The Many Days of Third Grade

Third grade is an exciting year and it always amazes me how everyday is so different. You have the same students, schedule, and procedures, yet everyday is full of surprises.  Some of those moments may be funny, gross, sweet, or even profound.  Which brings me to a Thanksgiving activity.  Each of my students were asked to write down one thing on a paper turkey feather that they were thankful for.  Every year, I have responses like my psp, clothes, cell phone, ipod, home, toys, games, etc.  This year was different!  The surprise was this: not one of my students put a materialistic response.  Their responses were profound.  Their answers included family, friends, church, God, U.S. military, freedom, and forgiveness.  How profound for a third grader to be thankful for forgiveness.  It made me step back and reflect.  I had never thought of that answer before.  How often do we take forgiveness for granted?  It may be forgiveness from our friends, family, or God.  What would our lives be like without it?  Pretty profound, huh?  I thought so also!  These are your children.  You should all be so proud of the people that they are becoming.  They are an incredible group of children.  I have included some additional photos of homecoming week, activities from reading Penguin Chick and Charlotte's Web.  A special thank you to Hannah, Noah, Nadia, and Tori for the sweet treats you brought for our literature unit on Charlotte's Web. The kids also enjoyed reading Pushing Up the Sky which was a play that the children performed.  I think I may have a few rising stars. Hope you enjoy!

Homecoming!

     This week will be a crazy one, so just hold on tight.  Since it is homecoming this week, our school has planned dress up days.  Monday was Nerd Day and today was Superhero Day!  Today, I taught Captain America, the Green Lantern, Batman, and a Ninja!  The remainder of the week will be 80s Day, Hillbilly Day, and Spirit Day. 
     We are continuing to read Chocolate Fever and the kids are enjoying it.  They also love all of the chocolate activities.  We have created graphs and learned fractions using m&m candy.  We had a chocolate bar tasting and created a class graph of our favorite candy bar.  Of course, the Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar won the contest.  We also enjoyed chocolate chip cookies that Joshua brought for us.  Thank you Joshua!  We are also reading Penguin Chick this week.  The kids will be doing research and learning many new things about emperor penguins.  The kids have also finished a sandwich book report.  They did a great job on these.  I have displayed them outside of our classroom. 
    I hope you all are doing well and thank you for all you do to help your child study at home.  I have a very smart class and I am so proud of them and the work they do each day.  Hope you enjoy these photos.

     

New Class Pets

We have two new additions to our classroom.  We now have two turtles!  They were donated to our classroom by Kaylin.  Thanks Kaylin!  We enjoyed observing the turtles today and I am excited to learn more about our reptile friends.  Tomorrow, we will be going to the computer lab to research our classroom pets.

We have finished our first unit in reading and we will be taking our End of the Unit test next week.  We will also begin reading Chocolate Fever.  This is one of my favorite books!  I also enjoy all of the chocolatey activities.  Next week is going to be so much fun...and delicious!

Pets In The Classroom

We are so excited to have a classroom pet!  Our class welcomed a leopard gecko to our classroom today.  The kids were super excited!  A special thank you goes to the Pet Care Trust, Pets In The Classroom, and Petsmart for giving our class a grant to purchase this pet. We will be able to do many fun activities with our gecko, including, writing, reading, math, science, research, and learning about pet responsibility.  For our first activity, each family will decide on a name for our lizard.  We will then take a vote to see which name receives the majority vote.  I have included pictures of our new pet along with some recent chemical lab photos.  Enjoy!

Looking Ahead and Current Events

Well, the week has come to a close and we are all looking forward to observing Labor Day.  We had a great week this week at school.  We even began our chemical tests today!  Next week, we will be reading Alexander, Who Use to Be Rich Last Sunday.  We will continue our chemical tests and begin our x 2 multiplication facts.  Don't forget Spirit Cards are now on sale and the Book-a-thon has begun. Keep checking our blog for an upcoming classroom surprise! I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend.  See you  next week!

Check out this multiplication rap!

Learning With the Stars

Well, third grade is off to an awesome start!  I am so excited about this school year.  We are all getting to know one another and learning our new procedures and routines.  The kids are doing an awesome job.  They are really adapting well.  The kids have now received all of their textbooks and we have begun our learning adventure.  We are beginning with the story, Boom Town, and learning the difference between realism and fantasy.  We will soon begin to learn our multiplication facts, beginning with zeroes and ones. Keep checking our blog for upcoming pictures of our chemical experiments.

Mrs. Blount

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the third grade!

As your child's teacher, I would like to begin by introducing myself.   My name is Hayley Blount and I am from Malvern.  I am married to Ken Blount and the proud mom of four children: Austin (9), Taylor (10), Dylan (11), and Peyton (11).  So believe me, I understand how busy your schedule may be and the daunting task of nightly homework!  I am also a big Alabama fan.  Roll Tide!  I have three basset hound dogs named Ally, Bama, and Mount Cody.

I have taught at Wicksburg School for six years.  I have a Bachelors Degree from Troy University and a Masters degree from the University of West Alabama.  You must know that I love my job and will do my best to make third grade the best year yet.

Third grade is filled with new goals, responsibilities, and a new found independence.  Don't get scared just yet!  I will help pave the way. Through this blog, I will keep you posted on what is going on in our classroom, what we are learning, and important events.  If you need anything, never hesitate to call me.  My email is blount.hayley@hcboe.us and the school number is 692-5549.

Let's work together and make this year the best!

With warmest regards,

Hayley Blount