read aloud

This week our student teacher Miss LaSpina did a guided read aloud activity using this book: One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul.

Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred. The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change. Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person’s actions really can make a difference in our world.

Miss LaSpina lead the class in predicting, discussed some African words, and read the story. Students discussed the message the author was teaching all of us and found details to support this theme in the characters actions.


September STAR Party

Today we celebrated excellent student behavior with our 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 join us for an extra recess. Students who averaged 4 stars or higher were “Rock Stars” and enjoyed a freeze pop.  Now we’ll begin working on making good behavior choices for October.

Check out some pictures of our third grade star students and rock stars!











Recycling Update

Today was the first day we collected our recycling bins from around the school to sort their contents into boxes for the Mennonite Central Committee’s recycling center. Some students had the job to go retrieve a bin from a certain location with a partner and return them once emptied.  Other students were the sorters.  The kids were appalled to see that some people tried to recycle items that are clearly labeled on our bins as not recyclable (paper towels, tissues, laminated paper).  We filled a whole box with paper and another box with cardboard. Next week we’ll collect the bins again and change up which jobs students do.



Reusing Items…part of the 3Rs

As part of our first LA module, we are becoming Recycling Advocates. We have been learning about the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We learned reusing is better than recycling because it doesn’t require energy to run the equipment/machines at the recycling factories. This week students were given the challenge to brainstorm different ways to reuse an object that would normally be recycled or thrown away.  They came up with some great ideas!

As a class we brainstormed ways to reuse a glass jar.
How can you reuse a metal can?
Any ideas on how to reuse a 2-liter soda bottle?
How can you reuse a sock that lost its partner?
What about an empty tissue box?

 

Field Trip Postponed

The third grade Agriculture Awareness Field Trip is being postponed until Tuesday, 10/16 because of the inclement weather we are expected to get tomorrow.  Please mark your calendars so your student will remember to dress for the weather, wear sneakers, and pack a field trip lunch that day.  Students who ordered a school prepared field trip lunch will have those on 10/16.

Recycling Advocates

As part of our first module in Language Arts, we are learning to care for the Earth and have become Recycling Advocates.  We have researched what it means to reduce, reuse and recycle.  Many students were disappointed to learn that this year paper is no longer recycled at Brecknock because there isn’t a recycling truck to come collect it.  We know that schools use a lot of paper, so we decided to start our own recycling program.  We learned that a local organization, the Mennonite Central Committee, recycles paper and other items to raise funds to cover shipping costs for the many relief kits that they send around the world. We have decided to collect paper at Brecknock and recycle it through MCC.

First, students worked in groups to write letters.  We wrote to Mrs. Hogan, the custodian, to ask her for 6 recycling bins and boxes to transport the paper in.  We wrote a letter to Mrs. Andersen, the principal, to explain our project and ask permission. We wrote an email to all Brecknock teachers to let them know they can start recycling paper in the office and teacher work room.

Next, we prepared our recycling bins by labeling them with signs to show what can and can’t be recycled. Groups prepared, practiced and presented the recycling project to each third grade homeroom. We also delivered the bins to the office and work room.

Our plan is to empty bins once a week and put the paper in boxes to deliver to MCC. We have a recycling center on a cart in our classroom. Students may need to sort out items that aren’t recyclable. Once we get a cart load of boxes, I’ll drive them to the MCC recycling center.  We’ve had a lot of interest from other classes in the building who are interested in joining us in our recycling effort.  If things go smoothly, we may soon be distributing more bins throughout the school!