The third graders began their Shelter block by taking a walk into the woods, looking for every kind of shelter we could find for all types of living creatures. What did all of these shelters have in common? What did each of these shelters do? We then focused on humans and imagined what the earliest human homes were like. We looked at the Native American tribes from this area first, and identified the different materials in nature that were used to make and provide shelter. We looked at the shelters of Native Americans throughout the country and noticed how particular geographical features determined the type of homes that people built. After exploring homes in the Arctic and homes in the Arabian desert, the children were asked to construct a model of a shelter that we had studied, or one of particular interest to them. We now will turn our attention to building a chicken house for the new chicks that will be born at the end of April! Jessica Stark Third Grade Class Teacher