Language Arts Class






Students researched information on their butterfly topic.

Fact Cards provide information about butterflies.

ELANCO Mini Relay For Life

On May 1st we had a guest appearance by two high school students (Olivia Mundorf and Abby Good–both former students of Mrs. Muhr) who are on the Health Council. They came to spread the word about the ELANCO Mini Relay which will take place on May 21st. Every student was given a plastic bottle to try to collect coins for the American Cancer Society.  Filled bottles can be emptied into the larger jugs in our school office. Every elementary building will be collecting as much change as they can to help in the fight against cancer.  Please consider helping your child donate.  Students also colored signs which will be hanging during the Mini Relay.

Abby and Olivia
Please donate!



April S.T.A.R. Party

We celebrated excellent student behavior in the month of April with monthly Star party. Each day our Students are Taking Academic Responsibility by making good choices at school. They start the day with 4 stars and try to keep them all day or even earn an extra star for excellent behavior. Teachers kept track of student scores all month and averaged them to see who was invited to celebrate good behavior at our S.T.A.R. Party. Any student that averaged 3.5  stars or higher was invited to our Game Day and was able to play board games and card games with friends at a designated time.  Students who averaged 4 stars or higher were “Rock Stars” and were given snack bags to eat.  Now we’ll begin working on making good behavior choices for May!