Happy New Year!!! I am pleased to say I am now back from my surgery and working full-time!! It is so good to be working with your children again. Many things are happening in the cluster classrooms, and I would like to give you a brief summary of what we have been up to.
2nd Grade- Mrs. Inge- We have been working with Science Court, which is a software program using technology involving students in small interactive groups. We are learning all about the water cycle which is part of the weather unit in 2nd grade. The students begin by watching a humorous, yet informative courtroom trial. At various breaks in the trial, Jen (the courtroom correspondent) leads the students through a review of the facts, a hands-on activity, and a prediction about what will happen next. At the end of the trial, the students predict how the jury will vote.
3rd Grade-Mrs. Raftery- Mrs. Raftery’s class was presented with a science problem which needed to be solved. The class received a letter from Ranger Joe, asking the class if they could care for a litter of red wolf pups since their mother deserted them. This problem created the need for research to investigate the red wolf life cycles, habitats, characteristics, and behavior . The first thing we did was discuss what we knew about the red wolf then we created questions regarding what we needed to know about the red wolf. After pairing up with a partner, each pair of students were given one of these questions. By using books, the internet, and encyclopedias, we were able to find answers to the questions. Each group got to share their findings! We then decided it was necessary to write a persuasive letter to Mr. Badali asking him for permission to raise the pups in our courtyard at school. We are currently waiting for his response. I was able to borrow the Red Wolf trunk from the gifted department and share the contents with the class. The class got to see the red wolf skin (the entire body!), the full skin of a coyote, small pieces of other animal skins, the skulls of different animals, including a red wolf, and the droppings of different animals. Needless to say, the children really learned a lot and enjoyed seeing all the skins, etc.
4th Grade- Mrs. Wylie- Mrs. Wylie’s class was given the job to build a snowman to sell. They could spend only $25.00 and the snowman could weigh no more than 50lbs. Their math had to be accurate. The children were given a list of the supplies and their cost. They needed to come as close to the amounts as possible. On white paper, they had to draw and color the snowman showing all the materials they selected. On an index card they had to write a brief sales pitch including the snowman’s name and at least three reasons why the people of
5th Grade- Mrs. Arnold- We have been hard at work learning how to do algebra using Hands-On Equations. This program, which could be used from the 3rd grade to college, provides students with a strong foundation for algebraic studies. There are three levels that we will cover this year. In level II the students use blue pawns, white pawns, and red number cubes to answer algebraic questions such as:
· 2x+ (-x) + 3=2(-x) + 15
· 2x-3 (-x)=20+x
In level II the children gain familiarity with positive and negative numbers.
5th Grade- Ms. Stratton- In Ms. Stratton’s class one of the reading groups has just started a historical fiction book called My Brother Sam is Dead. This is about the Meekins family in