Bone Presentation from Mrs. Triezenberg

Mrs. Triezenberg visited our class to teach us more about bones, how they grow, and how they heal. She is a nurse in the Orthopedic department of the hospital and had a lot to show us, including models of bones and x-rays. We learned a lot from her visit!

Dissecting Owl Pellets

We learned more about the skeletal system of mammals as we dissected owl pellets. Owls eat their prey whole but are unable to digest the bones, fur, teeth, and claws of its dinner. Within 24 hours, the owl regurgitates any material it was not able to digest in the form of a pellet. We dug through owl pellets this afternoon to discover the skeleton of the animal that had been eaten. This activity was optional as it did make a few of us a bit queasy. Look for your student in the picture. A thumbs-up signals "Owl pellets are cool!" A thumbs-down means "Owl pellets are gross!" One up, one down shows that "Owl pellets are cool...and gross."

Check out my classroom website for a Photostory for this cool, but gross, Science Investigation...

http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/BWerdon

100 Day!

Check out the Photostory below for a few highlights from 100 Day. It does not even begin to describe all the fun we had celebrating 100 days of school!

Valentine's Day With Our Preschool Buddies

We had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day with our preschool buddies. We decorated cookies, made Valentines for our Friends at Zuni Christian Mission School, played a game, and helped our buddies pass out their Valentines. We love spending time with our buddies!

The Starting Point Matters

We celebrated with a theme break this afternoon that focused again on the Truth that all people are valuable because all people are made in God's image. Today, we focused on cultural and ethnic diversity. K-5 teachers kicked off the afternoon with a performance of Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches to illustrate that while surface comparisons are silly, they can be very hurtful. The 3rd graders then worked in their classroom to create an All About Me Collage. I asked them to include their hobbies, interests, roles, favorites, learning preferences, and ethnic backgrounds. After our collages were completed, I asked them to point to the top 3 most important things about each of them. Many pointed to the label "Christian" or "3rd grader" or "daughter". We talked about how it's important we realize that while our cultural heritage is an important piece of our identity, it is not our only identity. We wouldn't want to be described only as a "Dutch-German-Irish" American without all the other pieces that make up who we are. In the same way, we should honor the complex identities of others by being wary of surface assumptions and stereotypes. We ended our day with the video version of You Are Special by Max Lucado, which reminded us that we are all special because we are made by God, and He doesn't make mistakes.

Mummies & Pyramids

Visit my teacher site on the RCS Wiki to see your 3rd graders painting mummy cases and constructing pyramids. Follow this link to the Mummies & Pyramids Photostory.
http://rockfordcs.pbworks.com/w/page/14026466/Mrs-Werdon

The Starting Point Matters

We had a theme break this afternoon to focus on how the Starting Point Matters when thinking about issues of diversity. Our Starting Point is that all people are valuable because all people are created in God's image. Our focus for the afternoon was on various learning styles. While each of us has different strengths and weaknesses, we are all created in God's image and therefore, we all have a place and purpose in His Kingdom. The 3rd graders worked in groups with the 4th and 5th graders to learn about how they learn. It was a fun afternoon!

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10