This week students will be putting their final touches on their bridges, testing their designs and planning their presentations. Today we went over the criteria students created at the beginning of the project. We made a list of the things that still need to be completed. Each group is at a different point in the process. Ask your child where they in the process. 1. Designing the bridge plan - Students as architects 2. Building the bridge by following the plans - Students as steel workers 3. Researching key questions about their bridge - Students as researchers 4. Planning their oral presentation - Students as planners 5. Presenting their new learning - Students as experts In addition, we are continuing to work on multiplication and division through problem solving. The following questions were given to the students to work through. Each student chose their option. Students were encouraged to challenge their thinking and try something that would "stretch their brains". Which problem did your child try today?
Reminders: - Swimming forms are due back to school. Today an additional form was sent home specifically for the pool staff. Please send that back to school asap. - Book orders are due Monday.
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The past two afternoons students have been working in their small groups, counting money, buying materials and organizing their plan for building of their bridge. Some students have started assembling their bridge. It is interesting to hear the conversations emerging among the groups as they discuss the width of the bridge, the span and how tall the pillars need to be. Questions are posed on which type of popsicle stick would be best or which type of adhesive. Some groups are collaborating effectively where as other groups benefit from support and intervention to complete each part of the bridge. Creating an invoice and then buying the product needed for bridge building. Using the plan to measure and make the bridge to scale. Creating the main deck of the bridge and building on.
Reminders Thursday is an early dismissal day for parent teacher interviews. There is also no school on Friday. Students in room two have been working very hard on preparing their blueprints for their bridges. They have measured the span of the deck, the cables for the suspensions bridges and testing the popsicle sticks for the trusses. They are itching to begin the building process of their brides. Many thanks to the parents who have sent in supplies for the bridges. If you would like any left overs, please let me know and I will send them home with the students. If not, any left over supplies will be available for student use when building and exploring during writers workshop and exploration time.
In addition to creating plans for the bridge, students have had to take on the role of an accountant. They understand that a bridge is not free and the supplies and tools cost money. Therefore, this week students came up with a supply list and a price for each item. For example we have three different types of popsicle sticks. Students discussed, explained and voted on reasonable prices for each item. It was noticed that items of higher demand should be higher price in order for the "bank" to make more money. Items that students would like but are limited in supply should also be priced higher to make the buyer think before just buying. Using their plans, and the price list of the items, students had to create a quote as to how much their bridge may cost. Ask your child how much they think their bridge will cost, and if they have enough money saved through special jobs. Some students did not complete this math task today. They have had close to 3 classes to complete it, therefore it was sent home. Please give your child some time to complete this task as they will need that information for Mondays Math class. In addition . . . Students will be starting recorders on Monday in Music. Students who already own a recorder will need to start bringing it to school on Monday. If they ordered one, they will be receiving them next week. Plans are coming along for each of the designs for the bridge symposium. Students created individual designs, collaborated with their groups to modify and create "stronger" designs and finally put all their minds together to create a "to-scale" drawing of their future bridge. They have been working on them these past two afternoons.
Today each student walked around the classroom for a gallery walk and gave two pieces of feedback to another group members design. Prior to going on a gallery walk we discussed what does it mean to give good feedback? Students shared that good feedback is when you give a suggestion to make the task better. Good feedback also gives others reminders of something that may be missing from the checklist. After giving feedback, students then had to review the feedback given to them and decide whether they wanted to use the feedback or not. For example, maybe feedback was given to make the lines lighter to not show eraser marks, however the group had just darkened the lines to demonstrate that they are finished. As your child what feedback they gave to another student, and what feedback they applied to their own blue print. We will begin building the bridges in the next couple of days. The following items have been listed by students. If you happen to have any of these items laying around, please send them in with your child. Toilet paper roles, Cardboard Popsicle sticks Glue gun sticks Glue guns Pipe cleaner Straws Stir sticks Bamboo skewers This weeks TWAS may look a bit different than past entries. I thought it was important that students take a moment to reflect on the past 4 months of school and create goals in which they can work towards for the next part of the year. As a group we came up with 4 areas where goals could be made - reading, writing, math and personal growth. As a class we brainstormed possible goals and possible strategies to meet those goals. Each student was to choose 3 goals they would like to work on, what strategies they would like to use, who could support them and how that person could provide the support. Please take a moment to read your childs TWAS and see how you may have been identified as the support. Speaking with your child about there goals will also make the goals more meaningful.
Today in math I introduced multiplication. For some students this is a new concept where as others this is quite familiar. Grade 3 students need to know (memorized) up to 5x5 and grade 4 students need to know (have memorized) up to 9x9. We will be using games and word problems to work on these. If you have not read yet, our class has opened a twitter account. My goal is to post once a week about the learning happening in our classroom. Please feel free to retweet and comment. Due to FOIP, I ask that we refrain from identifying students work by use of names. I will not be posting pictures of students faces and I will ask students prior to sharing their work. If you have any questions, please contact me. Students are working hard collaborating with each other on their bridge symposium. Yesterday students individually created a bridge design. We did a gallery walk and discussed what make a good sketch better than another. Students shared general statement such as "using a ruler, taking their time, and adding the little details." Today, students used that feedback to work with their small group to come up with a unified design. Groups were expected to discuss elements of their bridges, combine ideas and individually draw their bridge. It was amazing how similar the drawing became when the students delved into the discussion.
I have created a class twitter account. This is a new social media platform for me, so please be patient as I learn the ins and outs of adding pictures, hashtags and sharing some of the work the students are engaged in during the day. It can be found at MRSLangloisCBE. Welcome back to all the students and their families. This winter break, although was cold for a week there, was relaxing. Today we dove right back into all the work we started prior to winter break. We reviewed our expectations for writers workshop, mathematical problem solving and the bridge symposium project. This afternoon we co-created a list of I can statements to self-reflect on throughout the process to ensure we are meeting our learning goals. Please see the attached file to see what the students came up with. (Feedback and comments are always welcome)
Students in room 8 have two pieces of homework tonight that involve the internet. If parents can please give their child 10 - 20 minutes of time to search up two things on Google. Parent supervision is encouraged.
1. We have fruit fly infestation in our class. Students are encouraged to find a design that may help solve this problem. They will have an opportunity to share their design and test it. This is optional. 2. Students are beginning their major project on a specific bridge. They will begin by creating a scientific diagram of their bridge tomorrow. Students are encouraged to spend 10 minutes looking at images of their type of bridge to generate ideas for their own design. The pictures do not need to be printed, but some students may want to. |