Classroom Update: June 20, 2015

As the year winds down, students began clearing out their desks this week. Among these items, they should have brought home two math workbooks. Students may use the remaining pages in these workbooks for supplemental practice over the summer.

Now on to the last update of the year!

Early in the week, we were treated to a presentation by Toby's dad on his work studying philosophy. Students participated in an interesting discussion on the nature of dreams and how philosophers contemplate ethical dilemmas. Thank you to Toby's dad for leading the discussion!

In math this week, we introduced 3-D figures. This is a topic that students will delve further into next year. During 3-D Day, students got a chance to construct some of the polyhedra we discussed. They made some very cool kites and 3-D soccer balls! Big thanks to those of you who assisted students in putting together their projects.

In social studies, students engaged in a debate about the revolutionary war. They were assigned teams and asked to defend the pros/cons of the colonists breaking away from British rule. Students did an excellent job justifying their positions, drawing off of knowledge from our social studies unit and persuasive writing unit.

In writing, students continue to draft their adapted fairytales. The stories are turning out to be very humorous takes on classic tales!

As a reminder, next week students will celebrate the end of the school year with special events in the classroom. One of those will be a viewing of our end of year slideshow, to which you are all invited on Thursday morning at 8:30. I'm looking forward to viewing it with students and those of you who are able to attend!

Last Week of School Celebrations

Optional Math Challenge: Due 6/22

What numbers could n equal to make the equation correct? Show your thinking.

                  341 -  n   =   a number between 115 and 120. 

Print: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FgEwg3fLl_Lsf_HB47Gtvamq9sI1XaCkUSZFvf8GONc/edit?usp=sharing

Classroom Update: 6/14/15

In reading, students presented their biography reports to the class. I was very impressed by all the research and effort they put into this project! On Friday, students shared their expert knowledge on their biography subjects to a group of second graders who visited our class.

In math, students have been engaged in a problem solving workshop. Students have been working on solving a problem called “Muffles Truffles,” which is prompting them to integrate knowledge of multiplication, division, and addition.

In social studies, students have been reading about the American Revolution. Most recently, we read a book called Liberty by Lucille Recht Penner that details the events leading up to the revolution.

In science, students  logged observations on their plants throughout the stages of their life cycles. This past week, we were on the lookout for seedpods. These pods signal the opportunity for more plants to grow! Students did a great job tending to their plants throughout the unit.

Classroom Update: 6/5/15

We went on our field trip today to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Students had fun and learned a lot about the life and times of President Kennedy. Students got to see how biographers gather information about their subjects by analyzing primary and secondary sources. This was a great tie-in for our current reading unit on biographies.

We enjoyed persuading you to sign our petitions at our writers' celebration on Monday! Students continued writing their adapted fairytales later in the week.

In math, we have been working on solving word problems involving the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division).

In social studies, students continued to read about the Revolutionary War. This week, we read about George Washington's involvement in the revolution.

Now that our flowers have bloomed, students pollinated their plants using real bees! We learned about pollination and the parts of the plant involved in this process during science. We also dissected vegetable seeds and made observations about their components.

Optional Math Challenge: Due 6/15