February 7, 2016

Important Dates and Reminders:
Tuesday: Library

February 17 - Delayed start
February 18 - Coffee with Sara Rabbe in the library
Ongoing until February 19 - Big Change Round Up

Please send in any boxes, empty paper towel rolls, or any other pieces of plastic, etc. that you think the kids could use in creating their own games. Anything from the recycling pile will work. See the science update below for more information. Thanks!
 

Big Change Round Up
A baggie with information about the Big Change Round Up went home last week. We are collecting change for the University of Vermont Children's Hospital. Kids can bring in change and put it in one of the containers in the office. There is a container for 10 different staff members. The staff member that gets the most money will have to dye their hair a crazy color. I  moved up to 4th place last week! Woo hoo! I'm getting closer to dyeing my hair!

Literacy:

This week, student were all diving into their own interests, reading nonfiction books. Students are learning how to organize the information in books using t-charts, webs, and Venn Diagrams. Students then come up with their own ways to share their new learning by writing books or making posters. They are sharing new information every day!



We have been writing a biography of Heroes (Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges). Here is a picture of the class, writing the table of contents in their books. The students have learned so much about these important people.

Math:
We've been tackling some tough story problems and questions this week! One day we worked hard on figuring out the following problem: I had 11 doughnuts. 3 were chocolate. The rest were vanilla. How many were vanilla? This was a tricky problem because at first, many students thought we had to add the 11 and the 3 together to get the answer. After a lot of work using manipulatives, creating representations, and sharing our thinking with one another, we finally figured it out! And once we  got to the correct answer the class realized that we had two different ways of solving it: 11-3=N or 3+N=11.

Science:
The students are getting ready to apply what they have learned in our study of force and motion. We are doing a Project Based Unit (PBL) that has the students creating their own arcade style games. Here are two videos that we have already watched in class to give you a better idea of what we are trying to do.

 

This is where we need your help. Please send in any boxes, empty paper towel rolls, or any other pieces of plastic, etc. that you think the kids could use in creating their own games. Anything from the recycling pile will work!