Electricity!

Hello again!  We had another awesome, busy week here in Room 11!  In ELA this week we continued to read Frindle together as a class.  The kiddos are really enjoying this entertaining book! We have been working on making predictions and asking and answering questions while reading to help with comprehension.  We also started working on our final big writing piece of the year, our personal narratives.  We started by reading examples of personal narratives and identifying some of the elements.  Then, students brainstormed ideas and started to plan their pieces.  We are excited to get writing next week!

In Social Studies this week we read a narrative nonfiction piece about a 15 year old boy who fought in the Battle of Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War.

In Science this week students talked about patterns of volcanoes in the world and identified the Ring of Fire on a world map.  Then, students did an experiment to determine the difference between the lava in an explosive vs a non-explosive volcano. We also continued to explore electrical circuits.  Students created their own series and parallel circuits and used this knowledge to complete a challenge where they had to create a circuit with three bulbs that had one bulb brighter than the other two.

I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!!

A few reminders:

• No School Monday
• Field Day is on Wednesday, May 31st.  It will begin on the back field at 9:15.  I will send home our team shirts on Tuesday for students to wear on Wednesday.  Students should wear sneakers and sunscreen and bring a water bottle.

Here are some photos of us creating circuits!

 

Yes...that is an opossum.

 Hello again!  We had another very busy week here in Room 11!  In ELA this week we started reading Frindle by Andrew Clements together as a class.  In the first few chapters we learned about the two main characters, Nick and Mrs. Granger.  Students worked to identify character traits that describe these characters and backed up those traits with details from the book.  Students also worked on making predictions based on what they know about the characters.

In Social Studies this week we continued our unit on the American Revolution.  We focused on the differing opinions of the Patriots and the Loyalists.  Students read about the reasons that each group believed what they did, and then read quotes and identified whether a Patriot or a Loyalist would have said them. We also learned about the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Shot Heard Round the World, as well as the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga.

In Science this week students started their unit on the changing Earth.  They worked on an activity where they labeled the locations of volcanoes on a world map and looked for patterns.  We also learned about circuits this week.   We explored series and parallel circuits.

We had two other awesome activities this week.  We got to see the school play on Wednesday, and we had a visit from the Utica Zoo!  They brought and taught us about a Madagascar hissing cockroach, a rat snake, a bearded dragon and an opossum.  There are some photos of this below.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Please reach out with any questions.

A few reminders:

• Permission slips and payment for the Pool Party are due Thursday, June 1st.
• Friday, May 26th is Red, White and Blue day and Popcorn Day.
• No School Monday, May 29th
• Field Day is Wednesday, May 31st

Here are some photos from our Utica Zoo presentation:

Walkabout!

Hello again!  It was so nice to see so many of you at Walkabout last night!  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the fabulous work these kiddos have been doing this year!  This week in ELA, students switched Monster Essays with a partner and used the description to draw their partner's creature.  We had so much fun comparing the original monsters to the drawings.  Students also revised and edited their stories about Raul the escaping peacock.  I LOVED reading these stories and I am so excited to do some more creative, narrative writing with these kiddos.

In Social Studies this week we continued learning about the events that led up to the start of the Revolutionary War.  Students learned about the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts and the meeting of the First Continental Congress.  Students completed their timelines including these events.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the beautiful weather!

 Hello again!  We had another great week here in Room 11!  In ELA this week we did LOTS of writing!  We finished up our persuasive essays writing our introduction and concluding paragraphs.  We also discussed how to use opposing opinions to strengthen our persuasive pieces.  Students came up with an argument against their topic and proved it wrong in their essays, as well.  After that, we started working on our Monster Match project.  Students drew a picture of a monster, then worked on descriptive writing by writing an essay that described exactly what their monster looked like.  Next week, they will trade with a partner who will try to recreate the monster they described.  We also read an article from the New York Times last week about a peacock named Raul who escaped from the Bronx Zoo.  Students then wrote a narrative piece from the perspective of Raul about his wild night out of the zoo!  I love watching this creative group of writers work!!

In Social Studies this week we started to learn about the events that lead up to and caused the American Revolution to begin.  We learned about the Sugar Act, the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act and the Boston Massacre.  We also did an activity to help students understand how the colonists felt about being taxed by Parliament.  Students were given a pack of smarties, but had to pay various taxes to King Kritz before they could eat them!  This really helped them to understand how the colonists were feeling during this time.

We ended the week with Children's Garden!  There are some pictures below of our gardeners hard at work!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Please reach out with any questions!

A few reminders:

• Thursday, May 11th is our Walkabout!  I am looking forward to seeing everyone and having you come see some of our hard work!
• Friday, May 12th is a half day for students.  They will be dismissed at noon.