Third Grade

What do you think about when you hear the word dance? Most likely, half of you smile ear to ear and the other half cringe at the thought. That is pretty close to the reaction our Upper School students have when we announce our dance unit each year.

The first week of the unit is spent listening to music, learning to find the beat and practicing setting each move or combination of moves to an eight-count. Each year, we also study a specific dance style, so students have at least four different types of dance in their repertoire upon graduating.

After this introduction, students...Read more

When integrated in intentional and meaningful ways, technology goes hand in hand with the 6 C’s of education: creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, communication, citizenship, and character education. These life skills are critical for success in our ever-changing world, and Rossman educators cultivate each of them on a daily basis by enhancing students’ learning through technology that is visible in many forms. By giving our students accessibility to technology when needed, we give them a choice in their voice to the world.

This summer, Rossman was able...Read more

Xin nian kuai le! Happy New Year from the third grade class! Every year, Rossman third graders are immersed in the Chinese culture. This third grade class tradition was started 13 years ago after telling the story of how Mrs. Frankenberger escaped Vietnam on a fishing boat. Sharing this journey with the students peaked their interests in the learning of the Chinese...Read more

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” —Aristotle

What ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed in 350 B.C. is precisely what we aspire to impart every day at Rossman School — a balanced education of heart and mind. Academically, students discuss great literature and history, as well as participate in scientific investigation and collaborative group projects, all which offer rich opportunities to integrate lessons of a parallel priority: the development of strong character. As a complementary social component of character...Read more

Be Proactive

Begin With the End in Mind

Put First Things First

Think Win-Win

Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Synergize

Sharpen the Saw

Welcome to the world of “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids.” The 7 Habits are leadership qualities introduced in Sean Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Happy Kids. These highly effective habits teach students to enter the 21st century with confidence, character and leadership skills. Along...Read more

Have you ever felt like dozing off while listening to a lesson or speaker at a conference? Of course you have. Who can sit still for hours at a time listening to someone talk and talk and talk? Well, in third grade, we realize that there are times throughout the day when our students need to change up the routine and get their blood pumping. We call these times “brain breaks.”

A brain break is a one- to three-minute mental break period taken throughout the day to help refresh our thinking and engage in physical exercise. These quick movements help our learners to “wake up” their...Read more

The third, fourth, and fifth graders have turned into creative, confident composers this winter. We started our journey into the world of composition by learning to improvise short melodies on the xylophone using the C pentatonic scale. I gave the students a four measure rhythmic pattern and they experimented by playing the rhythm on various notes, making up melodic phrases on the spot. 

After sharing their improvisational skills individually, each student worked to create a new melody until they composed a song they loved enough to call their own. I was so impressed by the...Read more

The 2014 Hour of Code was held worldwide last week, and Rossman School once again participated in this extraordinary event. Our students from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 6 spent at least one hour last week doing activities in their classrooms sponsored by Code.org. We were a small part of the 75 million people that had fun while learning the basics of coding.

Our goal is to get our students excited about the possibilities that lay before them and help them understand that learning to code will help them in whatever direction their lives take...Read more

Third grade recently explored the trait of voice in writing. Students learned how to create strong voice by incorporating humor, dialogue, thoughts, and emotion. We discussed the importance of making a reader feel what the character is feeling (e.g. embarrassed, hurt or nervous). Each student was given an emotion to write about. They brainstormed a situation in which a character would feel that way and then thought of a logical conclusion. They couldn't use their emotion word in their story, but readers should be able to guess after reading. Can you guess the emotion felt by Madison's...Read more