Last week during science lab, each student wrote a set of procedures to create a "cookie-turkey." Students would create part of the turkey, and then write down the procedure. Our students did an incredible job using specific details when writing - I was very proud of them. Here are some pictures of the little turkeys...
One of the first investigations in our study of light was to figure out what happens when light strikes a mirror. We observed that light reflects in predictable ways. There is a "law of reflection" that works with mirrors - light beams reflect off mirrors at the same angle they strike the mirror. We decided to see if teams of scientists could use two mirrors with a flashlight and make the beam of light strike in certain places in our classroom. Here are our young scientists at work...
While Challenge was out this past week, we created a pretty fun probability game. A student puts 10 unifix cubes into a paper bag (any combination of colors and amounts). Another student then pulls out one cube at a time and records the results. After 50 or so "pulls" the student then makes an inference as to how many of each color are in the bag. This game took lots of inferencing - you really had to study your results. We learned that the more "pulls" you make, the more likely you are to have accurate results. With more accurate results, you're able to make a better inference of what's in the bag. Here are some pictures of our kids at work...
Kids have to learn their multiplication facts - it's a part of growing up. Hopefully, we can make the process a little more fun. We play LOTS of different games in class to reinforce the facts. Here are some pictures of the kids playing Multiplication Baseball - a class favorite.
My first session at NCTE started with some of my favorite characters - Babymouse and Lunch Lady. I was so fortunate to attend a wonderful session where the creators of these characters shared their stories, ideas, and writing processes. Jarrett Krosockza began the session by telling us how Lunch Lady came to be. It's a very funny story - when he went back to give a presentation to the elementary school he attended as a child, he realized the same lunch lady was still serving lunch! He struck up a conversation with her and realized she had a life outside of school (when he was younger, he imagined her sleeping in the back of the cafeteria on a cot). This sparked the idea for a crime-fighting lunch lady. I was so impressed with how this idea for Lunch Lady sat in his notebooks for years - yes, years - before it finally came to be a graphic novel. He never gave up on the idea. He slowly developed it, thought about it, and finally the right time came along to publish it. Matthew and Jennifer Holm went next, and I loved hearing about their childhood. They are two of the funniest people you will ever hear present - so much laughter! I took lots of notes about the process they use as writers. When I shared this with my kids at school, they were amazed at how much revision goes into writing a book. Just as we learned during our word play unit, writing requires risk, imagination, and a playful spirit.
On the day we learned about song writing, Madison and Lizzie took a shot at writing their own "blues." Since they both recently had braces put on, they decided to let braces be the subject of their song. They did an incredible job - so creative (and you'll love the motions)...
As part of our wordplay unit in writer's workshop, we decided to write a class song. We sat down one morning and wrote "The Rainy Day Recess Blues." I was so proud of our kids! We found out that it is not easy to write a song. You have to think about rhythm, syllables, and rhyme. You have to make your words fit the rhythm and beat. You can listen to the song by clicking here.
As you listen, you can follow along with the lyrics:
Look out the window, see all the rain
Can't go outside, gotta stay in and play
We'll miss recess, it's so sad
Watching the raindrops, I'm getting mad
We've all got the rainy day recess blues
Drop off our trays, get in a line
Head back to class, not feelin' fine
Can our day, get any worse?
Recess is cancelled, we feel cursed
We've all got the rainy day recess blues
Walk in the classroom, go to our seats
Put my head down, feel like I'm beat
But Mr. Brown, pulls out his guitar
He makes us feel, like we're stars
There's no more, rainy day recess blues
Let us know what you think - leave a comment below!
We're wrapping up our unit on Word Play. The kids have had a wonderful time during this study - we've written jokes, chants, songs, riddles, and even idioms. Each day I would teach strategies for these types of wordplay, and then students would have a "menu" of options to choose from as they worked in writer's workshop. Jada and Sloan really took to chant writing. Chant writing is fun - it has rhythm, rhyme, and is really silly (things kids love). I was proud of the effort and hard work these two students put toward their craft. Here are Jada and Sloan sharing a few of the chants they created...
Good readers are active readers - they're not passive. Good readers constantly ask questions, make predictions, form inferences, and find connections. One way we've been practicing this stance is by using a strategy called "stop-think-react." You do just what it says! In this instance, partners were reading a National Geographic Explorer article together. At different places in the text, they would stop, think, and discuss their ideas with each other. Here are a few of our kids sharing their thinking...
"Show Good Character - Say No to Drugs!" was our class theme for Red Ribbon Week. We created a banner, and each student dressed up as his or her favorite book character. Our kids marched proudly in the parade, chanting slogans to the top of their lungs! After the parade, we had small group discussions where each student "became" his or her book character and talked to other characters in the class. It was fun to actually be some of the characters we've read about - and it was fun to watch and listen to the other "characters" share about their lives. Here is some video footage from our day together...
After returning from our field study to Roper Mountain Science Center, we decided to do a mini-inquiry into space. We had learned so many new interesting facts about our solar system, and had a lot of new questions. We began this inquiry by developing our questions and wonderings. We then spent a lot of time reading through resources, trying to find the answers to our questions. We learned to read "big chunks" at a time; we learned to connect our new learning to our background knowledge; and we learned to stop, think, and reflect about what we're reading. We decided to showcase our new learning with a display on the outside wall of our classroom (it's currently being created). But I also got the video camera out and had a few kids share their learning on film. Hope you enjoy...
Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming Social Studies test on Chapter 5. You can download the audio file to your computer by right-clicking on the link. Choose "Save Target As" and save the file to an appropriate place in your computer.
If you have any questions or thoughts, click on the "comments" link below this post and leave a message. You can also email me at any time. Hope this studycast helps!
