Center Time

This week we statred our first round of centers. Students love centers and usually you can get a lot of work/practice done in a decent amount of time....but....it takes lots of planning on the teacher's part. We had centers on Tuesday and being the crazy teacher I am we did centers in both math and science that day. The kids loved it! Here are some pictures and you can tell they are really into centers and the tasks they have to accomplish. The computer is usually their favortie. Sometimes we play games in centers.Remember the CHALLENGE is on now for parents to play a math game with their student. I sent home the directions today and if you do not have a deck of cards at home, let me know and I will provide a deck.

Have fun!  And don't forget your science projects!

 Math Boxes. Work and check your own paper with the key.

 Playing the game Sum Sense...a favorite. Can you beat your own score?

 Let's practice some multiplication!

 Science tool match...this was self checking also.

 Do you know how to use a balance and find the mass of different objects?

 Exponents, factors and values! No wimpy math for us!

 More balance fun and best of all I get to join the fun!

Math, math , and more math....

This week we worked hard in math continuing to work on powers of 10 and began working with multiplication. As you can see in our pictures we learned some new games and figured out values for powers of 10. It was an awesome "play" week! We might be sending home some of these games for you to play with your student! Would you do it? Nothing excites students more than being able to explain and play with their parents. Are you willling to help your child really master some skills by playing with them? A new challenge is on!!! Be looking for some games to come home this week or next!



Powers of 10 matching activity. Do you know what ten to the third power means?



 Another game we learned is Multiplication Zone...all you need is a deck of cards (This one is coming home to your family!).

Science Projects

Okay parents, it is time to kick in all that science knowledge you have and that inner scientist that is ready to come out! Your student should have brought home today some instructions for a science project. If you have any questions, please let me know. The pictures I am including today are from previous years to give you an idea of what other students have done. Some used psoter board for their display board, some a regular three fold board, while others covered a piece of cardboard with paper. You could even use a large piece of paper which I can provide for you! Be creative and make your display board attractive. Remember you can HELP, but your student needs to do the majority of the work!



 Above and below are on regular display boards (Walmart, Staples, dollar stores).

 The project above is a covered piece of cardboard.

 These two are on poster board.

The goal is to see if your student knows the scientific process! So be creative, and remember you can turn them in any time (we encourage you not to wait till the last minute)! Just email me if you have any questions.

bpolvadore@pierce.k12.ga.us or brenda31516@gmail.com

Day 9 Banana Experiment (final pictures)

Here they are! The results are in! Was your hypothesis correct?

Mr. Ziplock looks pretty bad, but not as bad as Mr. Brown Paper Bag below...

And the winner is Mrs. Walmart below (leave it to a woman to know what's best)! You see the Walmart bag allows some air to get through but not too much and is not as air tight as the ziplock bag which produced moisture inside the bag which increased the rotting process. Cut off the bottom of this banana and you are ready to slice it up for your breakfast cereal!

Banana Experiment Day 7

We're about to wrap this experiment up. I will post today and then one more set...So here we are for day 7...things are getting serious here! How is your hypothesis holding up? Do you know why your vote is or is not holding up???

Mr. Ziplock

Mr. Brown Bag

And Mrs. Walmart



Day 5 of the Banana Experiment

Here are the pictures that were taken Monday. We are beginning to have a strong smell of bananas in the room so Wedesday or Thursday will be the last day. Stay tuned to see if your prediction (hypothesis) was correct. You may be surprised!



Mr. Ziplock Banana

Mrs. Walmart Banana

Mr. Paper Bag Banana

What looks the best now may not look the best in the end! Check back Thursday or better yet, ask your student!

Day 3 of the banana experiment

Here are our pictures for day 3 of our banana experiment. How is your prediction coming along???

Stay tuned for our final resluts this week. Everyone has been really excited about this experiment. Even if I forget to check the bananas, the kids remind me! So much fun!!!



Fun Friday!

I know that most of you are waiting on pictures of our bananas but you are going to have to wait till Sunday so people who haven't voted can do so! While you wait on those pictures I thought I would share some from Friday....We started the day by playing Order of Operations Bingo which was challenging but great! Bear Bucks were awarded and some extra treats for winners.  



Then came the lesson on self control! You can see in these pictures we have alot to learn about self control, but it was a great experiment. After the challenge and before our science class I did get some better results! Some students still have some self control to learn though! :) It was lots of fun though.

Then came the Marshmellow Towers which was an activity on working together in a group to build a tower or structure out of marshmellows and toothpicks..... Here is what the building stages looked like.

And the winning teams in the morning class.....

Our afternoon players....

And the winners are....

After looking at their summary sheets I found out they really did learn some things about working together! And the even greater news....I had a momma who just sent me a picture of her child building a marshmellow tower at home! I am loving it! I have the most awesome students!

 





Parent Challenge: get involved!

Okay parents, here is a challenge to help you get involved in your child's learning and help them earn a Bear Buck! Just talk to your child about our banana experiment (look at yesterday's entry), decide which bag you think will keep the banana the freshest and vote by sending me an email at  brenda31516@gmail.com or bpolvadore@pierce.k12.ga.us and include your student's name, your name and your vote! Happy science voting!

Question: Which bag will keep the banana the freshest?

Today we started our first science experiment. We are studying the scientific process in science and are going step by step through the process.  Here are our pictures from the first day.....what is your hypothesis? Be thinking about what kind of experiment your child can do at home for a science project!

 Will the banana in the ziploc bag keep the best?

 Or the one in a brown paper bag?

Or maybe the one in a Walmart bag....

Stay tuned for more pictures!!!

And on Day 2....

On day 2 we worked on order of operations in math. Can you find your student? They had a great time using tiles to show various problems using order of operations. Do you remember PEMDAS?