Water-Cycle-in-a-Cup

We began our study of the water cycle with a hands-on experiment - a "water-cycle-in-a-cup." Students first poured a small amount of liquid water on black construction paper and placed it on the hot cement (right outside the cafeteria doors). We then placed a clear plastic cup on top of the liquid, with an ice cube on top of the cup. Here is Virginia's prediction of what will happen during the experiment. You can also see the observations she made - I love how she included exact drawings and strong written details to describe her observations.



We inferred that the heat of the cement and black construction paper caused the liquid water to evaporate and rise to the top of the cup. When the water vapor reached the top of the cup, it became cooler (due to the ice cube). The water vapor then condensed back into liquid water. We predicted that the liquid water would run down the sides of the cup and back to the hot cement, where the cycle would start again. Our students are true scientists - what smart thinking! Here is Mira's conclusion to the experiment. I love how she included small drawings along with her written explanation.

Comparing Tall Tales, Folktales, and Fables

A week or two ago, I blogged about our study of tall tales, folktales, and fables. As small groups read and studied various examples, we learned about the elements of each genre. As a culminating activity, small groups of students created poster-size Venn diagrams to compare the three genres. After creating their diagrams, the groups did a "museum walk" around the classroom, observing each other's work. Students were encouraged to respond to their classmates' posters by leaving post-it notes on their Venn diagrams. Some comments included, "Hey, I never thought of that!" Or "I think I may disagree with this statement because..." Or "Our group thought the same thing!" Our kids were comparing, contrasting, and revising their thinking as they encountered new ideas from the other groups. I loved watching our kids react and respond to each other.

Betsy and Maribeth are responding to another group's Venn diagram.

Look at all the comments left on this group's Venn diagram! You can see Jaylin adding his own thinking on a post-it note.

Caroline and Jordan are reading their classmates' comments, while Anna R. responds with her own thinking.

Math Happenings

It's been awhile since I've posted - sorry about that! We've engaged in a lot of interesting math investigations during our Geometry unit. We learned a fun game (similar to battleship) called Queens and Knights. It teaches kids to use coordinate points, adding strategies, and visual reasoning. Here are a few pictures from class:

George has set up his grid and is thinking about his strategy. He wants to capture his opponent's queen before his own is captured.

Just look at their faces - can't you just feel the fierce competition?

We spent another day investigating 3-D shapes. To fully understanding the properties of geometric solids, we built lots of examples with twist-ties and straws. This hands-on activity really enabled the kids to analyze and compare the various characteristics of 3-D shapes.

Can you identify the shape Justin has created? I'm pretty sure it's a trapezoidal prism.

Atticus and George just finished creating a triangular pyramid. They are extending their thinking by connecting another triangular pyramid to its base - very smart thinking. By the way, can you see Anna C. in the background? Do you think she's having fun? (She's probably laughing at one of my very funny jokes - HA!).

Studycast - Organisms

Click here to listen to Room 241's studycast on Organisms. The test is this Friday, and I hope this studycast will be helpful to students and parents alike. Please be sure to study use your studyguide and science notebook to help you study. If you have any questions, click on "Comments" and leave me a note. I'll get back to you as quick as I can. Thanks for listening!

Westward Expansion Studycast - Chapters 12-13

Click here to listen to the Chapter12-13 Studycast covering Westward Expansion. You can right-click on the "here" and download it directly to your computer. Just choose "Save Target As" and then choose the appropriate location on your computer.

If you have any questions or comments, just leave them in the comments section underneath this post. When you leave a comment, just choose "Anonymous" and type in your response. Thanks!

Podcast Reflection

On Friday, April 4th, we had a few spare minutes at the end of the day - a few students shared their reflection of the week. For some reason, I forgot to post it! Click here to listen.

Tall Tales, Folktales, and Fables

We're in the middle of a two week study of tall tales, folktales, and fables. This is the first year I've done a really intensive study of these genres with my class, and I've really enjoyed it (I think the kids have, too). I've learned a LOT. Did you know that tall tales have lots of exaggerations? Did you know that many tall tales are set in pioneer days and center around themes connected to frontier life? Did you know that many folktales use the number 3? Did you know the animals in fables usually represent one human characteristic - like greed or cleverness? After demonstrating to the class how I read a tall tale and identified its elements, groups of 3-4 students read their own tall tale and created a grid to show the characters, setting, problem, resolution, exaggerations, and other noticings. We created this huge grid on our carpet - here's what it looked like...

This enabled us to easily compare the various tall tales groups read. After creating this chart, we noticed that many tall tales are set in the pioneer days, and most of them deal with "taming" the west. We also noticed that lots of tall tale characters have super human strength and often times have a companion. We used the same strategy when we studied folktales, but we created an even bigger grid. Here it is...

After studying this chart, our students noticed that many folktales use trickery or magic. Most folktales have some sort of monster or evil character that has to be overcome. Justin and Adam noticed that many of the folktales are set outdoors, like the woods (we also noticed that many folktales do not use a specific setting, but start with "Once upon a time..."). Here is a close-up of some of our work...

Camp Thunderbird

We had a wonderful time at Camp Thunderbird - a really incredible experience. We studied Native Americans, pioneers, animals, and astronomy. We went on a night hike, soared down a zip line, paddled canoes, played predator-prey, had Wacky Olympics, and shared skits by the camp fire. We also hung out, played cards, talked, had gum-ball fights, and laughed. I hope these pictures bring back some good memories for our kids. Enjoy.

Click To Play

Science Fun Day

It was fun! We learned about dry ice from a Clemson student, then Mr. Benjamin taught us about the rods and cones in our eyes. Ask your child how our eyes turned an orange, black, and green flag into a red, white, and blue flag (it has something to do with complimentary colors). We then went to the cafeteria to experience a presentation from Roper Mountain Science Center - Adam even got to be a volunteer! From there, we went to Coach Rohrer's gym where we played an extremely active game teaching us about the food pyramid. Ask your child which foods required the most physical exercises. Finally, Mrs. Stucky integrated science, math, and art as we painted tiles. The video below has pictures from our day...

Click To Play

Book Club Projects

All of our clubs just finished reading and discussing their book club book. Students then chose to create their own projects to show the class the big ideas they came away with. All of our clubs chose to use drama to show their new learning (our class loves to act). Here are a few pictures from the presentations...

In this picture, Madison (reporter) is interviewing Madison (Adam from The Wish Giver). I love the use of pencils as microphones.

In this picture, a newscast is taking place. There were anchors, on the scene reporters, and even interviews with important characters.