Welcome Back!! Week of January 5th

Welcome back to school!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful, restful holiday break with friends and family :) I know that I enjoyed lots of good food and time with family, but I am excited to be back with my 19 favorite girls!

Take a look at what is happening this week in Room 402....

Ride the Weekly Wave:

Math-We will review our unit on fractions this week as we compare fractions and begin to learn about mixed numbers, improper fractions, and how to add and subtract mixed numbers!

Reading-We will be starting our new unit on POETRY through station activities such as “Blackout” poetry, word work, and buddy reading. We will begin our very own poetry collections this week from in class poetry reading and analysis.

ELA/Writing-In Writer’s Workshop, we will be finishing our Action Plan note cards:

#1-Problem (using our research) #2-Our Plan for ACTION!! #3 Reflection on Action Plans.

Social Studies-We will be reviewing and learning about the key beginning battles of the Revolution as we work on a timeline project!

Science-IT’S ELECTRIC!! We will continue our unit on Electricity through exploring parallel v. series circuits. We will also be wondering and learning about conductors and insulators of electricity

Set Sail for…Upcoming Tests/Projects:

·       Thursday-Math Test on Comparing Fractions (*Study comparing fractions notes in math notebook)

·       ACTION PLAN DOCUMENTATION IS
DUE ON FRIDAY!!!!

·       Turn in Christmas Reading Challenge logs!!

Homework for the Week:

(please refer to your child's agenda daily for more details-this is only an OUTLINE of what to expect):

·       Read 2 steps (30 minutes) for 100 BC and sign Reading Log *every* night

·       Return Signed Papers by Tuesday *sent home Monday*

·       Fractions Practice Sheets

Parallel v Series Circuit HW Sheet

News from the Beach:

Upcoming Events:  

·       January 5^th-Turn in Christmas Reading Logs

·       January 20^th-Report Cards Sent Home

**REMINDER-Your child’s Action Plan final documentation will be due THIS FRIDAY January 9^th! Check the rubric, and let me know if you have any questions! We will be doing the write up in class.

**Be on the lookout for a letter sent home on Monday about our classroom project on Donorschoose.org about “Math Games for Mighty Girls” 

Super Surfer of the Week

Zion is our star student this week for showing the character traits of RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, and LEADERSHIP in the classroom!! She will be the first “tweeter” of the week, which is a new responsibility for star students! You can follow our class on twitter.com @mrsburns19girls

100 Book Challenge Goals

  Good: 198 steps

  Better: 360 steps

Week of December 15th

'Twas the week before Christmas Break in Room 402...

Ride the Weekly Wave:

Math-We will continue our unit on fractions this week as we look at creating equivalent fractions and making common denominators to compare fractions!

Reading-We will be doing some fun Christmas-themed activities this week such as comparing different versions of “Twas the Night before Christmas,” decoding Christmas carol synonyms, reading and writing a recipe for fudge…YUM, and more!

ELA/Writing-In Writer’s Workshop, we will be looking at a mentor Action Plan and working on our Action Plan note cards:

#1-Problem (using our research) #2-Our Plan for ACTION!!

Social Studies-We will be reviewing the Declaration of Independence for our test on Friday through some interactive activities/songs! We will begin learning about the battles of the Revolution!

Science-IT’S ELECTRIC!! We will begin our new unit on Electricity through exploring circuits hands-on and completing a Christmas-themed STEM activity using Christmas lights!

News from the Beach:

Upcoming Events:  

·       Tuesday, December 16^th-PTA/4^th Grade Christmas Program @ 6:30

·       Dec. 18^th-Chickfila Spirit Night

·       Dec 19^th- ½ Day for students (*Class Christmas Party 9:15-10:30*). Look for a letter sent home to order Zaxby’s!!

·       Dec. 19^th-Jan. 4^th CHRISTMAS BREAK

**REMINDER-Your child’s Action Plan Pledge with her idea should be signed! She should start working on carrying out her plan, and the final documentation will be due on January 9^th! Check the rubric, and let me know if you have any questions! We will be doing the write up in class.

Set Sail for…Upcoming Tests/Projects:

·       Friday-Test on the Declaration of Independence (*Study DOI notes in Social Studies notebook)

Homework for the Week:

(please refer to your child's agenda daily for more details-this is only an OUTLINE of what to expect):

·       Read 2 steps (30 minutes) for 100 BC and sign Reading Log *every* night

·       Return Signed Papers by Tuesday *sent home Monday*

·       Fractions Practice Sheets

**CHRISTMAS READING CHALLENGE**

Super Surfer of the Week

Kaleigh is our star student this week for NEVER GIVING UP and the character traits of RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, and CREATIVITY in the classroom!!

100 Book Challenge Goals

  Good: 187 steps

  Better: 340 steps

Socratic Seminar-WAR OF THE WOODS

Our class participated in a Socratic Seminar to debate the issue of deforestation in the Pacific Northwest. The girls have been researching the issue and gathering evidence for both sides (loggers vs. environmentalists) throughout our Tread Lightly PBL. By reading our mentor text, War of the Woods: The Pacific Northwest Logging Argument, the girls learned a lot about both sides of the argument. They took detailed notes during our reading to use as evidence. 

Check out some pictures and a video about our SOCRATIC SEMINAR

We also researched about the title "Socratic Seminar" by learning background and vocabulary about the famous Greek philosopher Socrates, who liked to answer questions with deeper, thought-provoking questions. 

We practiced the Socratic Seminar format in the debate "Should we have school uniforms?" The girls did a great job gathering evidence for BOTH sides of the argument. 

We even watched a DO's and DON'T's video made by the teachers!! Watch our videos by clicking the links below: 

DON’T video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEVXvvo72Jk&list=UUBYqXo_KXG4I2BAueNsgxMA

 

DO video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z4nzezXpvM&list=UUBYqXo_KXG4I2BAueNsgxMA&index=1

FORMAT of our Socratic Seminar

5 minutes- Inner Circle discusses

5 minutes- Coaching from the Outer Circle

5 minutes- The Inner Circle discusses again

SWITCH sides and repeat

Here are some of the points/counterpoints for both sides of the logging debate!

I'm so so proud of these hard-working girls!!!

I WONDER...How does light bend??

We went to the WONDER ROOM to explore our wonder of how does light bend??

To discover this wonder, we explored four different stations all about refraction (the bending of light)

1. Turning Arrow Experiment (An arrow looks like it turns behind water)

2. Bending Pencil Experiment (A pencil looks like it's bent in water)

3. Magnify It! Experiment (Different clear materials MAGNIFY word and pictures on a newspaper)

4. Rising Penny Experiment (A penny appears to rise in a cup of water as water is poured in)

Each of these experiments can be explained because light bends (refracts) when it hits certain objects (especially water) and plays "tricks" on your eyes!

Mighty Girl Engineers to the RESCUE!!

To go along with our PBL and Science standards, we did an Oil Spill S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Challenge to help clean up the ocean and wildlife that were affected by the oil spill. 

First, we researched the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill through articles and videos and projects and engineering jobs who worked to clean up the oil spill and recorded our learning. 

Next, The girls were given a bucket of clean water and a feather to make observations before and after the "oil spill!" They were given a limited number of supplies such as sponges, straws, Dawn soap, coffee filters, cups, etc. and put in to collaborative engineering teams to CLEAN UP!

Here was their mission letter...

Dear Mighty Girl Engineers of Room 402, 

Now that you have learned about the causes and effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (PROBLEM) and what chemical and environmental engineers are doing (SOLUTION), you have a special mission...

1. Plan/brainstorm with your group about what would be be the best materials to clean the feather and the water??

2. Make it happen!! Start cleaning your feather and water from the oil using your plan and materials.

3. Reflect-Answer the discussion questions on the guided reading table in our classroom. 

In our discussion after the activity, the girls shared the challenges and what they learned. Every group kept saying the importance of collaboration-working together and sharing each other's ideas and that they could NOT have solved this problem on their own. These girls make me SUCH a proud teacher!!! :) 


Way to be problem-solving, risk-taking, collaborative my MIGHTY GIRL ENGINEERS!!