Wanted: Small Cardboard!

Next week we will be completing a Cardboard Challenge during #GlobalMakerDay. We are in need of cardboard boxes or cardboard of any kind to prepare for our future challenge. (Examples: cereal boxes, gift boxes, kleenex boxes, paper towel rolls, etc..) If you have any small cardboard boxes or materials that you can donate to our class, please send them with your child before next week!

Many Thanks!

Hour of Code

This week students participated in the #HourofCode. Students had the chance to participate in a variety of computer science activities online and using robots in our school. Students are expert programmers with the robot Dash. They had so much fun applying their knowledge of forces in science and coded Dash to move in a variety of positions and locations. We also had the chance to plan purposeful activities with Dash when we were challenged to design a maze for Dash to navigate through. Students used a variety of tools in their attempt to get Dash to move in the correct direction. They learned through much trial and error how to slow Dash down, pick up speed at the right time and change location to be successful. It was a tough challenge, but many students persevered to accomplish their goal.

Students also programmed their own games on the Coding website code.org. Students loved programming on many of the sites including Minecraft, Google logo, Flappy Game, Star Wars, Box Island so so much more. Students were challenged to apply their knowledge of forces in science as well as their math skills in movement. It was a great week of collaboration, critical thinking and communication. We reflected on this engaging week by writing a retell paragraph using details from the struggles and the exciting adventures we had with coding. Ask your child to share what they wrote about and what they liked best.


Students are encouraged to keep coding at home and use our KidBlog platform to continue to share what they are learning, what obstacles they face and what new discovery they are making while coding on their platform of choice.

We wrapped up our week of #hourofcode by reflecting on our code learning. We wrote about what we learned and what we liked best. Ask your child about what they wrote. #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/dHRyDeZHYI

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 8 December 2017

Our elf Tallulah challenged our class to design a maze for Dash to go through. Students creativily designed mazes with tools in our room. A fun #hourofcode today. #ontariocodes pic.twitter.com/yftBqUSoby

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 6 December 2017

More examples of hour of code in grade 3. pic.twitter.com/gTjORa2U5H

— St Emily School (@StEmilySchool) 5 December 2017

Even with internet issues we persevered and completed an #hourofcode. Students worked through a few coding stations today and LEGO challenges too. #ontariocodes #stem #ocsbdl pic.twitter.com/l229xj2g9P

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 5 December 2017

Happy coding week! We got distracted from our math lesson by this awesome #Google coding game. #hourofcode #OntarioCodes pic.twitter.com/6lJc4KKvuF

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 5 December 2017

Problem solving when Dash won't follow the code. pic.twitter.com/JUScj68wWM

— St Emily School (@StEmilySchool) 1 December 2017

Students put their Forces in science learning into practice today. We programmed Dash using @WonderWorkshop apps. Ask your child what they had Dash do and what they learned. #stem #ocsbdl #ontariocodes pic.twitter.com/98Ps4DLgCq

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 1 December 2017

Grade 3 Ciampa codes Dash to move pic.twitter.com/XAvKGtriOD

— St Emily School (@StEmilySchool) 1 December 2017

We continue to experiment with the @WonderWorkshop apps to program and code our little Dashes. #stem #ocsbdl Ask your child what they learned on the Blockly app today. pic.twitter.com/ooimzXySci

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 29 November 2017

Students experimented with @WonderWorkshop today. We had fun teaching Dot how to move in different directions. #stem #ocsbDL pic.twitter.com/Myxe2mzm4V

— Mrs.Ciampa (@MrsCiampaClass) 23 November 2017

Global Maker Day - Cardboard Challenge

Today students put their plan into action and brought their ideas to life during the cardboard challenge. Students were only aloud to use cardboard, scissors, tape and crayons or markers to design  and create. They were also told they needed to create something that could either be pushed or pulled.

Planning in groups for the challenge

They followed the Design Process to solve problems, brainstorm ideas, make a plan, follow and test our their plan, alter or change their ideas and finally reflect on what worked and what didn't. They worked extremely well in their groups today. No one gave up or become frustrated. Everyone was encouraging and helpful. They were on task and had so much fun  while playing and creating. It was also great to see them help out their friends when they needed extra hands to help solve a problem or to finish up their project.

Cardboard Challenge in action!

Students all got a chance to present their inventions and test it out in front of the group. They reflected on what worked and what didn't. They answered questions from their friends and asked a few friends to come up and try their games. Have a look below at our finished products! They are very proud. We will be writing a retell paragraph and a reflection on how the challenge went tomorrow. For homework, please have your child prepare for this by retelling what they did today. Have them use the keep on track words (first, next, then, after that, also, finally, etc) to share the steps they took to create today. It will be helpful for them to practice retelling for their writing work tomorrow in class.

A Vending Machine

A Photocopier Game

A tractor and a wagon with a game inside the wagon!

Maze Machine

Lucky Shoot Flicking Game

Pet Carrier and a Flicking Game

Flick Game

Wanted: Cardboard!

Next week we will be participating in a Global Maker Challenge. We are in need of cardboard boxes or cardboard of any kind to prepare for a future challenge. (Examples: cereal boxes, gift boxes, kleenex boxes, paper towel rolls, etc..) If you have any cardboard boxes or materials that you can donate to our class, please send them with your child!

Many Thanks!

STEM Task: Paper Chain Challenge

Today's STEM Challenge had the students work in groups of 3 to create the longest paper chain they could using only 3 materials: one sheet of construction paper, one pair of scissors and one glue stick.

It was a lively challenge and students were given 20 minutes to make a plan and execute it. Students are reflecting and learning that the planning portion of the task is important since they are not given replacement materials if they make a mistake. The students also collaborated at the start of the task to come up with a set of class rules and guidelines to follow when completing teamwork. Please see our rules below and talk about them with your child. Students had juicy ideas and mentioned some new vocabulary words some of us hadn't heard of before.

We ran out of time to measure our paper chains, but students lined them up on the carpet and decided which one looked the longest. Tomorrow we will reflect what we would do differently, and what we would do the same if we did the challenge again. Ask your child about their amazing teamwork and collaboration today to complete this fun STEM task.

Class created list of teamwork guidelines during STEM tasks

STEM Challenge in action

STEM Task: Red Cup Challenge

Today students completed their first STEM challenge of the year. (STEM = Science + Technology + Engineering + Math).We collaborated with our group to stack 10 cups into a tower without touching the cups. We had to use only the materials provided in our baskets. An extra challenge at the end: we had to put our Lego figure at the top of our tower without touching it with our hands. It was great to see the students use their critical thinking and communication skills to solve this problem. We learned as a group the importance of following direction and listening to our group to finish the task. We will do many more STEM challenges and as a class we will need to review how to work effectively in a group when solving challenges or tasks. 

Ask your child about this fun activity. What strategy worked best for their group? What strategy didn't work at all? What would your child do differently next time? What would your child do the same next time?

3D Structures and Shape Experts

We are currently working on 3D shapes in our class. Students worked together to show their expertise on a 3D shape of their choice. They used Pic Collage to show what they learned about their shape. After showing what they know, they shared their Pic Collage on a shared Padlet. If you'd like to learn more about and of the 3D shapes on our list, check below at our Padlet thinking. Today we presented our learning and added to our 3D Shape Chart. If you know anymore facts about 3D shapes, please add it to our Padlet below!

We will continue working on 3D shapes and describing their properties. In Science we are working on stable structures. We had a STEM challenge last week using gumdrops and toothpicks. Students had to design a 3D shape that would be stable enough to hold a heavy textbook. It was a fun challenge and we got to experiment with various 2D and 3D shapes.   Ask your child what their learned about the shapes after completing this challenge. Ask your child what is the strongest shape is!!

Created with Padlet