Updates from Grade 3 B

August 31, 2019

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

John Dewey

Unit of Inquiry

The week began with an engaging demonstration on how rocks break
up in nature which eventually led to a discussion on how rivers flow.
Students were made aware of the journey of a river and participated in a
group activity for creating and colouring models of different landforms.
Students explored the ways in which the physical features of Earth have
changed which culminated in a group discussion and presentation on
different natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts and
floods which included the recent mayhem caused by the monsoon in
flood-hit Gujarat and Kerala. An animated dialogue ensued on the reasons for global warming, greenhouse gases and fossil fuels.

Landforms  What are Landforms? Erosion and Landform: Science activity Erosion’s effect on different landforms Weathering and Erosion 15 Dramatic changes on Earth revealed by NASA National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA): Know the disasters Various Natural Disasters Natural & Man-made disasters Natural disasters Man-made disasters

English

Students were eager to learn a technique used in day to day life known as skimming and scanning. They were made to read a news article and used their understanding to answer given questions from the same. They created sentences with ‘spell bee’ words and were also able to recognize the different parts of speech. Students were familiarized with the concept of novel study with the book ‘The Eyes of the Eagle’ by Ruskin Bond. Using De Bono’s Thinking Hats, the eager readers set out to discover various interesting facts about the book and acknowledged the skills that they had used during the activity. The cover page of the book was then analyzed and the students penned down what they surmised the story to be. ‘Fill in the blanks’ were given to the students for them to rearrange into correct spellings.

Math

The new week began with the students revisiting the concept of rounding off numbers through a rapid-fire quiz. This was followed by a discussion on the different strategies of rounding off numbers using a number line or number hill. Students dove into the addition of 2, 3 and 4 digit numbers and got involved in a ‘Bus stop’ activity to discuss the ‘commutative’ and ‘associative’ nature of addition. Their bright minds went on to discuss mental strategies based on addition which included horizontal addition.

Rounding off to the nearest 10 and 100 Rounding off poem Adding 3 digit numbers

Hindi

During their Hindi lessons, students watched a documentary, engaged in a  ‘Listen and tell’ activity and acquired knowledge about marine life. Students also recited the poem ‘समुद्री जीवन’ (samudree jeevan). They expanded their vocabulary and were able to form simple yet meaningful sentences whereby they enhanced their thinking and speaking skills.

 Documentary on marine life  

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Hindi Ab-initio

To boost their reading capabilities the students read the Hindi story ‘Mithaaee’. They improved their writing skills as they wrote sentences from ‘aa’ maatraa words.  Watching an interesting Hindi video ‘Sher aur Gadhaa’ helped the children enhance their listening skills. They celebrated the festival of ‘Janamastmi’ and identified learner profiles for Krishna from various stories about the lord.

French

Learners found and sorted words from the manipulative available in the language room and created their personalized dictionaries ‘MON ABECEDAIRE’. These included engaging illustrations which made an interesting addition to the theme. They then enhanced their social skills by sharing their words with one another. They also improved their French vocabulary by learning many new words. 

Spanish

Students learned various phrases for greetings and farewells in Spanish. They became adept at spellings as they were aware of the letters taught to them earlier. They were also asked to spell their own names as well as the names of their peers, which they were able to accomplish confidently. This activity helped them to build their thinking, social and communication skills.

Library

This week, students collaborated to outline a few essential agreements that they suggested were necessary for everyone  to follow. These terms were then drafted, discussed and concurred upon by them. 

Swimming

As the Inter House Swimming Competition drew closer, the students pushed themselves to hone their skills for the respective events. They also practiced relay racing as per their houses.

Art

To integrate with the current unit on evolution, students explored the changing trends of art from ancient times to the modern era of today. They also created a time line of the same defining their understanding of each period.

Dance

Dance lessons were focused on the development of strength, balance and flexibility. Students used their own body weight and strength to go into a bridge and flip over. Different phases of jazz were also introduced such as jazz walk and isolations which gave them clarity about choreography.

Music

The students were introduced to Notes and Note Values and also learned the song ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ from Toy Story 3.

ICT

Students were introduced to the computer programme ‘Google Earth’. As they learned to navigate through this app, the explorers developed their research skills and used this app as a tool to enhance their knowledge of physical features of Earth and different land forms. At the end of the lesson students posted their video responses to share their learning using Flipgrid app.

Social Emotional Learning

This week’s Social and Emotional Learning class focused on enabling children to identify their own feelings and emotions and use them appropriately in everyday situations. Students were given two lists – one containing feelings and the other emotions. They were then asked to read out the feelings from one list and then cut out and paste them under the corresponding emotion section. After the activity an animated discussion was held on how and when to identify these emotions.