First Fun Friday!

Today was the first Friday of the school year, and it was quite a doozy! Before school started, an electrical transformer blew up and knocked out the power. Here is a picture of the power company working to fix the power. What do you notice?

Photo by Dr. Dan

Dr. Dan stopped by with Principal Brazell to make sure everyone was safe and asked us how we were coping.

Since it was dark in the room, Mrs. Yollis decided to have a science lesson about light using a flashlight! Students learned that if an object is transparent, light can pass through it. Transparent objects are windows or some drinking glasses. Opaque objects do NOT let light pass through. When light hits an opaque object, a shadow is formed. 

We went outside to use the light of the sun and our opaque hands to make shadows! It was fun making shadow puppets, shadow stories, and even shadow dancing! 

After recess, we created math flashcards. There was enough light through the transparent windows to complete the task. 

Then we played a few rounds of a math game called Salute! To play Salute! you need three players and a deck of cards. One person is the general. The general hands two players a card. The players do not see their cards. When the general says "salute", each player salutes and reveals the card to the other player. The general then gives the SUM of the two cards. The first player to guess their card is the winner of that round. It is a fun way to practice the addition facts. Here is a photo from yesterday so you can see the game in action. 

We also played a math came called Stay Put. 

Who can explain the rules?

To cool off, the district bought popsicles for everyone! 

After lunch, the power came on, and it was time for our first Fun Friday! Look at all the creations!

Pyramids!

Pattern people!

Blocks: Space Station and a Castle!

We had lots of new boxes of tissues and paper towels, so we used them to create a few things.

A tissue tower!

Ahoy! It's the S. S. Yollis! 

Can you find the fox in the box?

What did you like about the day?

What else did we do that is not mentioned in this post? 

A Rainy Fun Friday!

Students who complete all of their work and demonstrate that they are responsible third graders earn free-time during Fun Friday!

We were ready for some fun after being stuck inside all week.

Check out the final reading on our rain gauge!

(Click on the picture to enlarge.)

Sculpting is always a popular activity!

Students had a whale of a time!

Someone etched his name in the clay.

Others created beds or fantastic scenes!

Our story for the week was

The Mysterious Giant of Barletta,

by Tomie de Paola.

That folktale was an inspiration for two artists.

Equally popular was Fun with Magnets!

Who can use the encyclopedia and share something about magnets?

Who can teach us something about Tomie de Paola?

Fun Friday: Clay Tools

By: Taylor and Marcus

On Fun Friday, Taylor and Marcus created some wonderful tools. First, Marcus created the yellow clay hammer. Then, Taylor created the purple clay nail and wood.

Marcus used the yellow clay hammer to drive the purple nail into the wood. Once we were done this is what we created…

Rainy Day Clay

On Fun Friday, anyone who is finished with their weekly work has free time to create and explore in Mrs. Yollis' Classroom. Many students enjoy sculpting with the modeling clay.

It rained cats and dogs on Wednesday, so we had to stay inside at lunch.

Something new happened with the clay!

Normally everyone sits at their own desk with their own clay making their own sculpture. It is a very independent time.

Read and see what happens when people work together. :-)

The Clay Park

Lexi asked Jonah if he wanted to create a sculpture scene. Lexi had green clay and made swings. Jonah had orange and he made a short waterfall, a long stream that spanned across the desk, and a pool. Alasia came and asked if she could join with her yellow clay. She made a straight slide that lead into Jonah's pool.

Without anyone saying anything, a park started to form.

James noticed the park and asked if he could join with his blue clay. He added a twisty slide and people. Sean came to see what was going on. He asked if he could make people and lopsided monkey bars with his black clay. Taylor G. was sitting next to the park. She had made a giant dog out of blue clay. The dog was too big for the park, so she reformed the dog into two small dogs and a cat.

The park was finished in about 15 minutes.

Cooperation was needed in our work.

Here...take a look at the masterpiece!

We feel amazed by the park we created! We hope you like our creation.