This week the students learned about the concept of a time capsule. We talked about things that change and don't change over time.The students each made a small book that contained a photo and recorded their height, weight, and outlines of their hands and feet. They also wrote letters to their "future" selves writing about what we've done so far this year and made some predictions about what we might do. All of the envelopes will be sealed away in a box and not opened again until June 27th 2013!
The students watched an old cartoon with a time capsule theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRnX4quv5W4
In math, the children learned about the concept of least and greatest numbers, the symbols < (less than) and > (greater than) and how to use place value to compare numbers. The class also played a game using cards to create the greatest or smallest four digit number using the same digits.The students also learned how to round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100. Rounding numbers is important for the skill of estimation. On Friday, the class wrote the first math test of the year to finish the unit.
The class had a chance to go to the gym to watch the deaf actor/mime performer, Chris Welsh.
In science, the students continued to learn about the stability of structures. One factor is the nature of the building materials (for example, wood cubes make better structures than glass marbles). The children had a chance to experiment with ways to make paper stronger. Immediately, the students figured out that folding makes the paper more stable. But then, they discovered that rolling and crumpling also are good ways to add stability to paper structures.
The class visited the computer lab for the first time this week. The students reviewed the class blog postings and explored a fun education site: http://www.funbrain.com/
The students learned how to use letter shapes to create simple line drawings. For example, how to use a lower case "h" to learn how to draw a helicopter. (This lesson was also a way to practice following step-by-step written instructions.)
As an extension to our guided reading group activity (where the students read the story, "I Want A Dog"), the class watched an animated version of the story and looked at what was the same and what was different about how the story was told as a book compared to as it was told as a short movie. Here is the link to the movie version:
http://www.nfb.ca/film/i_want_a_dog/
Books Read Aloud This Week:
I Want A Dog by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
Julian by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
Ganesha's Sweet Tooth by Sanjay Patel
Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beatty
Structures of the World by Room 5
The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown
Learning ASL with Room 5 - episode 3
This week the students learned to spell their names and their "sign names"..
No comments:
Post a Comment