Happy New Year!

I can't believe we've already had two snow days in 2015...well, I've been very busy on my snow days...and I realized, as I was working on Google Classroom, that I should fill you in on what/how YOU may want to participate in the classroom, too!

Your child has a username and password that allows them access to our Google Classroom.  You have probably helped them log on once or twice, but by now its second hand nature to them.  Each week I am asking the kids to complete their word study sort and sentences at home in the Google Classroom.  However, they also have a Google Classroom assignment in a different subject about once a week.  Word study assignments are not graded as they are done at home, but I do make comments on these documents.  All of the other assignments are graded.  They have a plethora of grades in the Google Classroom...and that's where you come in.  I know that you often review the work that comes home in the Take Home folder with your child.  I'm hoping you all look at it together; see what successes your child is having and pay attention to the areas they need to continue to work on.  You can use Google Classroom the same way...you just have to be at a computer at the same time.  Your review and discussion of these assignments and comments will help your child be a student who is reflective on his/her work and celebrates work completed well and learns from areas that need improvement.  If you have any questions about all of this, feel free to email me.

What else is going on?  Read on....

MATH...we are finishing up our UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE MOLI STONE unit...the M3 unit written especially for YOUR kind of kids.  M3 stands for Mentoring Mathematical Minds and if you'd like to learn more about it, click here... http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/projectm3/  As of late we have been studying Egyptian symbols and comparing their ancient number system to ours.  Just Friday the kids made discoveries about the Chinese number system, and this week we will be putting all of this information together to solve the mystery.  This unit has been of high interest, and the higher level thinking and discussions that go on are amazing.  While teaching this unit I have also been instructing on other standards that must be covered...elapsed time being one of them.  Over the next week we will figure out the mystery and then move into fractions...everything fractions!

WRITING...we are continuing our unit on informative writing.  The kids are making edits in their books daily and those books are really shaping up.  I'm so impressed by their writing.  Something different I did this year...based on a suggestion from a few of you at conferences...after our mid-quarter On Demand Writing assessment, I scored each writing piece (that's not different), went over the rubric with the whole class, and THEN met separately with each student to discuss their writing and review their own rubric.  It was very powerful...thanks for the suggestion. ;-)

READING...we have been doing a lot of comprehension work with printed text, website text, and short video clips.  We look for information in all text...captions, maps, charts, pictures...anywhere clues can be obtained to help improve our comprehension.  We discussed the concept of change this week...using our Scholastic Storyworks magazine, the students found evidence to prove that the character changed during the story.  We will continue with this idea of change as we venture into a novel later this month.

SOCIAL STUDIES...have you heard your child is an employee of a company?  Do you know that his/her company is creating a product that they will "sell" to classmates?  They are specializing and learning that interdependence is a real thing.  They will soon learn the effects of supply and demand (or lack thereof).  We are heading into advertisement this week as the production continues.  Stay tuned for updates.

SCIENCE...we will also be jumping into a new science unit soon...CHEMICAL TESTS.  The kids are gonna LOVE IT!!

So, hopefully you will forgive me for no photos...I promise some in my next post.  For now, stay warm and think melting thoughts...I NEED to see your kids!

A disclaimer and a WHOLE LOT of pictures!!

Disclaimer - I think its safe to say that you should set your expectations to a blog post every other week...my intentions are much better than that, but reality is...I'm just trying to keep my head above water.  When the blog suffers, just know that its because of the time I devote IN the classroom and planning FOR the classroom...

That being said, I'm going to post with lots of pictures and few words...we are having a BALL learning A LOT!  Take a look....

So...if you're wondering how this whole catapult thing happened...our school participated in a STEM unit on force and motion...and we did it all through the theme of Pumpkin Chunking...if you don't know what that is...ask an expert...YOUR KID!

Mrs. Hollenbeck started off the whole exciting unit by reading a story to the entire school...the book was appropriately titled, Chunkin' Punkins.  

We then watched a Discovery Education video all about the different types of catapults that are built for this annual competition...this got the kids really excited about the idea!

Then...believe it or not, one of our very own staff members, Gemma Pack, has a husband who is part of a Punkin' Chunkin' team...and he brought their compressed air pumpkin shooter for us to check out!!

Now that everyone was pumped and ready to build...I made them do research.  They completed a Google Classroom activity where they had to read and watch videos about force and motion, levers and catapults, and take notes as they read.  At this point they were salivating at the thought of building their own.

So, I told them they would be working with two or three other people and that they would have 10 popsicle sticks and 5 rubberbands to work with.  I had them use the engineering process of planning and discussing before creating.  They planned independently, discussed as a group, and then put a plan together that they could all agree on!  Once I saw a plan (labeled drawing and explanation) I said, "Give it a go!"  They were so very motivated.  But guess what they found out...PLAN A DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK!!  So continuing to follow the engineering process, they revised their plans and made adjustments.  Take a look....

After "a few" adjustments they had decided their catapults were ready and each group did some trial runs...they measured and recorded how far their marshmallows traveled.  After everyone had some practice, it was time to watch each group, hear how they created their machines, and see how far their marshmallow traveled.  We turned the room into a "Marshmallow Chunkin'" venue and watched them fly!  Take a look....

And just like with every science experiment...now they had EVEN MORE questions...most of all they wanted to know...if we could use different materials, could we make the marshmallow go further?  So....I told them that I would supply the marshmallows, rubberbands, and popsicle sticks...they had to bring whatever else they needed.  They could decide to work independently or in a group, but they had to ask a question, and make a plan to answer that question.  You would have thought I told them they won the lottery...they were SOOOO pumped up to try this!  And the day we planned to create our catapults, crazy things came into the classroom...tool bags, suitcases full of items, glue guns, balloons, etc...take a look!

The FINISHED PRODUCTS...

"Launch Day" is tomorrow!  I have reserved the cafeteria for launching...we will run three trials and the best trial will be their recorded trial.  They are very excited to try them out...and there was SOOOO much learning that went on with this project.  It's been a ton of fun!

But...its not the only thing we've been doing!!  Right now the FCPS math curriculum has third grade focusing on addition and subtraction strategies...but most of our class has mastered all of those standards, so I'm fitting in an M Cubed unit written especially for gifted children.  This is a math unit that focuses on patterns, symbols, problem solving, and the base 10 and base 3 number systems.  It is so intriguing and the kids are working through different lessons to find the Mystery of the Moli Stone.  There is a lot of math, a lot of verbal discourse, a lot of critical thinking, and A TON of problem solving...

We got to hang out with our buddies this week, too!  We read a story about why evergreens get to keep their leaves...we discussed that the author's message was all about acts of kindness.  At our school we collect hats and mittens for the needy and that is our school's act of kindness.  Then we talked about different acts of kindness we could all participate in...and they drew/wrote their ideas on mittens for our Acts of Kindness Mitten Tree that will be displayed in the front hallway.

In Writing we are working on our information books...they have chosen their topics and have written all they know about them...this past week we went to the computer lab to do more research and take notes on the topic...and now are adding that information as we focus on elaboration.

Speaking of the computer lab...something ELSE really cool we did this week...YOUR KIDS WROTE LINES OF CODE!  We participated in #HourOfCode...you can google it.  Anyway...the push for more computer science to be taught is out there, and this week I introduced them to the world of coding.  Unfortunately, it doesn't really fit into our curriculum, so other than wet their appetite, there won't be a ton more, but it was mind blowing what some of these kids could do.  Take a look...and if you think they look engaged...you couldn't be more correct.  You could have heard a pin drop for the full 45 minutes!!

I hope you are being able to take time to enjoy your family and friends...I am.  I love this time of year, but constantly have to remind myself to slow down a bit.  Time is flying and I'm trying to enjoy every minute of the ride.  Your kids are part of my ride and teaching them is a blessing.  I doubt I'll get another blog post in BEFORE the winter break...Happy Holidays to you all.  Enjoy the time off with your families.