Math, Science and Number Corner

    In math this week we learned about pi and we continued our unit on geometry. We started really using math vocabulary, our word wall with all of the math words we have learned so far this year is full! Geometry has a lot of math words. We also started learning about 3-D shapes. When we learned about pi, we watched videos about it. We learned about pi on pi day. We found pi by cutting a piece of string to fit around some kind of round object, then we cut the string the perimeter as many times as we could. We figured out that pi is three perimeters and a smidge. Smidge is not a math word, but that’s what we called it.

    In number corner this week we have been looking at the calendar and making observations and predictions. We are also doing a water evaporation experiment. Our number corner people have been keeping the chart up to date. We all made predictions if the cup of water in the sun will evaporate faster than the cup of water in the shade and how much water they will lose everyday.

    In science this week we have been doing force and motion. We read a book about force and motion called Forces and Motion. We took notes on what was new to us. We could read by ourselves or we could read with our shoulder partner. I think almost all of us chose to read by ourselves. We also wrote a response to Mrs. Crowther about everything we have learned about force and motion, not just from Forces and Motion, but from everything we learned and know. We are still taking the states quizzes. There are three quizzes, a states quiz, a capitals quiz and a features quiz. Everyone has four chances to pass each quiz. Friday is when we take the quiz. Everyone is at different levels. Some people are on the states quiz others are on the capitals quiz and some are on the features quiz. No one has finished all of the quizzes yet.  

    Reading and Writing

    This week in reading we have been continuously reading about force and motion.  We started another book and read it through, looking for new things about force and motion.  We have been “thinking like a scientist” as we read and we’ve been rereading, taking notes and reading deeply.  These two books have been very resourceful in learning about force and motion.  After that, Mrs. Crowther asked us to write a paragraph to her to tell her which book was easier to read, which book you got more information out of, and why.  Mrs. Crowther got many different answers.  The day after that, she made everybody in the class get a lined piece of paper and write everything they had learned from these two books.

    In writing this week, we are preparing for writing about our state by researching on the computer and in our state books.  We are learning to take notes with the three column note taking technique.   The three columns are labeled:  Questions/Main Idea;  Facts;  Response. For each resource (for example, web sites and books), we have a page in our writing notebooks, each with the three columns.   This helps to organize all the information out there.

    Stay tuned for next week’s news!

    Important News and events

    -No school on Tuesday,March 9th, 2013 dew to the weather conditions

    -No school on Friday, March 29, 2013(no idea why)

    -3/17/2013 saint patrick's day

By Nigel Wormser and Heidi Burgur