Asian History, Long John Silver, and Cafeteria Food

Terrific Tiger Assembly

Social Studies:
Continue learning about Asia. We will continue to draw comparisons between Asian empires and other empires we have studied.

Math:
We will begin analyzing and deconstructing the data we have collected on school lunches. We will be looking to see if there are patterns we can identify with what students choose for lunch, if there are lunch choices that are not viable for our school, and how we can address any issues we have with the lunches.

Reading:
Finish Treasure Island in the afternoon class.

Read a Book, Take a Test, Make a Decision

Reading:
After we review the poems we will read our library books today.

Math:
Go over the review and take the Chapter 8 assessment.

Social Studies:
Read lesson 2. Do we want to answer questions today or write another summary? We will decide in class.
Maps of Asia are due tomorrow.

Computer Lab:

One of the most enjoyed activities from the last school year was constructing bridges through games like Bridge Building Game. The purpose of this game is to construct a bridge that will allow the lemming like pink dinosaurs to cross safely across a chasm.

 Here are links to similar games:

Cargo Bridge
Bridgecraft

What do you need to know to be successful at these simulation games? Do you think they are good simulations?

Poems, Summaries, and Kid President

Finally back to school after our two day lay off. Don't you hate snow days when there is no snow? I think we all need a pep talk so I asked Kid President to make a video for you.

Reading
We are going to write our two poems today. The first is an acrostic. You will pick a partner and use their first name as the starting point for the word or phrase. Each line will be a compliment to the person whose name you are using. For example:

Awesome
My favorite smile
You have a great personality!

The second poem is a concrete poem. I wonder what I will give you to use?

Social Studies
Your physical maps of Asia will be due Thursday. 
We will be reading lesson 1 on the geography of Asia. You will need to pay attention closely because:

Writing Workshop
You will be writing a summary of lesson 1. I think it will take around three paragraphs to do it justice so I hope you pay attention while we read it.

Math

We will review surface area again, then do the Are You Ready to Go On?

Poetry, Mapping Asia, Finding Surface Area, and Computer Lab

Reading: Is this poetry? Be prepared to defend your opinion. 

Today in reading we will discuss poetry. We will look at what it can look like, why you should read it, and elements that are (or maybe are not) important to poetry.

Tomorrow you will be expected to write two different poems. At the end of this class make sure you are prepared to do so.

Social Studies: We are creating a physical map of Asia. There is a good example on page 346 of your textbook. I want you to identify the major physical features of the land as well as identify the large bodies of water. Make it nice and neat or be prepared to remake it.

Math: We are going to find the surface area of a prism. Let's start by watching this video:

What did you learn from this video? Can you use this information to find surface area of a different shape?

Computer Lab: If you could choose an activity to do in the lab, what would it be?

Reading Stories, Finding Volume, and Reviewing Africa

Today in Reading we will be reading, an amazing concept I know!

In Writing we will be sharing stories we have blogged. This is something we need to do much more of so I am implementing a day of sharing!

In Math we will be finding the volume of a prism. Let's watch this video and deconstruct it. Do you see anything you have already learned represented here? Can you find a different way to find the volume of a prism? What if the prism is a triangular prism, will the formula still work?

In Social Studies we will be doing the review over chapter 11 p. 342-343.

Emperor Constantine Wikimedia Commons

Be prepared to do some reflecting today. Don't be surprised to see me walking around with the camera ready to capture your thoughts!

Answers From Canada

Dylan replied to our class questions about Canada. He made a great video and is very detailed with the answers to the questions we sent him.

Thank you, Dylan. The video is great and my students will learn a lot about Canada from it.

Questions About Canada

My class is teaming up with a pre-service teacher, Dylan Longmoore, from the University of Regina in Canada. We just finished reading the book Hatchet by Gary Paulson in which the main character of the story, Brian Robeson, is plane wrecked in the Canadian wilderness. I thought this might be a great opportunity for Mr. Longmoore to respond to some of my students' questions about Canada.

Jasmin asks:

• Do you have really bad storms in Canada? (In the book Brian lives through a tornado.)
• Has anyone gotten attacked by a moose? (Brian is attacked by a moose.)

Madison asks:

• Do people get lost in the Canadian wilderness?

Katy asks:

• Is there a lot of moose in Canada?
• Are there a lot of bear attacks in Canada? (Brian is almost attacked by a bear.)

Lauren asks:

• What kind of animals are in Canada?
• What is it like to be lost in the woods in Canada?

Briana asks:

• Do you think somebody could live in the Canadian wilderness for a year with just the clothes they are wearing and a hatchet?

Heuchi asks:

• What animals are hunted in Canada?
• What foods do Canadians eat?

Several students asked about the weather and climate in Canada. There were also more questions about hunting and fishing. 

Classroom Battleship Math

Today we played Battleship Math. We created a co-ordinate grid on the floor using tiles and then placed our 'ships' on them. We picked ordered pairs to 'shoot' at and then sent them off to the next door class playing against us.

Here is Euginio explaining what we are learning:

Here is a video of what a round of Battleship Math looks like:

It was a crazy time and in an hour we didn't quite get the game finished. The students had a lot of fun, maybe too much for me. They really wore me out!

4" Aluminum Boat Float

The students are conducting experiments and learning how to write conclusions from what they observe and measure. This is the second time they created aluminum boats. The first time they used a 3" piece of aluminum, this time it is 4" square. Here are a couple videos of the students talking about the experiment and what they are finding.