October 21st, 2022

Learning by experimentation. That could be the summary of this week. This week the students have rolled up their sleeves and used a bunch of tools to learn about units of measurement. We have been going every day to the science room to find the mass, weight and liquid capacity of different objects, using a pan balance, platform scale, and several measuring cups. The students have tried and many times succeeded in finding the accurate measurement of a gram, a kilogram, an ounce and a pound of playdough and beans, to find measurement benchmarks, and to understand the different scales of the metric system and the standard units. For liquid capacity, the students have been calculating how many times 250 mL fit in a 1 L container. They have followed up with measurement work in their math books, and with ratio tables in their notebooks. For reading, the students have finished their first assignment on finding the main idea and important details in the story of The Hindenberg, a famous and luxurious zeppelin that went down in flames in the 1930s, and have started working on the same skill in a similar story about a war ship during WWII. The students have been fantastic managing their independent reading time to work on the assignment and also read their own choice of books. The guided reading work has been filled with interesting conversations about the story at hand. This week we have also finished a book by Patricia Polacco titled "Thank you, Mr. Falker", that has given us the opportunity to talk about character change and the different stages of the problem of the story.  We have also been exchanging letters between Mrs. Keenan's and Mrs. Rutkowski's class about books. During Science, the students have continued learning all about human and animal eyes, how nocturnal animals can see in the dark, and why when we take pictures of animals in the dark, their eyes glow in different colors.
Take a look at this week's slide show! If you don't see your child's photo in this show, it is because I had to crop the photo as the school still hasn't received your permission to publish photos of your child. If you wish to take a peek at what your child is doing in the class, make sure your fill out the form that was sent online at the beginning of the school year.
Have a great weekend!