And So It Begins: Working With the Scientific Method

We are beginning our science study on using the scientific method. We will be looking at data collection as a tie in with what we are studying in math. Students will be creating boats and seeing how much mass they can hold and we will use the collected data to draw our conclusions. 

Free Rice

 FreeRice.com is a quiz site and a way to help the World Food Programme end hunger. For every answer you get right, ten grains of rice will be donated. While this may not seem like a lot of rice, it adds up. An added feature is that you can now pick from several different categories of questions.

Analyzing Data

The math class has been working on analyzing data. Specifically we are finding the mean, median, mode and range as well as describing the data using line plots, frequency distribution tables, and histograms. If you don't know what these words mean, simply double click on them and the definition will pop up. If you still don't know what they mean ask one of the students, they will be happy to explain it :)

We are gathering data now on our school lunch program to analyze if the choices the students have are really choices. By that I mean are enough students choosing them to make them a viable alternative.

Here are some videos you can watch to learn what we are doing.

Peter Pan Project Update

Students are continuing to work on Deconstructing Peter Pan. So far we have read the original story by J.M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy, looked at the sculpture of Peter Pan Barrie placed in Kensington Garden in London, watched the silent film Peter Pan (1924) and the musical Peter Pan (2000) starring Cathy Rigby.

The students have been analyzing the plot, sequence and character development with each version as well as trying to identify how the storyteller in each version viewed Peter. We are discovering how the story, while named after Peter, is really about Wendy's journey from childhood to becoming an adult. Taken at face value, with little reflection it is easy to think that the story is an homage to the power of youth when it is really about how important it is to grow up.

Act Your Age, Not Your Shoe Size

12 1/2 or 43, I wonder which I act like?

Have you ever wondered about the expression, "Act your age, not your shoe size?" The first time I became aware of it was when I first heard Prince's song Kiss. As a teacher of 6th grade students I wonder if this axiom is true for my class.

Today I want you to work in groups to identify the mean, median, mode, and range for both your age and your shoe size. We will be able to finally identify if I really want you to act your age or act your shoe size!

Singing for the Noel UMC Daycare Center

Our fourth and sixth grade students (minus the band members) walked to the local daycare center to sing to the kids.

Ukulele Club's First Performance

Here is the first public performance of our new ukulele club. We are playing Mele Kalikimaka at our annual Christmas program. The students have only been playing for a month and I am very pleased with their progress. 

If you are interested they are playing the Kala LU-21 soprano ukulele and I am playing a Boulder Creek spruce top tenor.

Digital Snowflakes? Yes, Please!

This is a site I have used with my class for several years. In fact, I used it to teach myself how to fold paper to create paper snowflakes. When you are finished your snowflake is set adrift throughout the digital world and you can watch them fall or even capture one from someone else.  I hope you all have a great Holiday break!

Elf Yourself is Now an App!

I used to make these videos every year, and now it is much easier. With the Elf Yourself app you can take pictures and immediately insert them. I hope you enjoy the show!

We Have Been Nominated!: Edublog Award Nominations

I am pleased to announce that our class blog has been chosen as a finalist for the 2012 Edublog Awards in the category Best Class Blog. This is a great honor and the fourth year for being nominated for this award. 

I am also really pleased to announce that the Twitter hash tag #Comments4Kids was nominated as Best Twitter Hashtag. You can learn more about Comments4Kids on the Comments4Kids blog.

If you would like to vote for these just click on the respective links above. If you don't want to vote, I still suggest you go and check out the nominees. There are a lot of great people represented and you and I can learn a lot from them.

Hayley's Book

One of my future students, Hayley wrote a book. Here is a video of her reading the book. Please watch the video and help her make her goal of 2,000 views. She would also like you to leave a comment. Thanks!

This Made My Day

Here is Brayden and Mohamed reading together today during Reading Day. This was a spontaneous thing, they just sat down and started reading a book together. Good things happen when you give students opportunities and time.

WOOT! Blogging

We finally started our blog this year! We are using my favorite student blogging platform KidBlog for our writing activities this year. We would love for you to drop by and read what we are writing. All you have to do is click here:

http://kidblog.org/MrChamberlainsClass/

When you leave a comment, it won't show up immediately until I approve it. So don't worry about it being lost. We would love to hear from you!

Please Help Fund Our Ukulele Club

I just received the news that my project has been accepted by Donors Choose. If it is funded it will allow me to start a small after school ukulele club for some of my students. I am hoping to start the new year with this new learning opportunity. That is where you come in.

I am asking you to support this small endeavor by donating some money. Simply go to this link:

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/we-want-to-play-music/910594/

and give a couple dollars. I also received word that if you use the code:

 INSPIRE

when you donate, the organization will match the donation (how about that!) for up to $100 dollars a donation. Thank you.

Drop Everything and....

Today we spent some of our time doing different activities. We used the Drop Everything and ______ to start the activities. Among these activities were write, draw, tell a story, listen, sing, dance, paint, and write a thank you note.

Fear Factor 2012

Fear Factor was something I started in fifth grade well before I started blogging. Fortunately I did catpure 2008 and 2009 on the blog. Now that I am back in a 6h grade classroom I started up the tradition again.

This year we included all six classrooms in my hallway. We had three fifth grade representatives and three sixth grade representatives.

The first round of the contest was to have students wear diapers all day on the outside of their clothes. Next we ramped up the fear a little with a dance contest. Here is a video of the students learning the dance.

After practicing they had to put their new moves into practice during the 7th and 8th grade dance.

The crowd selected the final three to compete in the food eating contest.

Corbin was the winner, finishing his baby food off ffirst!

Hidden Spirits

Welcome to Hidden Spirits. Can you lead a scientific investigation to debunk a haunted hotel? Hidden Spirits

October Assembly

During our assembly today we had a mock Presidential debate. 

The fourth grade made the monthly presentation.

Matilda

My reading class started the book Matilda by Roald Dahl last week. Matilda is a great book for elementary kids because of fantastic plot (Matilda has super powers!), the great English language (Roald Dahl was from England), and the silly pranks that Matilda plays.

There are a lot of chances to discuss vocabulary, plot, characters, and relationships. There are also a lot of great writing opportunities presented. For example, my students wrote about the best practical joke they have played on someone. 

Visual Sequence of Peter and Wendy

We have finished the book Peter and Wendy and now we are making a visual sequence of events. These will be put up in the hallway. Come and take a look.