Have a Great Weekend!

There is no homework for the weekend. We finished up our math lesson today and will start a new one on Monday. Students also made good copies of their poems and their stories.

In the afternoon we went swimming and watched some teachers get pies in the face. Check back here this weekend as I may post some pictures of the event!

Socials: Deserted Island Game

We played something of a game today in Socials. The students were pretending they were stranded on a desert island and they could only eat berries or nuts (fish could be substituted for nuts). They had to choose how much of each they ate each week in order to survive the longest they could. Each week they got more or each.

There were a few questions about this game that students answered in class.

Math: Linear Dimensions

We talked some more about Linear Dimensions today and the students got a chance to do some measuring.

Students have Questions #1-6 plus reflect to do for homework on pages 311 and 312 from the textbook.

Creative Writing: Short Stories

Today I showed the students several pictures of animals. They were to choose at least one of the pictures as a starting point for a story. They could tell me what happened before the picture and what happened after.

I asked that the stories not be too short or too long (one page to about 3/4 pages would be best). I wanted them to finish a rough copy by tomorrow and have someone (a peer, a parent, etc.) to read over their rough copy and offer suggestions.

We will make good copies tomorrow.

Poetry: Quatrain Poem Rough Copies

Today we started on rough copies of two Quatrain poems. The students were to make one poem where all lines rhyme and one where the 2nd and 4th rhyme. They also were asked to make one serious poem and one funny poem.

If they did not finish the rough copies in class they were to complete them for homework. I asked that they all have someone check their poem and give them any tips for improvement.

One thing that is something to look for is a rhythm. The lines should all be about the same length and take the same amount of time to read. We talked about this in class.

Science: Levers

Today I introduced the first simple machine we will be talking about, Levers. I gave students a diagram of levers to copy and we started an experiment to look at the different amount of force needed when we move where the fulcrum is.

There was no homework for this section.

Poetry: Rhymes

Today we talked about rhymes. I showed the students the notation we use for rhyming (using letters to mark each line that rhymes).

For homework I gave them the task of finding all the words they could think of that rhyme with: Glad, Blink, Hive, Round, Call, Clock.

If students wanted a challenge, I gave them six more words to look for rhymes for: Orange, Beige, Silver, Wasp, Wolf, Month.

Science: Work and Machines

Today we talked about the scientific definition of work: using a force to move an object. We also talked about the definition of a machine: something that makes work easier.

I had the students try three tasks: push against a wall, lift a textbook, and pull their chair across the floor. The students were to draw a picture, put one arrow in the direction they applied the force, put another arrow in the direction the object moved, and write whether or not worked occured. This is homework if not finished.

Poetry: Quatrain Poems

Today we spent quite a bit of time looking at Quatrain poems and what makes a Quatrain poem a quatrain. We looked at several examples and talked about each.

As a class we made a poem at the end of the lesson:

The purple turtle's name is Mertle

And Mertle ate a popcorn kernel

At the movie “Super Yertle”

That was the end of the turtle Mertle

There is no homework tonight for Poetry. There is however, Math homework.