Tis the Season of Giving!

The holiday season marks a time to give and receive gifts. We all know the exhilarating feeling we get when we run down to the tree and see that Santa has made his annual deposit of gifts. We rip into them, hearts racing...beaming smiles lighting up the room. Sometimes we seem to forget however that there are some people in this world that are less fortunate than we are. In fact, some of those people may be our neighbors and friends. That is why at Sleepy Eye Schools we make it a priority to give back by holding an annual food collection appropriately titled "The Giving Tree." The collection simply entails spending the entire month of December collecting food items to be donated to our local food shelf. Through the collection, we help to teach the importance of generosity and being selfless toward others. If you ask your child they should know what those terms mean as we discuss them often in class...especially this time of year.

Giving to the Giving Tree is a fun and rewarding experience for all students and one that we celebrate. As a way to reward students for all their hard work and generosity, we hold a party in the gym where we sing karaoke to popular Christmas carols while also enjoying the company others. This year we collected over 1,040 items to help feed our community through the holiday season and beyond. What an excellent way to close out 2015 and usher in the new year.


Merry Christmas everyone! Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season!

Amazing Auras Make Santa Come to Life

As you can see from many of our posts, technology is a huge part of the learning process in our third grade classrooms. The project featured in this next post is no exception. Each year, as a part of our writing curriculum, we write persuasive paragraphs to go along with Santas that were disguised as a part of a family project given over Thanksgiving break. However, just displaying our writing and Santas for all to see was not good enough. We instead decided to make Santa jump off the page...and not just through our amazing writing skills but through the use of technology! For this particular project, we used multiple apps to achieve the end product. This is a technique called app smashing which allows us to bring a one-dimensional, paper image of Santa to life.

As stated above, students were first asked to disguise a printed-form of Santa in a way that he wouldn’t be recognized as himself. Once we’d finished with our decorations and/or embellishments, we then learned about persuasive writing, with each student writing a persuasive paragraph to convince their reader that their colored image of Santa was, in fact, not Santa. Next, we applied an app called “Yak It” in order to make our disguised Santa figures talk. The video outcome of this was then created as an overlay to their actual Santa image, using the “Aurasma” app. When engaged with this particular app, each individual Santa was brought to life, speaking to the listener as he—the disguised Santa—presented his argument, in the voice and written words of its corresponding paragraph author—as to why he is not the actual Santa but, in reality, someone else! 

Click on the clip below to see the outcome.

Exploring the Lunar Cycle with Stop Motion

As a part of the third grade science curriculum, students spend a considerable amount of time studying our solar system. Among the things in the solar system that they study is the moon. Students are required to know many things about the moon including how it gets its light, how it moves around in our solar system and probably the most difficult to understand they need to know about the Lunar Cycle. Not only do students need to know that our moon looks a little different each night, but they also have to know each phase and must be able to explain how and why this phenomena occurs.

As you can probably imagine, this is a very difficult concept for students to grasp, especially since it is not something that they can readily observe. This is why we make it observable! In class we created a diorama containing the Earth, Sun and the Moon. The Earth (a globe) sat in the bottom of the box. The Sun was simply a flashlight that was stuck through a hole in the side of the box. Finally, the moon was a styrofoam ball on a string. Using the box and these three objects, students were able to explore the interaction that happens between these objects as they move throughout the solar system...specifically as the Moon orbits the Earth.

As if viewing the phases as we moved our Moon around the box wasn't enough, we decided to enhance our experience using technology. Not only did students perform the actions necessary to make the Lunar Cycle observable, but as we moved our Moon, we also took pictures of each phase. When we had completed these pictures we put them together in an app called iStopMotion where we created a stop motion film displaying the phases of the lunar cycle in a continuous stream. All of these actions helped solidify the students' understanding of how and why the lunar cycle occurs as well as their knowledge of the phases themselves.

Click below to view a sample of our stop motion film and see the phases in motion.

Star Light, Star Bright: Dazzled by the Stars

It may be hard to imagine, but a mere two hours away from school, it is actually possible to lie back in the comfort of a padded, reclining chair, and simply drift away in complete and utter silence, under the soft light of a perfectly projected image of the night sky. Such was the experience of the third graders last Wednesday (December 2nd) whose recent road trip landed them in Marshall, MN, at Southwest Minnesota State University's very own on-campus planetarium.

In addition to our overall viewing of our own nighttime sky as it normally appears, students were also privy to a special treat which involved an in-depth look at the many constellations visible long after the sun has gone down, including those normally seen from our own backyards as well as those we are unfortunately unable to from present geographical location as a result of the sun.  Students soon learned that the one constellation most easily seen and located in our own home is "Orion", with his belt made up of three stars all lined up in a row. Additionally, students were also instructed on how to find both the Big and Little Dippers, using the North Star as their guide to finding the former.

Once we had completed our exploration of the stars themselves, students viewed a short movie, which fell into the mystery genre and featured our very own solar system. A very nice tie in to the conclusion of our recent "Sun, Moon, Stars" science unit. Following that was the holiday laser show, which is always a huge hit with the students. Then, after a quick school-packed lunch, it was off to visit the university's Museum of Natural History where student were encourage to an unique hands-on experience, investigating and manipulating the various displays exhibited.

Not a bad way to spend midday on a windy Wednesday morning, especially with everyone's Sleepy Eye Pride so very pleasantly displayed! Nice job third graders!

Remembering Veterans Everywhere

Sometimes it is easy to forget to take a moment to remember, honor, and thank all those who have served on our behalf, but that is exactly what Sleepy Eye third graders with the help of Mrs. Jensen who arranged for an in-school visit from local military personnel.

In addition to learning more about this annually celebrated federal holiday, students were also treated to a first-hand demonstration on how to properly fold the American flag as well as an up-close viewing of various military uniforms. During which time students garnered valuable insight into the importance of and the meaning behind individual forms of merit and recognition as denoted by a wide array of medals, pins, and ribbons displayed upon the many uniforms presented to the class. Additionally, students also learned the meaning and significance behind the ever-popular red poppy so often worn in observance of Veterans Day on November 11th.

The poppy, first introduced on Armistice Day in 1919, has long since been a means to show appreciation and respect for all those serving in all branches of the military services, including both the living and the dead in our own country as well as abroad. It--the poppy itself--was chosen as an enduring and constant reminder of this now well-established remembrance tradition following the end of World War I and was selected in part because of its ability lay dormant in the soil for years before then reappearing in massive numbers. This particular icon was also selected due to the fact that it commonly grows wild across many fields of Northern France and Belgium where some of the most devastating battles and heaviest loss of lives took place during World War I.

As part of our instruction, third-graders were also schooled on the meaning of each part of this nationally known and recognized emblem of sacrifice and hope. The red flower petals themselves stand for the blood of all those who gave their lives. The black center represents the mourning of those whose loved ones did not return home, and the green leaf is meant to remind us of growing grass and crops and future prosperity after the massive destruction incurred during the war.

Additionally students also learned on one of the many popular ways to wear this iconic symbol. According to our guests, the leaf is to be positioned at 11 o'clock so as to represent the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month--the exact time that World War I formally ended.

Ready or Not, Here It Comes!

It just doesn't get much better than this for Kindergarten through sixth-grade students and staff--a spirited game of dodge ball with students and teachers paired against one another as a well-received reward for good behavior on the students' part!

As whizzing balls sailed through the air, shouts of encouragement and warning yells bounced off the gymnasium walls, while students and teachers alike pelted one another with their best shots. Each camp actively vying for that much-coveted number one spot and the chance to claim "victory". In the end, a good time was had by all, even if the good-natured exchange did leave a few of its older participants feeling a little more battered and bruised than they may have liked!

Way to go third-grade students and staff! Great job showing your Sleepy Eye Pride!

City Tour: More Than Just a Walk Around the Block

With the coming of fall, so too comes our annual 3rd-Grade Walking Sleepy Eye City Tour, including chats and insights garnered via visits with longtime residents as well as stops at various historical city sites.

This year, our tour guide Mark Bieto, a longstanding local business owner and grandfather to our own third-grader Nora, did a wonderful job introducing us to some of Sleepy Eye's more important historical markers, each uniquely significant to our own proud city's history and heritage.

In addition to learning interesting factoids about the W.W. Smith Mansion, the Berg Hotel, and Chief Sleepy Eye, we were also privy to some pertinent and compelling stories surrounding each of those individual entities. And though some may find our city's name slightly unusual, it now makes perfect sense to all our third-grade students, compliments of our own willing and knowledgable citizens who made today possible!

Sleepy Eye, what a wonderful place to grow and live!

Here Comes the Sun!

There is nothing quite like a sunny day and all of the regularly assumed expectations that go along with it. And there is also perhaps no one more aware of that simple fact than this year’s third graders, especially having just finished up their most recent science unit on the sun!

As part of this particular unit, in addition to learning a whole plethora of interesting facts about this well-know star, students also spent several days conducting a classroom sun-tracking experiment. A hands-on investigation of the sun’s daily movements that was conducted over the course of several days and involved three separate classroom trips outside each day to first observe and then take pictures—using their iPads—of the position of the sun in the sky at three different times—morning, noon, and night. In our case, the latter was actually an afternoon observation, taken just prior to the end of our school day. Miss Schmit also continued to take pictures of the sun’s location until it set each night, further illustrating to the third graders how the sun continues to drift westward until it finally sets with the coming of night.

In order to determine the direction of the sun’s daily locations, students were also instructed on how to use two different types of compasses, including the traditional variety as well as the one found on their individual iPads. Using their daily findings, it soon became clear to the students that the sun rises in the east each morning and can always be found there regardless of whether or not its actually visible to the naked eye on a given day. They also soon learned that come noon, it can be found located directly above their heads and then gradually drifts to the west throughout the day, always setting in that same direction at the end of each and every day. 

Once all of our observations were completed and noted, students then wrote “scripts” illustrating what they had learned about the sun and its daily movements. These “scripts”--along with their own previously taken photos and general findings--were then used by the third graders in the creation of individual videos on their iPads via an app called “Explain Everything”. A particularly useful app which allows students to actually explain their own thinking by way of a built-in voice recorder.

To enjoy a sample of our finished product, please click below!

Homecoming Week 2015

We kicked off our week-long list of events on Monday with the crowning of this year's king and queen, while also showing our support for our own third-grade junior attendants, Cody and Brissa.

Throughout the rest of the week--Monday through Friday, respectively--we also celebrated via various designated dress-up days, including pajama day, wear your favorite team's jersey day, dress like a teacher day, dress as your favorite superhero day, and wear your finest black and orange gear day. There is definatley no question that students and staff both not only showed a lot of "spirit" over the course of our dress-up days but also a lot of creativity as well! In fact, Ms. Schmit and Mrs. Jensen were the first to set the tone, sporting their best rendition of their own favorite superheros--Raphael and Donatello--two of the four super stupendous Ninja Turtle crew!

Our Homecoming celebratory events culminated Friday morning, starting with our annual walk around the lake. And despite the rain and nip in the air, a good time outside was had by all. In addition to sharing that time walking and talking with fellow third-grade friends and classmates, this year we also had the opportunity to spend some quality time with some of the high school students, too, including our 9th-grade friends!

As part of our Homecoming agenda, we would like to send out a special shout out of thanks to Cassidy, Jaidyn, and Macy for their much-appreciated efforts leading us in cheers during our various stops. Many thanks to all three of you!

Once we had completed our walk, we returned to school for a bit of a rest before we enjoyed a tasty tailgate-lunch, featuring beef burgers and hotdogs. Yum, yum! Later that afternoon, we cheered and danced alongside the high schoolers at the pepfest in preparation for the coming game! Before heading home, we then adjourned to the elementary gym for still more fun, partaking in a few indoor games before closing out our week!

Hopefully some, if not all of you, were able to make it to the game later that night and put a stellar display of home-grown Sleepy Eye Pride!

The 411 On Textmapping

If you haven’t already heard about it from your third grader, here’s the full rundown on our most recently employed teaching tool!

Textmapping is a hands-on technique used to examine various text features commonly found within given written works. Embedded features which may include any or all of the following: table of contents, glossary, index, headings, subheadings, captions, figures, graphs, tables, diagrams, maps, and timelines.

 Last week, as part of our nonfictional genre studies, students not only had the opportunity to learn what textmapping actually was, but also how to use it as an ongoing part of their own literary explorations. Once the concept itself had been discussed together as a group, each third grader was provided with a scroll of actual text—in our case, copied pages of a chosen book that had been previously taped together into one long strip of continuous written material from which they could work. Students were then encouraged to individually embark upon a spirited “treasure hunt” with color-coded instructions, locating and accurately identifying the various text features noted above.

Needless to say, with five different highlighters used in the marking process as well as the numerous different symbols designated for the individual identification process involved with each specific type of text feature, the students’ scrolls ultimately turned out to be truly outstanding works of art en route to acquiring an extremely valuable future resource and tool!

Students will continue to practice their textmapping skills over the next couple of weeks, honing and perfecting their individual skills.

2015 Jr. Attendants Have Been Chosen

Believe it or not, Homecoming week is just around the corner. This means 3rd grade Junior Attendants have been chosen! The choice as usual was always difficult as there are so many great candidates to represent our grade. This year's lucky winners were Brissa and Cody! Check out their bios below!

Cody: Cody is the son of Steve and Heather. He has one older brother Jacob, who was also a former attendant. Cody is a great student and athlete. He enjoys playing many sports but especially likes baseball and swimming. His favorite subjects in school are math and reading.

Brissa: Brissa is the daughter of Elvia and Gilbert. She has three sisters (Ashley, Alexis and Arianna) and one brother (Christian). Also in her family is her pet fish. Brissa enjoys playing many sports including softball, basketball, soccer and volleyball. She also enjoys reading books, playing outside and going on bike rides. Brissa would like to see the Indians beat Cedar Mountain next Friday night! GO INDIANS!

Make sure to go support our Jr. Attendants at coronation next Monday night at 7:00 pm.

Labor Day Update

It is hard to believe that two weeks have passed since we started school, but you know what they say—time flies when you are having fun! And fun is exactly what we have been having these past few weeks, making new friends, meeting up with old ones while also acquainting ourselves with our daily third-grade schedule and expectations as well as how to efficiently implement our iPads as an integral, hands-on learning tool and resource!

Reading: In addition, all students have also completed their individual third-grade reading assessments, allowing each third grader to then be placed in a level-appropriate guided reading group. Individual guided-reading groups will begin meeting this week as we explore informational texts, the first of our ten reading genres. As part of this unit, students will also begin looking at other reading-related elements such as context clues and main idea while becoming better acquainted with the overall governing process of guided reading as a teaching technique.

Spelling: Students also began working with “Words Their Way”--a leveled-spelling list which is assigned weekly to individual users, serving to better assist in honing in on specific spelling needs.

Math: This year third graders will also be working on daily math activities, much the same as they do with our “Daily Five” reading and writing program. Additionally, as with guided reading, this year’s students will be grouped into guided-math groups as well, allowing teacher and students more time working in smaller groups in order to better assess and address specific and/or individual needs.

Students have also been introduced to several additional iPad apps over these last couple of weeks, including Aurasma and iMovie--both of which have been used by students in the creation of their own personal video that will then be linked with their own “Hulk” locker tags.

Here's to a great first two weeks and many more to come!

Daily 5 in Action

Students participating in Read to Self.

Students have begun developing independent reading and writing skills through a literacy framework known as Daily 5. The Daily 5 is a series of literacy tasks (read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, work on writing and word work) that students complete each day while the teacher engages in small group instruction. This framework helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing and working with peers. The goal is to foster these good habits and develop lifelong skills of independent literacy.

Working on writing in our writer's notebooks

To see more pictures of our student engaging in Daily 5 activities check out the class pictures link on the main page of our blog!

First Day Fun!

After days and weeks of waiting the day is finally here and past! Our first day is now complete and not without lots of fun and excitement to ring in the new year. The day began as students arrived at  school greeted by super heroes. Balloons lined the sidewalk and black and orange streamers decorated the hallways as students entered the building. Smiles awaited them as they finally entered the classroom for the first time this year, ready to learn and embrace the fun their teachers had waiting for them. Weeks of planning culminated in an assembly where students participated in games, cheers and chants, and our annual whistle dance. While back in the classroom students completed getting to know you activities while doing a Kahoot. During this activity students became acclimated to the iPads. Before we knew it the day was already over and it was time to go home. To my surprise student groaned stating that they would rather stay at school than go home. They were reassured that they would be able to do it all over again tomorrow and for the next 9 months to come.

Thanks for a great first day!

Calling All Third Graders...

Hey all, it’s that time of year again! Another year, another round of fun with friends and fellow classmates, with plenty of time for new explorations, discoveries, and learning opportunities for everyone!

In addition to our annual Homecoming walk and weeklong list of school-spirit festivities, students will also take part in our yearly third-grade Sleepy Eye walking history tour where we’ll not only visit local sights of interest but also learn about city government. Then, as part of our biography/autobiography genre studies, students will spend some time delving into our Wax Museum project which has students first choosing a person of historical significance and then conducting research on that individual using multiple media sources. Once all the research has been compiled and completed, students will then dress up as that character and present a first-person speech to the class, sharing what they’ve learned about that person. Later on in the year, students will also explore the benefits of animal adaptations, via our Alaskan Animal science unit.

Additionally, as an integral part of our regular third-grade classroom studies, students will do a lot of first-hand learning and experimenting with a whole range of ipad apps, too, including “Nearpod”, “Yak It”, “Aurasma”, “Showbie”, “Explain Everything”, “Comic Life”,  “Imovie”, and “Kahoot”. The latter of which is an especially true favorite of former third-grade students! By the end of the year, students will not only become adept with using each of these individual apps in a single application, but they will also become familiar with a complementary technique known as app smashing, which incorporates using more than one app at a time in order to achieve a particular outcome. Look forward to the results, as they are always a source of celebration and sure to impress!

So get ready to wear your Sleepy Eye Pride as we kick off another fantastic year for third-grade students and parents alike!

Medley of Activities Marks May and Closes Out Yet Another Successful Year

With the coming of May, so too came a whole host of third-grade activities as well!

First was our MCA Reward Outing on May 1st, which included a two-hour morning swim period at Vogel Arena in New Ulm. Everyone had a great time sliding down the waterslide, playing Popsicle in the hot tub, fighting over and/or floating on the pool tubes, or just splashing about with one another! For lunch we headed over to Herman Heights Park with a school-provided bag meal, with a lot of the students joining in a spirited game of football afterwards. Then it was off to see the “Martin Luther King Junior” play at Martin Luther College before finally heading home.

Wednesday, May 6^th, marked Grandparents’ Day for the whole school, with no shortage of third-grade grandmas and grandpas in attendance. Students and their family members were divided into groups beforehand and then assigned to three different group activities, ranging from “Name That Tune”, Karaoke, a 70s TV Theme Show Sing Along, Picture Frame Making, Card Games, Playing Parachute, Hula Hooping and Jump Roping in the gym, an Ice Cream Sunday Social in the cafeteria, and/or partaking in Me Moves. The latter a classroom exercise/stretching program used to help students focus and de-stress.  The whole event lasted approximately ninety minutes, with over 370 grandparents attending for all grades.

Following that was the first of three performances of the school’s production of Disney’s “The Jungle Book Kids” on May 8^th, which all third-graders attended. There is absolutely no question that the afternoon production was a SMASH hit with everyone! The play’s cast and crew did a phenomenal job and was well represented by our very own students, including the following third-grade cast members:

Mowgli—Zach R.

Kaa 1—Envy M.

Kaa 2—Lydia H.

Kaa 4—Kylyn W.

Kaa 5—Julia B.

Monkey 1 and Prickly Pears—Isaac L.

Elephant Troupe—Winsten N., Ellen W., and Austin U.

Flowers—Madison S.

Hopefully friends and family all had a chance to catch one of the two shows that were open to the public that weekend!

After rain threatened to mar our original class picnic date, third-grade students opted to head to Flandrau State Park on May 14^th instead where they then dined on roasted hot dogs and freshly assembled smores! In addition to playing in the park, students and chaperones also went on a hike, logging sightings of at least twenty-five turtles sitting on a log, two deer, a whole slew of butterflies, and two different kinds of flowers that apparently got an early start blooming this spring. There was also a rousing game of kick ball, which was enjoyed by all as well!

Our annual class trip to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory this year was also cut a little short due to the closing of Como Town as a result of the cold, damp weather on Monday, May 18^th; however, there was still plenty of time for everyone to enjoy all of the open exhibits. In addition to checking out some of the animals studied as part of our Alaskan Adaptations Unit, including a pair of arctic foxes, several caribou/reindeer, a group of penguins, two polar bears, lots of puffins, a seal, a small colony of sea lions, and a pair of roaming wolves. Students also enjoyed a very special viewing treat that included other baby animals--most notable was Baby Arlene, a Western Lowland Gorilla born on February 22, 2015. Though cradled in her mother’s arms, she was still quite visible while nestling there. Students were thrilled with the sight and also enjoyed seeing the other babies that were also located in the Primate Building, including the baby orangutan Kemala who was born January 7, 20015, and an equally adorable baby tamarin that sat atop its parent’s back and sported an already well-established white “mustache” and curious peering eyes that studied us with just as much intent as ours did studying it!

Following a bag lunch that was, again, provided by the school, students then made their way over to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America in order to fill out the rest of the day and compensate for the closure of the Como amusement ride portion of our trip. Once wristbands were distributed, students spent another three hours whirling away on everything that was offered before we headed home!

Thank you for a memorable and fantastic year Sleepy Eye third-grade students and their families.

Good luck to all of you next year as fourth graders!

MCA Testing Update

After many, many weeks of careful preparation and extremely hard work on the part of the students themselves and then several more weeks of individual administration of the test itself, third graders have finally finished up with the required third-grade MCA testing. And from the looks of the results, it appears that all of those strategies we learned about test taking and being a good and careful reader were put to good use!

Some of those classroom strategies that were discussed and practiced over that past couple of months included the following tips and/or recommendations:

*This is neither a race nor a competition. Take your time and read the passage closely and carefully as a good reader would.

*After reading the entire passage once, go back and reread it again, just as carefully and closely as you did the first time. If necessary, reread it again, until you are sure you understand what the text is about.

*When it comes to answering posed questions on the test, first eliminate all possible answers that do not apply to the given question.

*Go back and find the specific portion of the text that refers to the posed question and find the actual answer to that question as it appears in the text itself.

In recognition for a job well done, students will celebrate with a tasty Dairy Queen treat!

Congratulations to all! Way to show your Sleepy Eye Pride Third Graders!

Third Graders Get a Jump Start on Annual Earth Day Clean Up

Despite the fact that April 22 has been decreed as the official date of observance for Earth Day since it first began in 1970, this year’s students got ahead of the game when it came to their own celebration and clean-up efforts. Instead of waiting for the rest of the world’s environmental initiatives, including those of more than 192 countries, third graders led the way with their own contribution on Friday, April 17^th.  As per our annual tradition, students spent some time outside at Eagles Park, cleaning up garbage and debris, picking up sticks, and just generally sprucing up the area. 

North To Alaska Via Skype!

With a little help from a handy technological tool, third graders were able to garner some real-life insight what it’s like to be a resident in our 49^th state via Skype.

As part of our science and writing units, students are studying about Alaskan animals and the necessary adaptations they must develop in order to not only survive, but to actually flourish, in some of the state’s more extreme environmental conditions. In addition to our online investigation and/or other media research source endeavors, students were able to garner a unique inside view of what it’s like to actually live in the state during several Skyping sessions with longtime residents.

Our first two sessions were with Andrew, a local Alaskan newspaper journalist, who lives in the city of Wasilla. He is the stepson of Mrs. Moore, our own Title I coordinator. He and his friend Gil, a recreational specialist, sent us a YouTube video about how snowshoes work and why they’re so important when it comes to getting around in the winter. This was an especially nifty nugget of information, because it tied directly into the adaptations found in so many Alaskan animals that have evolved in order to help them stay mobile in the frigid cold and snowy conditions found in the far north!

In fact, did you know that the coldest temperature on record for the state of Alaska is -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon on January 23, in 1971? The state’s warmest temperature recording was 100 degrees Fahrenheit set back on June 27 in 1915 at Prospect Creek. Talk about a wide-range of extremes!

Next we skyped with Miss Schmit’s grandparents, Steve and Mary Schmit, who have spent the last sixteen years living out in “the Alaskan bush” in a small community called Skwentna. The term “bush” is used to refer to any wilderness area where there are either few or simply no roads linking it to any main centers of population. In fact, for a lot of the smaller villages and/or communities scattered across the state, air travel is the only way to get in or out of the area. Sometimes, residents may have the added option of going to town via boat as well, using one of the larger rivers, but for many, the small-engine plane is the only way to move about. Which explains why there are more than eight hundred airfields in the state of Alaska.

Such was the case for the Schmits, who either flew in or floated out in order to get groceries, go to the doctor, or for any other reason they might need access to what the city had to offer. Otherwise, they spent their time surrounded by water, trees, the native animal residents, and an ever-changing population of about ten other people for the majority of the year. Due to the sheer expense of air travel, students learned that trips to town were done as a necessity and only came about once or twice a year for a lot of “bush” residents, including these longtime inhabitants. The third graders also learned about how much work it was living so far away from other modern conveniences that we so often take for granted such as municipal water supplies and citywide-supplied electricity and/or gas hookups. Students also got a glimpse of how much planning actually has to go into simply surviving out there all alone, with few to rely on but yourself. For example, everything has to be well stocked, including food, and fuel, tools and parts, and especially medicines. Because if you run short, it can be days, even weeks sometimes before you can restock, which could potentially lead to some dire consequences, depending upon the situation.

Click on the link below to check out read students’ individual books about the Alaskan animal of their choice and its many adaptations!

Alaskan Animal Books

A Picture Really Is Worth A Thousand Words!

As part of our writing unit this year, students have been studying various types of writing styles, including persuasive writing—which was covered with our Santa In Disguise project—and narrative writing—which we recently addressed and just finished in conjunction with our Photocard assignment.

The latter involved further third-grade exploration into the different parts of speech in addition to how those varying components actually translated into word choices, especially when it comes to descriptive writing.  Students also learned how those parts of speech and word choices then tied into reading and all of its own elements.

Through the course of our on-going class discussions, students discovered just how important it is to develop a good, strong plot when writing and to make sure that plot shows a rise in action en route to solving whatever problem they may have chosen to address as part of their own fictional writing.  In addition, we also examined the difference between “showing” versus “telling” when writing, with students learning that it is almost always far better to “show” than it is to simply “tell”. The importance of dialogue as a means of “showing” was examined as well, with demonstrations on the proper use and placement of quotes within their own work.

However, it was our study of figurative language that really grabbed the third-graders attention. Their fascination with similes, metaphors, personification, alliterations, hyperboles, idioms, and examples of onomatopoeia—still ring loud and clear as spontaneous bursts of group shout outs pour forth from our classroom door on a regular basis, each and every time an example of any one of these seven types of figurative language are read and/or spoken aloud during, not just reading, but also any and all of our other subject areas, too!

After sorting through a stash of old Christmas cards that are kept from year to year, students were then asked to choose a card that inspired them in some way, shape, or form and to compose a narrative story that related to the picture found on their card of choice. A lot of in-class time was devoted to this particular writing project, resulting in the third graders becoming not only well acquainted with the writing process itself but also very well informed with respect to the importance of editing, revising, and ultimately rewriting portions of one’s own work.

Students and teacher alike used classroom ipads in order to complete this assignment, with the composition and rewriting portions done by the students via implementation of the Showbie app and the necessary editing component completed by the teacher through the use of the Explain Everything app. Working back and forth between these two applications, student and teacher were able to individually confer, honing and reworking their initial draft into a finely-crafted and finished piece of narrative work! Once all of the necessary editing, revising, and rewriting were finally finished, each student’s story and accompanying card were then published with the help of a third app called Photocard.

Please click on the following link to check out your student’s own work along with that of his or her classmates!

Christmas Card Writing Project 

Got Heart?

There is simply no way around it. When it comes to matters of the heart, the month of February is one of the first things that jumps to mind, also making it the perfect time of year to turn the attention of students, staff, and the community’s collected attention to other heart-related issues as well with our annual heart-health campaign.This year, elementary students (K-6) did just that on March 23, with their own “Jump Rope for Heart” event.  A national educational and fund-raising event which is sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) whose purpose is to engage elementary and middle-school students in heart-healthy activities that not only improve the students’ own heart-healthy habits but also aid in raising money to help other children who have heart-health related issues.This year students raised over $2000 for heart research while learning about their own heart and how to keep it healthy through physical activity.

Way to show your Sleepy Eye Pride students!

More On Apps: Third-Grade Faves

With all that “love” already on everyone’s mind, it seemed like the perfect time for those of us in 3^rd grade to share a few of our favorite classroom apps with parents and friends!

“Explain Everything”, one of our more frequent go-to tools, is a whiteboard app into which typed text, pictures, self-made drawings, videos, and self recordings can be imported into and then used to explain a specific topic.

This particular app was one of several we employed as part of our app smashing when constructing our plot comic strips. First we used an app called “Comic Life” which contains all of the major elements found within a plot, and then we called upon “Explain Everything” to help us explain our comic strip to Miss Schmit.

The advantage to using an app like “Explain Everything” is that it reinforces the concept being taught while also allowing the students to demonstrate exactly what it is that they know about the chosen subject matter. It is especially useful in Science, because students can videotape an experiment that is being conducted in class and then later, after importing the video itself, they can further explain, on an individual basis, what they actually observed.

“Nearpod” is another favorite app of ours. It is highly interactive and can be used by students during class presentations, allowing each student to watch the presentation independently and at their own individual pace. It can also be rewound, if necessary, and watched again. This app is also great to embed quizzes in and has the built-in added bonus of being able to provide immediate feedback to each student as well.

The third-grade class, as a whole, absolutely loves the app called “Kahoot”, which we also use in quiz situations. In this case, a given question is projected onto the whiteboard located at the front of the room. Students then use their own ipad at their desk to answer the selected question. While doing this, the amount of time it takes for all of the students in the class to submit their answers as well as the total number of students who answered the question both correctly and incorrectly--without openly disclosing individual student answers--is projected in real time on to the whiteboard, so everyone can track the class’ progress. Once all answers have been logged in, we follow up with a short class discussion and review before moving on to the next quiz question.

“Kahoot” is a great motivational tool, which always generates a lot of classroom excitement and energy, with each student trying as hard as they can to answer the posed questions correctly. Honestly, they cannot wait to use this one and request it almost on a daily basis! Of course we don’t use it every day, but when appropriate, it is a fantastic resource that meets our needs in a fun and exciting way.

We have also used the “I Movie” and “Yak It” apps in conjunction with a couple other classroom projects as well. We have engaged the former to put together book trailers and the latter to make our Santas come to life and talk. Both were a resounding success that left all the students clamoring for more!

February Marks "I Love to Read" Month

We LOVE to read!

With thoughts of Valentine’s Day already stirring the air long before its scheduled date, Sleepy Eye Elementary students and staff decided to put all those warm, fuzzy feelings to good use with a month-long celebration of their own love for reading.




School-wide acknowledgement started off with students (K-6) decorating brown paper bags, donated by Schutz Family Foods, with individually crafted “I Love To Read” slogans. Once completed, the bags were then returned to the store and randomly shared with and distributed among its customers throughout the month of February.

Other in-school activities included four separate dress-up days to further demonstrate our shared love for reading. “Dress as Your Favorite Character Day” encouraged students and staff to share their favorite book character with classmates by donning the appropriate costume or style of dress of that particular person and/or thing. A great job was done by all, with a very strong showing of Things 1 and 2 among staff!


“Reading Rock Stars” was an equally dazzling event that saw everyone decked out in their best rendition of their own favorite iconic rocker and/or current pop star. “Read and Relax Day” had all the makings of a down-home, comfy sort of day, with its participants sporting their favorite pair of pjs during the day. Lastly, was “Dress In Your Finest” with all involved, sporting their own “best” signature look and sense of style!


We culminate our month-long “I Love To Read” campaign with Literacy Night on the 26th of February. So, if you haven’t already, please mark your calendars today. See you there!

Hard Work Pays Off with Group Ice Time

We took a few spills.

Loads of laughter, tons of fun, that’s what Sleepy Eye students, kindergarten through sixth grade, found during their second Sleepy Eye Pride Reward Points Party. Once on the ice, it was good times all around, with students zipping around on single-edged blades, during our school-wide outing. And whether it was racing one another, playing crack the whip on skates with a long line of friends and fellow classmates, or simply squaring off for a rowdy round of tag, all enjoyed just “chilling out” together, knowing first-hand that hard work really does pay off!

Skating fun!

Congratulations students for a job well done both off and on the ice!

Annual Third-Grade Wax Museum

3rd Graders in their Wax Museum garb.

“Who Are You Again?




Surely was the question of the day when 3rd graders trooped into class dressed for the final portion of our biography/autobiography genre Wax Museum project. As part of this annual event, the students select a person of historical significance to research, using various media sources. Once the investigative portion of this process has been completed, they then write a speech from the first-person point of view, acting as if they are in fact that very person they’ve been researching. As a closing act, the students dress up as the person they’ve been researching and perform their speeches in our own 3rd grade class.

As always, this tends to be one of the students’ favorite units. This year was certainly no exception to the rule!

Great job students, with your research and historical portrayals!

Spirit of Generosity Drives “Giving Tree” Success

Tis the Season for Giving!

Given the magnitude of success seen with this year’s annual “Giving Tree” food drive, the weeks in December leading up to Christmas might just as well been renamed the “Giving Season”! Both our school as a whole as well as our 3^rd-grade class achieved their pre-set goals when it came to collecting individually donated food items.

Goofy Alien Children

As a class, we collected a total of 108 separate food items to meet our 100-item goal, and were rewarded as a result with an in-class movie. As a school, we exceeded our 1,000-item target, collecting over 1,500 individual food items! In recognition of the students’ resounding efforts, the entire school celebrated by singing Christmas karaoke in the school gym and because everyone went well above and beyond in meeting our overall set goals were treated to watching our principal, Mr. C. getting pied in the face!

Santa Goes “High Tech”

Using technology in order to transform the learning process is an ongoing goal in 3^rd grade this year. One of the most common ways to accomplish this is through the use of apps—self-contained computer programs or pieces of software that are designed for a specific purpose, especially when downloaded by mobile device users. For this particular project, we used multiple apps, a technique called app smashing, to bring a one-dimensional, paper image of Santa to life.

Students were first asked to disguise a printed-form of Santa in a way so that he wouldn’t be recognized as himself. Once we’d finished with our decorations and/or embellishments, we then learned about persuasive writing, with each student writing a persuasive paragraph to convince their reader that their colored image of Santa was, in fact, not Santa. Next, we applied an app called “Yak It” in order to make our disguised Santa figures talk. The video outcome of this was then created as an overlay to their actual Santa image, using the “Aurasma” app. When engaged with this particular app, each individual Santa was brought to life, speaking to the listener as he—the disguised Santa—presented his argument, in the voice and written words of its corresponding paragraph author—as to why he is not the actual Santa but, in reality, someone else!