Hands on Science

Students are working like scientists and engineers! They are experimenting and collecting data on the function of a plant stem. We have celery soaking in food colored water. We will be observing changes to the celery this week. Mrs. O'Brien also shared her document camera with us so we could zoom in and see the stem of a geranium plant which may help us with evidence to support our claims about their function.

Students have been working on learning coding with Ms. S. (computer integration teacher). She challenged students to build a bridge to span 6 inches using only marshmallows and toothpicks. Teams were given a chance to plan their designs, 30 minutes to build and test their bridge, and completed the challenge with seeing how many pennies their bridge could hold. One team was able to build a bridge that held over 50 pennies!

First Writing Celebration A Success!!

Students shared their personal narrative stories on Monday, Oct. 1st in true camping fashion. Students created handmade campfires to read their stories by while eating a modified version of "s'mores." Lights were out and campfires "glowed." Students wrote about topics such as football games, camping trips, going to the fair, getting a new pet, spending the night at a friend's house, last year's infamous October wind storm, and much, much more! Our next unit of study will continue with the narrative genre, but will focus on Realistic Fiction writing.

Beginning of Year- Establishing the Reader's Workshop

Students have started taking home a "stop and jot" notebook for reading homework this week. As I finish completing beginning of the year assessments, I will writing goals and specific activities for students to practice to best help with their reading.

Stopping and jotting is a way for me to ensure students are making "good fit", aka Goldilocks, book choices. It encourages students to listen for their inner dialogue and creates an avenue for students to share and discuss what they are reading.

This is a chart from a lesson on finding a good fit book.

Some students are able to independently choose books that are a good fit, others still need help or encouragement.

If you notice your child may have a book that is too difficult or too easy, this is a great way to discuss and remind them how to make those just right choices to help us grow as readers.

Parent/Teacher conferences

Weatherbee School Parent Conference 2018

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on 11/6 and 11/8 from 3:30-7pm and on 11/9 12:30-3:30. 

You can use link below to sign up ONLY with your child's homeroom teacher. We will have information on all subjects. 

Thank you!

Conference Link

Welcome Back!

We have had a great start to the year in Rooms 201 & 203. We have been getting to know the classroom routines and expectations, while also getting to know our classmates and teachers. These students came prepared to learn! Homework will begin starting next week. We will update this blog with homework for the week and upcoming events on a weekly basis, and will add special events/pictures as they occur in the classroom. We look forward to meeting parents/guardians on Thursday, Sept. 27th at 6:00 for Curriculum Night!

Team Building activities

Final read aloud- Wish Tree by Katherine Applegate

The weather was uncooperative to "tie" our wishes to a tree outside, so we modified the plan. Wishes on the wishing tree still happened!

 

Field Day...

Mrs. Randall's class root = mar -meaning sea
Field Day team name = Marine Animals

Mrs. Whitehouse's class root = photo- meaning light
Field Day team name = Phlossing Photobombers

Corn Hole

Class Flag

Break Out

Marshmallow Engineering

Jump the Creek

May field trip to Leonard's Mill

Midwest Automobile Assembly Line

Visit from Glacier Scientists

On Wednesday, May 16th students had the opportunity to learn about research on the continent of Antarctica from three glacier scientists, Allie Balter, Jill Pelto, and Mariama Dryak. 

The scientists shared pictures of their travels on a military plane and landing on the ice. We saw the base camp where they were issued gear necessary to survive in the severe temperatures: tents, clothing, boots, and sleeping bags. 

We learned a song and dance (penguin moves) scientists do to keep warm while out in the field doing research. During the visit, they shared ice which was cored and extracted from a glacier dating 10,000 and 100,000 years old. We learned that they are testing and measuring particles and air bubbles in the ice to see what was in the atmosphere during that time. They also shared how they are studying the limited plant and animal life on land and the extensive life found below water. They are trying to determine how climate change is affecting them. 

Jill is an artist as well as a scientist. She shared some of her watercolor paintings and how she uses scientific graphs to tell a story through art. Students were given the chance to create art from a variety of graphs. Students were encouraged to tell their own story about how they felt about the information in the graph by turning the graph into a work of art. 

It was a great experience for students and we thank these scientists for sharing their time and expertise with us!