Fifth Grade
Our students continued to wow us with their brainstorming ideas. This week they had to think of things that connect just as bridges connect land. Some of the flexible thinking included hands, ideas, words, paper clips, and the food chain.
Using a Discover Kids Bridges Magazine, the children went on a scavenger hunt to begin learning facts about bridges. Everyone should now know the names of the three main types of bridges. Check out your child's knowledge.
Finally, we explored just how much weight a pasta (angel hair) bridge could hold. Working in groups, students were given pieces of pasta, clay, wooden supports, and a paper cup that had to stand up in the middle of the bridge. Lots of thought and discussion went into how to construct the strongest bridge. Designs were interesting and it was fun to listen to the cooperative work being done. Then each group placed marbles in the cup to how much weight their completed bridge could hold. How many marbles do you think the bridges could hold? Well, believe it or not we had bridges that held over 100 marbles. Everyone had fun building, but it was nerve racking (they found out) to watch the weight be placed on their creation.
Homework: Ultimate Connection Vocabulary
Fourth grade did not meet due to the Labor Day holiday.
Second and Third Grade
In our venture to be “River kids,” we are learning all about water. We started our day with an “All Wet” word ladder and a reading passage that told us all about water.
Next, we pretended to be water molecules and we moved through the water cycle. Each student rolled a dice to move from one station to another. For example, a student might be in the ocean and then move to a cloud. At each station students collected a bead to represent their journey. Once we returned to our seats, we discussed the processes that would allow us to move. Then, we wrote a creative story about our incredible journey from the perspective of a water molecule.
Also, we researched the water cycle using several fun and informative websites. Students were asked to draw a representation of the water cycle and then define and label the parts.
Homework: Finish “Water in Our Lives” Project. The project is due next Wednesday and Thursday (9/14-15). Be prepared to share your work.
