100th Post! Happy Holidays!

On the last day of school before our holiday vacation, our class had music. When I picked them up from Mrs. Tripp's class they sang me the most amazing song called We Will Jingle to the tune of We Will Rock You". My favorite part was when Thierry played the air guitar and slid across the floor towards me. My third graders are rocking and they have so much personality. Enjoy the holidays and we will try to post much more frequently this coming half of the school year!

Happy Holidays! 
See you January 2, 2014
Mrs. Derouche

Catching up on Blogging Part 2: Community Debate

At the end of their community unit, students were asked to write persuasively to me about the community that was best to live in. We had learned about rural, urban, and suburban communities using books, videos, and internet resources. We created t-charts listing the pros and cons to living in each neighborhood in preparation for the task. Afterwards, students debated their point with their peers. They were split into debate groups based on the choices they made in their persuasive letters. Below is a video excerpt:

Catching up on Blogging Part 1 : Communities

This past fall we began a social studies unit about the three types of communities. By the end of the unit students would be expected to define rural, suburban, and urban communities as well as compare and contrast them. 

In order to prepare students for this learning, we began by discussing the communities we are all a part of. Students are a part of home/family, school, Lewiston, Maine, and USA communities as well. While discussing these communities, students completed different writing prompts and drawings.