Pumpkin stroll

If you missed the Pumpkin Stroll this evening, here is what you missed:

Incan Culture

We have been busy this week learning about the Incan Civilization through a jigsaw activity. Each group researched one aspect of the culture, and then presented a poster to teach their classmates about their topic.  The students learned a lot from each other.

We learned about how and why they built their roads and bridges:

We learned about their important cities:

We learned about Incan Agriculture:

We learned about the Incan Government:

We learned about the Spanish Conquest of the Incas:

We learned about the Incan Religion:



Reading comprehension strategies

We have been talking about strategies that good readers use all year.  Some of these strategies include activating prior knowledge, making connections (text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to world), asking questions, synthesizing information from various sources, inferring, and creating mental images.  Yesterday we went to the computer lab so that students could try out a reading comprehension strategies activity from this website.  Please talk with your child about what they learned from the activity, and how they use these strategies whenever they read.  There are many activities on the website, and we only got to a few, so I would also encourage students to continue to explore the other strategies.

More Geometry Fun

Today we spent some time using a protractor to measure angles.  We visited a website that had a game that allowed us to practice how to read a protractor.  Click here if you would like to try it at home.    Once the website loads, scroll down until you see the angle game.  Have fun!

In addition to reading a protractor, it is important that students also practice using an actual protractor so that they learn the proper way to line it up on an angle.

Geometry Fun

Today we visited a website that made geometry fun!   Click here if you want to try it at home.  Enjoy!

Gocarts part 2

We had another successful day of designing and building gocarts.  All groups wrote detailed plans, complete with illustrations:

They carried these plans out:



Then found that they needed to go back and redesign:

Although it was difficult to build a gocart that would move by itself, in the end all groups had a finished gocart that would move on an inclined plane:

Building go-carts

Scientists were busy today following the design process to build go-carts:

They had lots of good ideas and worked cooperatively with their teams.  Look for the finished go-carts next week.

Indoor recess

Some friends took advantage of the rainy day to finish a puzzle:

Some others created with legos:



Still others played some Uno:

Stay tuned; more pictures coming soon.