Where do butterflies go when it rains?

Language Arts

During our read aloud time this week I read the book "Where Does the Butterfly Go When It Rains" by May Garelick.  In this book the author explores what happens to various animals when it rains. Where do they go? What do they do? I used this as a mentor text to model how to improve our comprehension by making predictions as we read.  I asked the students if they have ever seen a butterfly out in the rain.  Most of the students said no but they had great "predictions" as to where a butterfly might go in the rain.  Unfortunately, May Garelick doesn't answer this question in the book.  She leaves the reader wondering and making predictions about where butterflies do go when it rains.

On Friday we decided it was time to release our one and only butterfly Riley (Rilee),  Our butterfly hadn't been very active in the classroom.  But as soon as we took the habitat outside, it was like it had  renewed sense of itself.  The butterfly started flying around inside the habitat like we had never seen before.  As soon as we unzipped the top, the butterfly flew out.  All of the students cheered and I got all choked up.  We were able to watch the butterfly for a few minutes as it stayed flying near the school.  Soon enough it was out of sight.  Ironically, about an hour later it started to sprinkle.  I couldn't help but to think about Riley (Rilee) and wonder where DO butterflies go when it rains?

During our Writer's Workshop this week the students reflected on their year by answering a few questions for their scrapbook.  Some of the questions included:
- What was your favourite memory of Grade 3?
- What is something you accomplished this year that you are most proud of?
- What are the 3 most important things you learned this year?

Please look for their answers to these questions in their scrapbook that will be coming home next week!


Math

This week we finished our Geometry unit.  Here are a few pictures of the students creating skeletons of 3D objects out of toothpicks and plasticine.  This was a great activity for identifying vertices and edges of an object.

We also began our Data Analysis unit this week.  This unit is projected based where the students will be planning their year end party by analyzing and charting the data taken from each other.  On Thursday afternoon we will be watching the movie Charlotte's Web.  The student's will be collecting first-hand data regarding preferred snacks and drinks for the party.  Using the data collected they will be organizing it using tally arks, line plots and bar graphs.  

The four questions they will be collecting data to answer are:

1.  What type of chips would you like for the party?

2. What kind of drink would you like for the party?

3. What type of candy would you like for the party?

4. What kind of popcorn would you like for the party?

Here are a few pictures of the students collecting their data.  Stay tuned next week to find out what types of snacks the students decided on.

Social Studies

This week the students completed their Peruvian suitcases and began presenting them to the class.

Congratulations to our student of the week!

The students really enjoyed their last week of swimming.  We lucked out with the weather and everyone had a great time.