Earthquakes Hit the Lily Pad

As we are beginning our study of Earth Materials, students learned about the layers of the earth and about earthquakes.  After learning a bit about earthquakes, student groups were given the task to create earthquake proof structures.  Students were informed that buildings which survived earthquakes had  strong bases, were flexible, and had strong support beams.  The students had fun designing, building and testing their buildings prior to the true test....earthquake Wimmler!  Below are some of the snap shots of our exploration. 

Students have been working on writing persuasive pieces which will be published on our kidblog site.  We began this unit by writing a two opposing arguments: For Zoos and Against Zoos.  Then students were given the task to research, plan and write their own persuasive piece.  The issues selected ranged from should we have PE everyday to homelessness to pet ownership to child labor (just to name a few.)

Once the students wrote their first drafts, they then typed them onto our kidblog site.  This allows other students in the classroom to read the post and then comment on them.

During our math workshop this week, students were measuring 3 different types of jumps: a frog jump, a rabbit jump and a kid jump.

They were able to choose any non-standard unit of measure they wanted.

We then compared results looking for the overall longest jump and overall shortest jump in the Lily Pad.  Through discussions and analyzing students realized that a comparison was impossible due to the fact that each student's unit of measure was different.  Students then went back and remeasured their jumps using a common unit of measure.

I hope to see many of you on Tuesday at the Arts night performance.  The students' gallery of work will be available to view between 5:15 and 5:45.  Students are then to report to the multipurpose room with a book.  Third graders will be the first to perform (at 6:00 in the cafeteria) followed by the 4th and 5th grade students.  If you cannot make the evening time you are welcome to join us for the dress rehearsal at 1:30 in the cafeteria.