October happenings

The last day of the first quarter is on Friday, and the year has been moving so quickly, I've had a hard time keeping up with my blogging. But no worries, I've been storing up the stories to share with all of you!

We had a field trip to Oregon Dairy this month, and the students learned some very interesting things. Although the students may have gotten a little mixed up with some of their facts:

The mother cows have 1 calf a month.
A cow gives 90 gallons of milk every day.
Miss Weaver works at the delly at Oregon Dairy. 

And perhaps the most interesting "fact" learned on a field trip:

The students also wrote "How-to" paragraphs this month. They each chose something they enjoy doing and explained how to do it in a paragraph. Well, in most cases... One boy couldn't think of anything he likes to do to write about. So I told him he could write about a chore he does. He wrote about washing the car and ended by saying, "Finally, you're done, and now you can go relax and maybe you'll get paid."

One of the categories on the rubric I use to grade these paragraphs says, "Steps could easily be followed." I'm thinking I may have to change that when I read sentences like these from How to Make an Elevator: "First, screw the piece of 8 feet of wood to a high tree. Screw is strong."

You also may enjoy their pictures they created to go along with the paragraphs. (Art class this was not, and I believe some students interpreted, "Your picture should be colorful" as "I need a rainbow.")

Doesn't this make you want to play the game? 

How to Build a Tree House

How to Make a Volcano

How to Wake-board

How to Wash a Horse

How to Make Scrambled Eggs

How to Drive a Four-Wheeler

How to Take Care of a Pet
("Last, if you want to, you can have lots of fun with it.")

We like to take brain breaks in third grade, especially in the afternoons between Reading and Math. (They're sure to let me know when we've gone days without a brain break.) Many of them have a favorite brain break - going to the beach.  I stole this one from one of my high school gym teachers. The students lie on the floor and imagine they are at the beach. I've even started putting up a video of a beach with waves and other beach sounds. One day they asked me, "Why didn't you go to the beach?" I wish I could.

In Science, we've been learning about warm-blooded animals, and how although humans have some of the same characteristics, we are not animals because we are created in God's image. One question on their worksheet asked "Are humans animals? Why?" One student answered, "No. Because God made us in the U.S.A."

Lastly, it's very evident that we are in election season. (If you don't think kids are listening to the adults around them, think again!) One day I overheard this conversation between two girls:
"The United States is not the world."
"I know, but if she wins, she'll rule the world!"

This week I asked students to write a spelling word that rhymes with "sense." One student wrote, "Trump/Pence." (Rhyming word, yes. Spelling word, no.)

Today we learned about Rome and how one of the founders of Rome built a wall around it. I heard some students discussing how he was like Donald Trump, building a wall.

Horse funerals and instincts

I was feeling a little stressed out today, and it's like God knows when I need to relax and smile. I was reading to the students about Alexander the Great, and I got to the part where his horse died and they had a funeral for it. As I was showing the picture of the dead horse being paraded through the streets, one of the boys started humming the tune to "Here comes the bride..." Wrong ceremony, buddy.

I also found an informative note on my desk today saying, "Annie got a crush on Bobby." (Don't worry; the names have been changed to protect little Annie's identity!)

Last week I was in the bathroom, unbeknownst to two of my girls who were also using the bathroom. The rest of the class was in art class, and I overheard one of them say, "I don't want to miss art, so I'm not going to wash my hands!" But I feel very strongly about hand-washing, so I piped up, "Oh, no, you need to wash your hands!" (Surprise! The teacher's in the bathroom!)

Another day I was having a conversation with one of the boys about how he shouldn't be talking during class. He said, "I hate to bring him into this sentence, but..." and went on to explain that he was talking because another boy had asked him a question. I told him it's still his responsibility to not talk, and he doesn't have to answer a question. "But I have an instinct to answer when someone asks me a question."

Some days it's just impossible to stay too serious.