We Can Help!

Our students took up the challenge last week to create something useful from trash.  The challenge produced a variety of items from old pop cans, pickle jars, styrofoam cups, boxes, spark plugs and other trash.  Some of the products that were constructed by our students (with some help from parents) were a lovely wind chime, fabulous earings, a fun kitty condo, a helpful first aide kit, and a desk-sized version basketball hoop.

Thank you for inspiring us to reflect on ways of reusing our trash!

Compound Words

This week's spelling lessons are about compound words.  

Look for the two words that make up each spelling word.

Practice spelling each of the words and put them together to make the compound spelling word.

Remember that your Tic Tac Toe homework is due on Friday!

Here's more:

Dreams for America

     Today our class watched Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous speech in front of the Lincoln memorial.  We discussed what we thought would be our dream to make America great.  Here are some of the comments from third graders:

"My dream for America is that there would be no stealing so that people can be safe."


                                                                                                                 --Kaitlyn


"My dream for America is to give everyone gold bars so they have enough money."


                                                                                                                    --Will



"I want everybody to have a smile and be happy and play nicely and quietly!"


                                                                                                                --Destiny



"My dream is that people will be nicer to the environment, so that the beauty of America doesn't fade away."


                                                                                                                --Jazlyn

Gabriel and Daniel agreed on their dream for America:

"We want the NSA to stop spying on people and give us our privacy!"

Our "Stars" Keep on Shining!

Our new "star" this week is Justin.  He and his mom made cupcakes for our class this year. Yum!  Justin has lots of responsibilities at home as you will see from what he wrote for us this week.

Hi!  My name is Justin.  I have three brothers and two sisters.  My youngest sister is married and lives here in Tok.  I live in a 20’ by 30’ cabin with only wood heat and no running water.  I help haul in firewood and snow for water.  My oldest brother, Charlie, is living with us for now.  We have three dogs and the best one is mine.  She is black with a white stripe on her neck that is shaped like a “J”.  I named her Joy.  I love to play with her.  She loves to lick me to death!

Meet this week's "Star"

The stars in the night sky are brilliant throughout our long Alaskan nights. Temps are dropping as I write.  But we have been showing our "Star Students" warm admiration for the happiness and uniqueness they bring to our class.

This week we celebrate Riley.  Here is what he has to say about himself:

I am Riley Hawke. I have three older brothers and one older sister.  I love playing hockey.  I like to read.  Right now I am reading The Girl Who Could Fly.  My favorite TV show is "SpongeBob".  I love to go to Sportsman's Paradise and Moose Camp.  In the winter, my family likes to drive snowmachines.

Another "Star" in Third Grade!

This week our star student has been Destiny.  She has shared favorite photos, shown us her baby handprint, shared her favorite books, and her dad wrote a sweet poem about her.
Here is what Destiny has to say:

    I am Destiny.  I turn 9 in a few more days on November 23rd.  I have one brother and two sisters.  I have a hamster named "Little Lizzie".  She is gray and white.  I also have two dogs, a ferret, two birds, two rats, a snake and fish.  I like to eat anythings with rice.  I also love baby corn.  My favorite color is pink.  My favorite movies are Shirley Temple movies.  My favorite things to do are playing with my brother and sister and facetiming my other sister who lives in Virginia.  I am of Filipino, Athabaskan, and German decent.  I also like to learn about my different heritages.

                                                        Here is Destiny when she dressed up for Red Ribbon Week.

We have been to India!

This week we "flew" to India with our passports in hand.  We even had refreshments and an "in-flight" movie about India.  

Some of the things we learned were about the holiday "Diwali", the "Festival of Lights."

For five days we have celebrated by learning about and creating decorations called rangoli, doing research to see what the flag looks like, finding India on a map of Asia, and visiting the famous Taj Mahal. Students surprised sisters and brothers with special gifts for the holiday too.

Diwali is Here - Song in English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu

***Stay tuned to see other places we visit!