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.

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!