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.

Poetry: Alliteration

Today we talked about Alliteration (having many words in a sentence or in a row that start with the same letter). I asked the students to write one sentence for each letter of the alphabet. They are to have at least three words with the same letter in each sentence and the words must make up more than half of the sentence (so if there are 9 words, 5 of them must start with the same letter). The sentences do not have to be serious, but they should make at least a little bit of sense.

Poetry: Haiku Good Copies

Today we did a lot of work on our Haiku poems. Some students were able to get their good copies of their Haiku poems finished while others are still working on them. We will likely get some time to work on them tomorrow in class so that everyone can be caught up.

For those students who have not yet finished their rough copies, they need to be done tomorrow. If any parents get a chance to look at them that would be helpful. One thing that I am being particular about is that students not use "It is" and similar words in their poem. They should be using as many descriptive words as possible. They do not need to write sentences.

I gave the examples of lines in class today:

Cold and Damp in here

and

It is Cold and Damp


I would prefer the first sentence as it sounds less choppy than the first. I hope that explains things for you.

Science: Review of Forces

Today we did a review of the work we have done with forces. I mentioned to the class that there will be a quiz next week (likely on Wednesday).

I gave the students a list of words and concepts they need to know for this quiz. If students do not know they are free to ask me, but not on the day of the quiz:

• force
• weight
• mass
• friction
• ramp
• load
• balanced forces
• unbalanced forces
• equilibrium
• spring scale