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"My Classroom: Third Grade with Teacher Shelley"

Our third grade class has been introduced to a new character trait each month. We begin the year by studying friendship. In October, responsibility is studied. November brings us to reflecting on compassion. December is a time to delve into generosity. January and February is the time we devote to respect and honesty. As the year starts to wind down, we think about perseverance, self discipline, and peace. We begin each study by looking up the special character trait in the dictionary and writing down the definition in our journals. I read stories and biographies of individuals whose lives reflect the particular trait. For example, when we learned about compassion, I read the story of "The Good Samaritan", "Androcles and the Lion", Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen and an historical account of Squanto.

Hearing about these values being lived out in the lives of the students renews my hope. Here is an actual story from the month of December about the power of teaching. One of our student's is moving out of town. This student had only been in our classroom for four months. In December, generosity is our theme. 10,000 Villages, a third world craft shop came to our school, so the students could shop for the holidays. Several of the students put their change together and purchased gifts for this student so that he would remember us. The clerk told me of the students' generosity. The students themselves kept it quiet, not to be verbally rewarded. I believe that these students have a truly generous and compassionate spirit.

Third graders love information. They want to know how far away is the farthest star, how many people came to the game, how much does a grizzly bear weigh, how tall are underwater mountain ranges. To capitalize on their curiosity, we research marine life, bears, wolves, the solar system and Native Americans. In our canine research, each student selects a canine that interests them. They write questions on index cards to organize their collected information. Students develop questions such as - How much does an adult weigh?, Where does it live?, What does it eat? What does it look like? What makes their canine unique? From each index card. students make their rough copy to be peer and adult edited. Then each student uses the word processor to print their individual report. Each report includes a picture from the Internet as well as a hand designed map and cover. The students are very proud of their work and their effort. As a final step, they present their report to their classmates. Students gain valuable life skills as they progress through the steps of information gathering, note-taking, composing paragraphs, and final presentation.

- Teacher Shelley Louderback, Third Grade

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