Kohl's Cares Safety Adventure

When your child gets home today, ask them about "The Great Safety Adventure" they participated in today.  Kohls, the Home Safety Council, and Children's Hospital teamed up to present this program for all of the students at Kozy. Within a customized semi-trailer, the children walked through a series of rooms looking for dangerous things that could cause a tripping, choking, poisoning, or burns. 

After identifying the dangers, the children learned why they are dangerous and the steps they should take to rectify the problem.  Most problems need to be fixed by an adult, so if you hear, "Code Red Rover-Grownup Come Over!" be sure to be prepared to fix a dangerous situation. 

Each child left with an activity book in which they can practice what they learned.  Also inside the book, is an escape plan worksheet that you you should complete with your child.  This worksheet helps you design a fire escape plan.

Poetry

Students in Mr. Borzick's guided reading group studied poetry and then chose a poem that was at least 14 lines long to memorize.  Most of the students recited their poems today (their videos are found below) the rest will recite on Tuesday.

Students from Mr. Borzick's Room


Students from Mr. McKnight's Room

Battle of the Books Championship

The battles have been fought, and the points have been tallied.  After months of work, the Book Dominators defeated the Fancy Fairies to earn the first place spot in our classroom.  Following this achievement, they then entered the tournament to crown the top team in third grade.  Their hard work paid off.  After two challenging battles, they defeated both Mr. McKnight's and Mrs. Lew's teams to earn the title of Third Grade Battle Champion.

Zoo

A big "Thank You" to all of the third graders for their excellent behavior at the zoo.  While the weather was a bit chillier than it usually is at this time of year, the children handled themselves well and I heard nothing but praise from the other chaperones.

Kozy Carnival

The Kozy Carnival is here!  Students were able to enjoy a "sneak-peak" of the some of the activities this afternoon, but to really experience everything the carnival has to offer, please join us on the Kozy playground from 4:00-7:00 tonight!

School Picture

Walk-a-Thon

Today the students participated in the annual Kozy Walk-a-Thon to raise money for the school.  Our route took us down Hammond Ave and lead us around Pulaski Park.  While walking, students were treated to three rest stops: fruit, stamps, and juice. The students raised a great deal of money for Kozy and I would like to thank all those who donated.

Solar Cars

Students learned about alternative energy sources, while also reviewing what they know about electric circuits, by building solar power cars yesterday.  To see more pictures, click here. 

Tree Identification Field Trip

Today, third grade walked to Sheridan Park to practice our tree identification skills.  During half of the field trip, the students used GPS devices to find trees that I had pre-selected.  Using what they learned in class, they needed to identify what type of tree it was.  During the other half of the trip, students were allowed to look at any tree they chose and then use an iPad app to help them identify it.

The students did a really nice job and everyone worked hard.  They also were extremely patient as they learned that GPS devices aren't infalible and do, indeed, have a wide margine of error.  Click here if you want to see more pictures.

Kozy Blood Drive

We are having our first Blood Drive on Tuesday May 31st. Please go online to ww.bcw.edu/kosciuszkopta to make an appointment. The Blood Center requires a minimum number of people to sign up before they will hold an onsite blood drive.

Field Trip Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our field trip to Sheridan Park to identify trees.  It's a long walk to the park, and we'll be outside all morning, so be sure to dress for the weather and where comfortable shoes.  Tomorrow's forecast calls for a high of 56 degrees, but that's not until later in the afternoon.  When we are at the park, near the lake, it will only be in the mid to upper 40s.   

Boat Building Extravaganza

Today the children finished up their boats and were able to put them to the "float" test.  We began by testing each boat in "calm seas."  Teams placed their boats in the water and gradually loaded it with heavier weights to see if it could float for a full 15 seconds.  Those boats that succeeded, went on to the second round-"rough seas."  These boats were loaded to full capacity and then timed to see how long they could stay afloat in stormy waters. 

This was a lot of fun and the students did a great job!  To see more pictures, click here.

GPS Practice

Today the students got their first experience using GPS devices.  We began with a discussion of how GPS works and then went outside to practice.  Children learned how to follow GPS directions and how to navigate the GPS to find a desired waypoint.  We will put these skills to work next week on our field trip.

A Whale on the Playground?

Earlier this week, the children learned how to replicate a picture using a grid method.  A grid is layered on a small picture.  The children then redraw the picture, one square at a time, on a larger grid.  This skill came in handy today.

Today the third graders worked together to draw a life-sized blue whale on the playground.  They began by drawing and numbering a large (84' x 32') grid.  After the grid was completed, the students drew a scale picture of the whale.  The small picture of the whale was divided and cut into smaller squares.  Children then picked one square at a time, and drew the whale on the playground. 

It was a lot of work, but the children showed a lot of cooperation, teamwork, and focus to create a wonderful drawing.  To see more pictures, click here.

Boats

 We've spent the last few weeks reading stories about people who journeyed across the oceans and today the students were able to try their hands at building their own.  Students were given a set of materials and instructed to use what they've learned about buoyancy to create a boat that can support a weight both in calm and rough waters.  We will continue working on these all week and test them out on Friday.

Earth Globe

Today Kozy students were able to walk inside the Earth and get a guided tour.  A giant scale model (1"=30')  of the globe was inflated in the gym.  Students then entered the globe and were treated to a short lesson on geography and climate.  It was a very interesting experience, be sure to ask your child about it. 

Let the Battles Begin!

Third grade begins Battle of the Books on Monday, May 9.  Please see the schedule below for days.

Monday, May 9, Demons v Book Dominators
Wednesday, May 11, Pretty Pink Penguins v. Fancy Fairies
Thursday, May 12, Demons v. Pretty Pink Penguins
Friday, May 13, Book Dominators v. Fancy Fairies
Monday, May 16, Demons v. Fancy Fairies
Wednesday, May 18, Book Dominators v. Pretty Pink Penguins

Friday Wrap-up

I can't believe the first week of May is over, I don't know where the school year went, but it's going far to quickly. 

The children did a great job this week.  Despite the end of the year firmly sitting in their sight and having the last week off of school, the students have really focused this week and worked hard.

In reading this week, our focus was identifying the main ideas and details of nonfiction texts.  We began this by reading about Shackleton's journey to Antarctica and continued by reading a book about animal camouflage.  While reading this books we stopped after each section and identified what the author most wanted us to learn.

In science the students completed the second part of their blog posts on the national parks.  The students researched the organisms that live in their respective parks and then wrote a brief passage about them.  Be sure to follow the links to the right. 

The students have really done well in math this year.  As we make this final push towards June, we are going to be covering two things.  First, the students who need to, will be spending time reviewing addition and subtraction with regrouping.  We have also begun working on double digit multiplication.

Finally, there have been many permission slips and fees due this week.  Please check to make sure you have submitted the following:

• Permission slip for the Walk-a-Thon
• Permission slip for field day
• Money for Walk-a-Thon t-shirts
• Money for zoo field trip

Accelerated Reader Update

Another amazing milestone this week-3,771,735 words read!  Amazing.  Because they passed the 3.6 million word mark the students earned a movie and popcorn party this afternoon.  Be sure to ask your child about it, I think the movie is amazing.

This week's word leaders are:
Madison-785,360 words
Jonathan-150,659 words
Alyse-140,446 words

Book Fair

This week, Kozy is hosting it's second book fair of the year.  The fair will be open after school each day this week until 4 pm.  This is a buy one-get one sale and there are many wonderful titles to choose from.