Family History Group Projects

The students of grade 3 worked cooperatively in groups of three to research the family history of a child from a different country. They collected facts and organized them into detailed descriptions of this child’s family history. They created a poster presentation to represent this information and practiced for the presentation of the project. The presented the projects to the class. The presentations were well rehearsed and the groups did a very good job.

                                                 Pakistan                                           Poland

Caribbean                                           India

Me Box Poems and Drawings

As a part of the unit we learned about each other through the Me Box project. Each child brought in from six to eight objects that tell something about them. The class predicted what each object told us about the person. This was recorded as facts on a chart. Each student got the list from one of their classmates and had to write an ‘Important Thing About’ poem describing their classmate. We then drew portraits of each other using oil pastels. These poems and pictures are on display in the class, so feel free to drop by for a visit and see them.

The Class Display:

Family Traditions and Customs Presentations

The students created some wonderful poster and PowerPoint presentations to share a family tradition and custom with the class. They presented very clearly and enthusiastically. It was nice to see them taking the initiative to bring in artifacts that represent the celebrations. It was a great way to learn about the different cultures represented in our class.

Burning the Böög            1st of August

        

New Year's Letters                 1st of August

                                           Fruit Corso                                           May Day

Halloween                         Holidays in Germany

                                                1st of August                  First Day of School

Swiss Traditions                      May 25th

Researching Familiy Histories

Grade 3 has been studying family histories as their first unit of inquiry. They have learned and shared a great deal of information about themselves during this process. As a class project, they have worked in groups of three to research the family history of a child from a different country and culture. The groups have worked cooperatively to collect and organize information into a poster project. They will present the end result to the class this week. Congratulations on great teamwork!
 

Reading to find information



Putting the pieces together



Teamwork!

Everyone does their part!

Our Place in the World...

The students used a large floor map to locate and map where in the world they come from and where they have lived. They shared this information with the class and then displayed it on a wall map with labels for all to see.

Place Value Stations...Hands-On Learning!

In our Math unit on place value the students rotated through a series of four stations with hands-on activities to assist in the learning of place value concepts. In one station they used place value blocks to build numbers, in second they used a card game, in another they used dice, and in the last they used place value stamps to create numbers to the thousands and ten thousands place. They then had to write these numbers in standard form, expanded form and word form. It was a fun and active way to learn about place value. The students demonstrated much enthusiasm and excitement in learning math through these stations.

Place Value Blocks



Place Value Dice Game



Place Value Stamps



Place Value Card Game



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Camp Reflections!

I thought camp was really good because we got to go out for a night walk. We also got to see the owls.

I liked camp because we did it
in a whole day, except the animal park.

I liked going to camp because
I never did it before.
Camp rocks!

Camp was fun because we went in the
chocolate factory. It was exciting when
we came to the youth hostel.

The camp was exciting, just as I
thought before camp. It was                        
exciting because we made a  
night walk.

I liked camp because we visited really
many places and I love to visit places
that I never went to before. It was really
fun because we could go and play too.

I liked to go to camp because
I liked going on the night walk.

Camp was fun and exciting. It was
fun because we saw almopst the
whole Kreuzlingen. I was excited
because it was my first school camp.

I like camp because there were
activities to do and we went to
loads of places. I really had a
good time with my friends.

I enjoyed camp because it
was fun doing all the stuff.
My favorite part was sleeping
at the youth hostel.

Camp was very fun because
we did a lot of fun things, like
the animal park.

Camp was fun because I enjoyed
sharing a room with all the girls in
my class. My favorite part was the
night walk and playing on the beach.

Kreuzlingen Camp!

On Thursday, September 8^th, the grade 3 students arrived at school with their bags packed all ready for camp. We took the train from Oberwinterthur to Stein am Rhein where we changed to another train to Kreuzlingenhafen. Upon arrival, in Kreuzlingen, which is right next to the German city of Konstanz on the Lake of Constance, we had a 20 minute hike to the Youth Hostel where we stayed. The youth hostel, with its high-ceilings and sunny rooms, was formerly a manor house, the Hörnliberg Villa, and was renovated true to style in 2003. It lies in the middle of a park on the shores of the lake. We checked in and made our beds. Then we organized our daypacks to start our adventures.

The adventures began with a trip to the park where we first ate a picnic lunch and then had time to explore and play on the playground. It was a wonderful, large playground with many different types of equipment to play on. It was a great deal of fun for everyone. The students worked cooperatively and interacted with each other to make the playground experience a fun one.

The next step of the journey was a visit to the Rosenegg Museum where we were given a guided tour of an old house in the style of the 17^th century. The students explored each room in pairs to locate and identify the things that would not have been found there during that time period. They were very good at locating these elements of the rooms and explaining why they didn’t belong. The guide also explained many of the olden day tools and objects that were not easily identifiable. It was a great experience and tied in nicely with our Family Histories unit of inquiry.

From here we continued the walk along a trail that led us to a walkway alongside the train tracks high above the houses. It was a little scary, but very cool! We eventually came to the Bernrain Chocolate Factory. Here we were treated to a sample of chocolate and we had the opportunity to buy some chocolate. A sweet tasty visit!

We arrived back at the youth hostel feeling quite tired after all the day’s adventures, but we weren’t finished yet! We had some quiet time in our rooms to write in our camp logbooks about our activities.

Finally it was time for dinner. A few of us had to help set the table and then we got to eat. Once everyone was finished eating, a few of us had to help with the clean-up and doing the dishes.

After dinner, we went on a night walk with our flashlights. We ended up at the beach near the lake where we worked very cooperatively and made rock sculptures, walls and a bridge into the water. While we were doing this we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset. It was a nice walk, but eventually it was time to head back to the hostel and get ready for bed. We were allowed to read quietly in our beds using our flashlights to read by.

In the morning we awoke early. Several of us went to help set the tables for breakfast before the others joined us for a delicious breakfast to gain energy for the day’s activities. After breakfast most of us went to get ready and pack while some helped with the clean-up and did the dishes. 

Once we were all ready we stored our big packs in the lounge and took our daypacks for the day trip. Our first stop was the animal park where we got to feed the animals. It was very nice to feed the goats, sheep, donkeys and ducks.

The journey continued to the lookout tower which had a great view over the Lake of Constance. It also overlooked a preserved animal area where they keep Highland Cows. We had a great view of the area and even saw a zeppelin. The tower was quite high up in the air and a little scary!

Once we were all down from the tower we walked to the border between Switzerland and Germany. By the sign marking the border we could actually stand with one foot on the Swiss side of the border and one foot on the German side. There were many art sculptures here representing different elements such as air, moon, stars, the universe, etc.

Then it was time to head back to the youth hostel where we collected our packed lunches and had a picnic lunch outside in the garden of the hostel. There was plenty of food and lots of trading of cookies, as there were several varieties provided.

Finally, our time at camp is over and we must journey back to school. We gather all our packs and walk to the train station. The ride home was relatively quiet, as we are all very tired after such a busy and exciting camp! We are all very excited to see our parents and be home again!