Today, we made a filament like the wire in a light bulb. Would it do anything when attached to an electrical circuit? Would it light up? Would it get hot? This discovery is a quick bit of awesome, and our next exploration will have a bit of mystery.
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Here are some extra visuals for Tuesday's boat building activity. Check out those videos at the bottom.
Today was a day to make connections. After our unit about Motion and Design, today we had the opportunity to connect it with our history unit about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Last week, we saw photos of a variety of boats and ships, so today students used what they learned to design their own crafts. The challenge was to design a floating vessel to hold as many little green dinosaurs as possible. In our challenge, each student sketched his/her idea. When it was time to make a prototype, groups had to choose which design elements to use. Then a thin sheet of aluminum was provided for the actual construction of the teams' ships. After naming the ships, floating them in an aquarium, and placing dinosaurs into them (two at a time), one group stood above the others, holding 188 dinosaurs before succumbing to the sea. Aptly named, the Champion won the challenge. Champion was a flat-bottomed boat with high sides that held more of our precious cargo. Another group, with a boat named Boaty, was the only team to accurately estimate the number of dinosaurs its vessel would support. Congratulations to all our ship builders on a job well done! A special note of appreciation is due to ELLA's mom for putting together a dignified party, yesterday. Students left happy, and the teacher was pleased. Sometimes the little things can make a teacher proud. One of the biggest ongoing lessons I want my students to learn is about how to approach people, how to have a conversation with people, and how to treat people with respect. Last week, a guest speaker from the George Washington Carver Birthplace, in nearby Diamond, Missouri, visited our classroom for a short, 20-minute presentation. Basically, she whetted our interests for George Washington Carver. I must admit, I paid more attention to my students than to the speaker. They were tracking! That is to say, they were actively listening to the speaker, and when the speaker called on a student to ask or answer a question, my students turned to look at the person. In unison. What they were doing is called tracking, keeping their eyes on each speaker in turn. And it was impressive. Afterward, a few of the students stood, without prompting, and approached our guest. They firmly shook her hand and thanked her for her visit. More than that, they were able to express their appreciation with more than a simple thank you: "Thank you for visiting...," "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us...," "We appreciate the great information you shared...," etc. While I like they were learning to appreciate George Washington Carver, I was proud to see that our efforts through the year are "sticking". I want adults who visit our classroom to leave realizing our group is different from the average fourth grade class. Afterward, a few of the students stood, without prompting, and approached our guest. They firmly shook her hand and thanked her for her visit. More than that, they were able to express their appreciation with more than a simple thank you: "Thank you for visiting...," "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us...," "We appreciate the great information you shared...," etc. While I like they were learning to appreciate George Washington Carver, I was proud to see that our efforts through the year are "sticking". I want adults who visit our classroom to leave realizing our group is different from the average fourth grade class. In Joplin, one thing that has increased over the last few years is the support our schools are receiving from the community. Local restaurants have really stepped up to help by donating portions of their profits on particular nights. I have no doubt that they receive free advertising and higher profits on school nights, but at the same time their donations help to lighten the atmosphere in our school. One of our most generous participants is Joplin's Qdoba restaurant. In their first year as our partner, the good people at Qdoba have sponsored a burrito eating contest for teachers during a school assembly, they have provided soft tacos as a class reward, and they have honored teachers. Last Thursday, as the culminating part of our January Reward Celebration for positive behaviors, Qdoba provided soft tacos for our entire school. Every child who had not received an office referral enjoyed this special treat. Finally, Cecil Floyd received a portion of Thursday evening's profits at the restaurant. On that night, teachers competed in unique contests, students enjoyed a balloon artist, and a good time was had for all.
Give a bunch of kids some K'NEX building pieces (tools, not toys!), a little guidance, and some safety goggles (because they make us look so cool!), and you have our Motion and Design unit, one in which students have designed vehicles to meet specific challenges and learn specific principles. We've been working way behind schedule in this science unit, but we are almost finished. Our next unit is Electric Circuits. Awaiting the Awards Assembly Saturday was the first Math League competition for Cecil Floyd's 2013 team. Students boarded the yellow Joplin Eagles school bus, early Saturday morning for the trek to Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri. After only a handful of coaching sessions, students faced this experience with gusto and dignity. Once on campus, students were escorted to a nearby little-theater classroom, where they answered questions on two tests, the first in Math Concepts and the second in Problem Solving. While Mr. Culbertson and I were proud of BRENDEN who received Honorable Mention for his performance on the Concepts test, we were especially impressed with the attitudes and behavior or all of Joplin's competitors. Parental Support Appreciated Joining us on our journey were students from Stapleton Elementary School and South Middle School. We rode together, waited and tested together, ate breakfast and lunch with each other, and cheered for each other when the awards were issued. It makes me proud to see our students know how to represent our school district with decorum and sportsmanship. I watched our students as they cleaned up after themselves, treated one another with respect, and accepted each other as peers (and I can't say the same for some other schools). Among some 375 competitors, our mathletes put forth a noble effort (All scored reasonably on the tests.) and made the day pleasant. Our appreciation is extended to the parents who supported their children by attending the competition with them. Your involvement does not go unnoticed! Now we look forward to our regional contest in the spring. Weekly tutoring continues, this Monday and Tuesday. In addition to the fourth graders, we also took a fifth grade team to this contest. They competed in Concepts and Problem Solving, as well as a team round. Also (Proud Dad Alert!), if you will indulge me for a moment, my own daughter, independently representing herself, brought home an eighth place ribbon in Concepts and a third place trophy for Problem Solving in the third grade division.
Work + Play = Plork
Here's a bonus video from last Thursday's surgery. Playing doctor in school? That's what happened in our class on Thursday. Students entered the classroom to find it had been converted into an operative room. After doing some research about Thomas Dooley (on his birthday) students donned their scrubs, gloves, and masks, before approaching the challenge of organ transplant, cutting words (organs) to stitch (glue) into waiting patients. Thursday morning should prove to be very memorable.
Sometimes lessons get linked in all new ways. Abraham Lincoln visited our classroom, last week, in the form of a collection of pennies... but that was not what the lesson was about. Really, we just used the 16th president to introduce our Math lesson/activity about mean, median, mode, and range. 1. Begin with a pile of pennies. How many does your group have? 2. Line up the pennies in the order of their dates, from earliest to the most recent. If more than one are dated the same, stack them. Determine the mode by finding the highest stack of pennies (Mode, for those of you who forgot - or never knew - means which number in the list appears the most often. Mode means most.). 3. Find the range by subtracting the earliest date from the latest (Range is the difference between the highest and lowest numbers in the list.). 4. Next, unstack the like-dated pennies and add them to the line. Stretch the line out to accommodate them. Now figure out which penny is in the very center (We began with 51 for each group). The center penny displays the median date. 5. Pick up a calculator and pay close attention to the buttons you push to find the mean. Add every date on every penny to find the sum, and divide by the number of pennies in your line. Mr. Culbertson leads a Math discussion Mr. Culbertson and I began, last week, combining our classes and team teaching in the strictest sense of the term. When we team teach, we do not use a "tag team" approach so one teacher, and then the other, can take a break. No, our team approach to teaching involves many conversations about Math, behaviors, and choices. While so many Math lessons have become stagnant and boring, during these sessions, students are really expected to be the best and try the hardest. In this way, we are able to introduce and teach a number of deeper concepts. We describe it to them in this manner: We're taking you into deeper water. It's time to get our of the kiddie pool and take off the floaties. It's time that you learn how to swim! Naturally, there are challenges to teaching 40 students in one classroom, but that challenge is usually met with technology, humor, conversations, and constant checking to be sure everyone is on his/her toes. We have been able to cover several Math concepts in a very short time using questions we have downloaded from the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) website. Says their site, "...NAEP...is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas." There are 208 Math problems that are typically similar to the types of questions asked on state tests across the nation. It goes without saying that we are preparing students to take the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test at the end of the school year. The fourth grade Math portion of the MAP test has been deemed the hardest state fourth grade Math test in the nation. Yes, we do want our students to do well on the test, but it is virtually impossible to "teach to the test". The MAP test is designed to drive the curriculum in our state, and it progresses each year to reflect this. The test is also designed to confirm that we are teaching the skills and information needed by the fourth grade. Assessment is a necessary part of what we do in Missouri public schools. That being said, we will say goodbye to the current MAP test in the next couple of years, as the national standards (Common Core) are coming into effect (to a school near you!). These rigorous standards are going to really push students in areas typically not expected at our level of instruction. We are already aiming in these directions in our classroom, so the jump should not be a great one. Again, however, some students are not equipped with the fact fluency they need to attack some of the tasks at hand. They simply must know their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts before arriving in the fourth grade. If not, the entire year can be spent catching them up, all along while pushing harder and harder to get to the deeper waters of geometry, problem solving, algebra, fractions, and strenuous combinations of all of these. Swimming in the deep water can be fun for those who are confident and possess the skills to swim without going under. Deep water provides the challenge to keep us from growing stagnant from sitting in one place for too long. It keeps things interesting - like rafting into the white water among the rocks. Plus, and this is no secret, even if the kiddie pool is warm and comfortable, I've noticed the water is a bit yellow. LATE BREAKING NEWS: Dateline: Cecil Floyd Elementary, Joplin, Missouri The folks at the National Assessment of Educational Progress have graced the fourth grade at Cecil Floyd with the opportunity to show the world what we have to offer. On February 6, our students will take a surprise test (SURPRISE!). This is the test that is used to help them rank Missouri among the other states in our Union. Missouri sits just above the national average for fourth grade Math. Naturally, we are just as competitive as the next state, but we really do want to achieve greatness. It is quite a responsibility for us to carry. I hope we represent Missouri well. Students: Take a moment and visit the Kids' Zone. The National Center for Educational Statistics, the group that puts together the NAEP, has put together some activities to get you thinking (and remember to explore the buttons at the top of their page).
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