Adding with Base Ten Blocks

Too often, kids know the "how" of mathematics instead of the "why." Today we got out the base ten blocks to find out exactly what happens when we add multi-digit numbers. Many of our kids were surprised to find out that you don't really "carry the one." You're actually regrouping ten ones together, and then moving the ten over with the other tens. They were really surprised to find out that you don't "carry a one" over to the hundreds. You're actually regrouping ten tens into a one hundred! I demonstrated this lesson with a really cool website you and your child can visit. Students then had the opportunity to use base ten blocks to connect what they know on paper (the traditional addition algorithm) to what was really happening with base ten blocks. I hope activities such as this one build solid conceptual understandings of math for our kids. I want our kids to know the "why" of math!

Conductors and Insulators

Today the kids and I designed a "conductor tester." We did this by creating a circuit that could be opened with two wires. If the two wires touch each other or an object that is a conductor, the circuit would be complete and the motor would run. Students went around the room with their testers and founds lots of conductors and insulators. Do you know what kinds of materials are conductors and insulators? Here are a few pictures of our young scientists at work...

Here's a picture of Lizzie with our high-tech conductor/insulator tester.

Sloan is testing out the top part of a clipboard.

Xion found out that the front of a stapler is a conductor.

Small Moments in Writer's Workshop

Our current unit of study is on Narrative Writing. For the past week, we've learned how to collect our memories - the stories of our lives. We've learned that good writers zoom in on the most important part of the story and tell it step-by-step-by-step. Good writers don't choose "watermelon" ideas, but choose "seed" ideas instead (ask your child about it). Good writers slow down the moment in their mind, and include all the small, exact details that make the story come alive for their reader. Below are two pieces written by our students during the week. Dolan and Wilson did a wonderful job utilizing the strategies we learned in class.

OK, I Lied by Wilson

One night when Miller had a sleepover at my house, we ordered a pizza. My mother was doing the laundry. My father called, "Jac, Wilson, and Milller - get in here and eat." When we came in, we all sat down. I said the blessing. Miller said, "Let's eat!" "OK," I said. Jac said, "Wait." Jac's my little brother. "Maybe we need to let it cool down." Miller said, "It's not hot." I said, "Maybe you should listen to Jac, Miller." He lifted the pizza box. I saw smoke come off it. Miller picked a piece up and took a bite. He swiftly threw it back down in the pizza box. He said, "OK, I lied!" We laughed for a long time. We still talk about that.

What a great small moment story! Click on the Comments link below this post to share your thinking with Wilson.

My Home Run by Dolan

I step up to the plate. I tap on it three times. I hold the bat up. I squeeze the bat tight. I say to myself, "This is it. End of the game. Sixth inning. We are losing by one. There are two outs." "Come on, Dolan! Home run!" screams my coach. The pitcher winds up. The ball comes slowly out of his hand . "Whoosh" goes the ball. Then suddenly - dinnnng! The ball echoes through the air. "Run, Dolan, run!" I run as fast as I can to first...to second...to third...to home!! I had done it! A home run! The A's win!!

Let Dolan know what you think about his small moment piece. Click on the "Comments" link below this post to share your thinking.

Electricity - Making a Motor Run

I am loving science right now. We are in the middle of our Electricity Study and having a blast. During one of our first investigations, I gave the students a light bulb, wire, and a battery and issued this challenge - make your bulb light up. From this investigation, we learned about complete circuits and how current electricity flows. For our next investigation, I gave teams of scientists a battery, motor, and wires. I issued a challenge - make the motor run. Using their knowledge of circuits, students were able to quickly make their motor run. I then gave each team a switch and asked them to incorporate this into their circuit, therefore controlling the "on and off" of the motor. Our scientists were brilliant. Here are some pictures of our class at work...

Motor Run

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Pentominoes

Last year I read the book Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. It's an interesting children's book where the two main characters solve a mystery about a stolen piece of artwork. One of the characters is intrigued with patterns and puzzles, and he always carries around a set of pentominoes with him. After reading the book, I became intrigued with this mathematical puzzle. I ordered a classroom set, and I began exploring them at the beginning of this school year. I found out that pentominoes are a lot like tetris (for those of you who remember that very fun Nintendo game). You have 12 pieces, each consisting of 5 squares. Each piece is named by the alphabet letter it represents. You can arrange the 12 pieces to make a 6x10 rectangle, and there are over 2,000 different ways you can arrange the 6x10 rectangle. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. My daughter and I played with them every night for two weeks...no luck. My father-in-law was the only person in my family able to make the rectangle! So last week I introduced this puzzle to our class to see what they could figure out. The pentominoes proved just as challenging to our students as it did to me. This will be a mathematical puzzle that we will continue to explore all throughout the year. Here are a few pictures of our kids in action...

Pentominoes

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Good Readers Get Stuck

This week in Readers' Workshop, we've talked about monitoring our comprehension - thinking about our thinking. We've learned that readers have an "inner conversation" in their mind when they read. We ask questions, make predictions, stop and notice, and even go "huh?" We also learned that all good readers get stuck - it's just going to happen. Yesterday I gave small groups of students scenarios that highlight situations where good readers sometimes get stuck. Each group brainstormed strategies to get "unstuck" and then created a skit to demonstrate some of these strategies. Enjoy the video...

Native American Tableaus

In order to review our study of the early Native Americans, we decided to create tableaus to show what we've learned. Each group was assigned and specific cultural region and was asked to create five tableaus to answer the following questions:
1. What was your environment like?
2. What kind of homes did you live in?
3. How did you get food?
4. What was your most important resource? How was it used?
5. What was your culture like?

As you watch the video, ask your child to describe his or her interpretation of the tableaus. Our students should be able to connect their new learning to what they see. Enjoy!

Ordering Numbers

In order to better understand how to compare numbers, we played a game in class. Each student had five small pieces of paper. They wrote a number on each one, and then put the numbers in order from least to greatest. Students also made answer keys for their game (we tried to think like test takers...creating tricky numbers). Everyone had a chance to go around the room and "play" other students' game. Before AND after playing, we discussed effective strategies for comparing and ordering numbers. Here are some pictures...

Ordering Numbers

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