The Hobbit (in under 4 minutes)

 Dylan Longmoore made this Common Craft style video for my students. I am going to use it to introduce the idea as another way for them to tell their Peter Pan story.

  Spoiler Alert: If you haven't read the book, you may want to stop the video early. It encompasses the whole book, not just the first movie.

Above and Beyond

What does this mean for our lunch project?

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano

Fun activity in science lab, we did spend time talking about the differences between a chemical reaction and the pressure created through convection which actually causes the volcanic eruptions.

Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies: I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)

Lyrics

Still think science isn't important? Le's do work, class.

Peter's New Story, Rocks and Minerals, More Math Review,

Reading:
Sequence of events for your own retelling of Peter Pan.

Science:
Finish reading lesson 1 and move into lesson 2.

Math:
Working on surveys and more math review.

Sequencing Some More, Re-Telling Peter Pan, Partnering Up, Digging Down

Reading:
Finish sequencing Peter Pan (2003), then we will begin discussing how we can rewrite our own version of Peter Pan.

Social Studies:
We will partner up and begin to work on our posters. I can't wait to see what you compare and contrast on them!

Math:
We will continue to review, this time it will be variables and expressions. Three groups will be giving the lunch surveys tomorrow as well.

Science:
Chapter 9 Lesson 1 We will be learning about the rock cycle and rock formation. 

Sequencing Peter Pan (2003), Comparing Civilizations, Setting Up a Survey, and Reviewing Plate Tectonics

We are in for a busy week!

Reading:
We will sequence Peter Pan (2003) today. Did we notice any differences between this and Peter and Wendy?

Social Studies:
We will be creating a poster comparing and contrasting two different civilizations. Get ready to work with a partner, today you will go back and find some interesting facts about the civilization of your choice.

Math:
Double duty day! We will be creating a survey for students to respond to. Finally we get to find out what the most popular meal is at school! We will also be reviewing some past learning this week. Today we will be looking at rounding and estimating.

Science:
We will be reviewing chapter 8 on Plate Tectonics. 

Survey Writing, Continental Shifting, Event Sequencing and Lab Visiting

Reading:
We will sequence the events that took place in the movie Peter Pan (2003). I think we had a great discussion yesterday about the difference between the Peter Pan from the book Peter and Wendy and the Peter from this movie. I would love to have a discussion with the writer and director to see why they chose that path.

Math:
Today we will write our survey and instructions for administering the survey. It would be great if you remind me to ask teachers if we can come into their rooms to give the survey too ;)

Science:
I realize you need a bit more time to finish yesterday's assignment, but you better get with it. We will be reading lesson three today, then you will have the rest of the time to finish your work.

Science Lab:
I have no idea what you will be doing in the lab, but I did leave a reminder up above of what we did a month ago :)

Finishing Peter Pan (2003), More Continental Drift and Lunch Surveys

Reading:
We will finish watching Peter Pan (2003). Have we discovered anything different about this Peter Pan? We will start making a sequence of events for this version.

Science:
We will be reading today about continental drift. We saw a lot of great simulations yesterday about plate tectonics.

Math:
We will discuss the measurements of central tendency you worked on yesterday. Where do we need to go next? I am thinking we need to create some surveys to give to students. Which students should we survey? How many should we survey? 

Peter Pan (2003), The Lunch Project Day 4, Social Studies Review Day 2 and more Plate Tectonics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plates_tect2_en.svg

Reading:
We will continue to watch Peter Pan (2003) There have been a lot of interesting changes in this movie when compared to the book.

Social Studies:
Continue our review of Asia.

Science:
We will be looking at continental drift and doing a quick map project.

Math:
Today we will discuss any patterns or trends. We will also do some measurements of central tendency on the datum we collected. 

Peter Pan, Number Crunching for the Lunch Project, Reviewing Asia, and Layers of the Earth

Reading: 
We will continue watching Peter Pan (2003). We noticed a lot of changes in the storyline at the beginning of the movie. Will we continue to see changes being made or will the story more closely follow the book?

Social Studies:
We will review Asia. This is your opportunity to show what you have learned.

Math:
Today we will look at the percentages of the lunch choices for each day. Will we find anything significant in the datum? Will we be able to start drawing some tentative conclusions about the lunch program as it stands now?

Science:
We are beginning as study on the Plate Tectonic Theory. 

Peter Pan, Writing Reflections, Reviewing China, and the Lunch Project

Reading:
We will be starting the movie Peter Pan (2003). How closely will this movie follow the storyline from Peter and Wendy? Will Peter Pan's character change through the storie?

Writing:
I think we need to discuss reflective writing again. There is a difference between reporting what you did and reflecting on what you learned.

Math:
Today we will start looking at the numbers. What lunches get the most love from students, what lunches get the least?

Social Studies:
Review of China

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!