Scientist of the Week

I love this quote by Wendell Phillips: "Seldom was any knowledge given to keep, but to impart...". In the profession of teaching, as cliche as it may sound, I am a teacher and a learner every day. My students' creativity, ideas, and inquiry open my mind in new ways. To support this notion that students are also teachers, we have officially begun Scientist of the Week in Room 9! Each Friday, one scientist is chosen. He or she takes home the Scientist bag complete with the Scientist's journal, a lab coat, safety goggles, a magnifying glass, and an experiments book. 

This person has one full week to choose an experiment (from the book/websites provided, or an idea of your own), practice the experiment at home, and complete a lab report. On Friday, the student performs their experiment for the class! "Assistants" are welcome to attend the experiment, but the student must do the experiment from start to finish without any help. After the experiment is performed, another scientist is chosen!

Our very first scientist showed us an exciting experiment using electricity! By connecting wires and batteries, she made a fan fly across the classroom - it was awesome. Bravo!!

Our second scientist used the electricity from a wire and a large battery to pick up paperclips. I've never seen this experiment done before - very cool!

Our next scientist made a tornado using two connected water bottles. This one is fun to try at home!

This next scientist used household items to create a catapult! She brought a few items to launch. We had a great time at the end of the day exploring the catapult further!

This week's scientist used a yard stick, washers, some cool neon paint, and a black light to show us how the length of the different strings, when pulled at the same time, can make a moving "S" shape. We loved the extra colorful touch!

This scientist showed us how water can travel down a string from one cup to another without dripping. We learned that only thick string will work for this experiment! Thin thread, she told us, doesn't make the water stick.

This scientist showed us how our brain perceives fast-moving images. The two images, when spun between her hands, were viewed by us as one single image. Very interesting!!

In keeping with brain experiments, this scientist showed us how our brain can play tricks on us! When helpers watched the spinning CD for 30 seconds and then looked at a blank wall, their eyes still saw a spinning circle! We even got a chance to use these at the end of the day!

This scientist showed us how the properties of milk and soap combine to produce swirly effects. When dropping small amounts of soap into a container filled with milk, and droplets of food coloring, the results are beautiful! This experiment is a fun one to try at home.

This scientist used static to show us how to move objects across a table! By rubbing a balloon on his head, he created static, which he then used to "push" the aluminum can across the table. We had some very messy-haired, true "mad scientists" when we tried this afterwards!

This week's scientist showed us how air forces can make a balloon fly! We even answered a few questions in the moment by changing the direction of the string.

 This scientist used a laser beam to show us how light travels through water AND plastic! We discovered that some of the light curves with both water and plastic, following their paths. 

This scientist showed us how air pressure inside basketballs changes how high the ball will bounce. Using tape to mark the peak of the bounce, he showed us that the bounces were pretty close in height depending on the amount of air pressure!

This week's scientist used simple ingredients - water, eggs, and salt - to show us how salt can float an egg in a cup of water! We all were wondering just how much or how little salt is needed to float an egg. We hope you try this one at home!  

MMES Gardens

We had some very special guests visit us last week to talk about the gardens around our school!  First, we checked out three different types of soil with our eyes and hands, and brainstormed adjectives to describe them. Two of the soils were dry, sandy, and scratchy, while the other one was moist, cold, and dark.

Next, we worked together to solve a carrot life-cycle puzzle. We talked about what kind of soil we think would be a good home for a seed to grow, and filled three cups with each type of soil and an arugula seed.  Ask your child which cup has sprouted! You might be surprised :)

After, we talked about how we can be supporters of our garden. We brainstormed vegetables we might like to have, and talked about helping out in the gardens when the weather is nicer. Although the greenhouse is finally standing, we are currently only using the gardens at the front of the building.  Greenhouse planting coming soon!

What's New in Math?

Math Workshop has been an exciting time in Room 9 lately - today was our very first exposure to division! By using foundational subtraction skills, we practiced dividing large numbers of game chips among index cards, and discussing what was left over. Try this at home!! 

Pick a number between 8 and 32, and set aside that many game chips/pennies/marshmallows/etc.

Roll a die, or pick a number between 2 and 6. Lay out that many index cards/post-it notes/paper scraps.

Can the chips can be distributed evenly among the cards? What is left over? Turn that into a subtraction fact.

Although we are only using manipulative materials to guide our discovery of division, this first exposure is crucial to a child's understanding of how division works.

In other math news, we've been working on new strategies to solve large subtraction problems. Many students find that using base 10 blocks to physically subtract one number from another is a helpful visual. Once students are comfortable with this method, pencil and paper strategies become easier.

Anti-Bullying Program

This year, MERSD's K-5 classrooms will be piloting a new unit centered around anti-bullying. Not only is this curriculum highly valuable to students as they learn social-emotional skills to support them throughout school, but all teachers and staff members will become familiar with the same language in order to recognize and respond to bullying situations. In our first lesson today we revisited our Class Promise. We began by talking about some of the reasons why we have a Class Promise. Here is our brainstorm:

After brainstorming, we came up with "I can__ by__" statements. We each chose a part of our Class Promise, and wrote down a specific way we can show that each and every day in our classroom, out on the playground, and at home with our friends and families. 

Here are are sharing our thoughts with each other!

Together, we will continue to learn and practice being kind citizens! 

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

No, not a real bucket! The bucket you, and everyone around you, carries with them each day to be filled or dipped from by others. Bucket Filling is a character development system based on the concept that your invisible bucket holds your thoughts and feelings. When our buckets are filled, we feel happy; when our buckets are empty or dipped from, we feel sad.When you fill another person's bucket, you fill yours too! And when you dip into someone's bucket, yours is dipped from as well. It's a way of thinking about being kind, caring individuals that children can relate to easily, and in a tangible way.

Yesterday we talked about how it feels when you make a friend feel good by giving them a compliment, helping them with a problem, or including them in a game. We all agreed that our buckets overflow when we are kind to others! We also talked about how it feels to dip from other people's buckets by saying hurtful things, excluding them from games, or tattling on them. We talked about how (myself included) the "easiest" people to dip from are our siblings or our family members because we spend the most time with them. We also decided that dipping might feel like a good response to a problem at first, but in the end we feel really crummy. 

To really make it tangible, we have a new Bucket Filling system! Each child has a bucket (or a pocket on a jewelry holder - thank goodness for TJ Maxx!). When we wish to fill someone's bucket with a kind thought or helpful words, we fill out a slip and put it in their bucket. We also fill both their bucket and ours with a colorful bead to signify our buckets being filled.

Finally, we all took the Bucket Filler Pledge!

Each Friday we will read our bucket slips and take them home. Our beads will be emptied, and we'll start fresh on Monday. Children are encouraged to fill buckets of people in the class they might not be close friends with, and can do it as many times as they wish. I truly believe that maintaining a classroom community allows children to feel comfortable, happy, and successful, and Bucket Filling will become a way to keep it going in our classroom all year long!

For more information, visit www.bucketfillers101.com

Whodunnit???

We have officially kicked off our genre study unit with one of my favorites: mysteries! We will be indulging in all things mystery - reading groups and book clubs, read-alouds, and mysteries of the day. As we continue to read and listen to more and more mysteries, we will discover the important elements that make up a mystery. So far, we've learned what a detective is/does/looks like, and what the importance of a clue is. In the next few weeks, we'll learn more about the culprit, problem and solution, the "red herring", and how predictions can help support our reading of mysteries. At home, you can support your child by reading mysteries and making predictions along the way. Have your child point out the elements, too!

Our Mystery Word Collector is available for reference during reading and writing.

Readers are finding clues in their mysteries!

Math Workshop

In the past few weeks we've begun to change the way we think about math - not in terms of what we learn, but how we learn. We've talked about how, just like in our families and groups of friends, people are experts at all types of things, and how we can use that information to make learning new math skills better!

In Math Workshop, there are 3 different rotations that happen each day: Work with Miss G, Journal or iPad, and Game of the Day. While a group of students are learning the new skill (or reviewing), the other students are either working on the corresponding Math Journal page, are playing a particular game on an iPad, or are playing the Game of the Day. Groups change frequently according to the skill being taught. In each group, we might be reviewing, practicing with each other, or challenging ourselves. It all depends on what we
need!

This group is playing the Game of the Day together, Nests and Eggs.

It's the first exposure to multiplication that students have! Ask us

about it at home :)

 

Students are working together on a tricky Frames & Arrows problem!

This group is working at the rainbow table with 

Miss G finding patterns in odd and even numbers.

 

This group is working in their Math Journals on a new skill learned.