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Someone left piano books in my classroom on Tuesday, June 3.  There is no name inside.  I will put them in lost and found.

Next year's classes:

  
Feb. 4
We began our study of living things by comparing a gummy worm with a real worm.  Real worms live and move, gummy worms don't.  Gummy worms are tastier, though!
Feb. 6
The basic division of things is whether or not they are living.  We used a book, pictures and a video to help us learn that living things move, eat, drink, breathe, die and reproduce. 
Feb. 11
We explored our feelings about various animals and why we have them.  We also talked about how animals in fiction are different than animals in nonfiction books.
Feb. 13
We are taking the beginning steps towards categorizing animals.  We played some games that require noticing details about people and pictures and looked at pictures of animals so we could notice interesting details about them.
Feb. 20
Today (after the fire and earthquake drills) we worked on categorizing.  We started with shoes.  They are simple and familiar and easily generate alot of possible rules for sorting.  Next we moved on to animals.  The students chose sorting rules that scientists often use.  What kind of babies the animals have, where they live, what they eat, what kind of skin or fur the animal has.
Feb. 25
We learned about grouping animals into vertebrates and invertebrates (animals with and without backbones).  We played again trying to guess the animals taped onto our backs.
Feb. 27
We had time to pet the animals visiting our classroom.  We explored the five groups of vertebrate animals; mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds.  We went to the following website to learn more:  http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/science/science.htm.
March 3
We looked at slides of a variety of animals and decided whether they were invertebrates, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds or fish.  Then we created a book of favorite animals that explained why they were favorites and what group they were in.

March 5
We got to feed crickets to real life fire bellied toads thanks to Grace H.  We read the book From Tadpole to Frog, made an origami frog and put together a frog life cycle that included the 3 stages of a frog’s life.

March 10
Our caterpillars started turning into chrysalids!  Just in time for us to study the life cycle of butterflies.  We learned that metamorphosis means a big change and started a mobile with the four stages of a butterflies life.

March 12
We watched a brief movie of a Monarch butterfly coming out of its chrysalis.   We finished our mobiles and read Waiting for Wings.

March 17
We learned about the life cycle of Canadian geese.  We played a game to simulate their migration and learn the importance of wetlands to a successful migration.

March 19
We examined boiled eggs up close, finding the membrane that helps protect the inside of the egg.  On a raw egg we saw the spot on the yolk where life forms and the stringy material that holds the yolk in place.

March 24
We started talking about the life cycle of a salmon.  We looked at some pictures, read the book Salmon Stream and watched a clip from the Magic School Bus Goes Upstream

March 26
We played a game taking us through the life cycle of the salmon.  The salmon started with a sniff of their home stream smell, made it past the hungry frog, through the dam turbines, around the gill netters, past the hungry orca and then had to identify their home stream by the smell again.  We also played a game online to see if we could get the baby salmon through the stream to the ocean.  To check it out, go to http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/salmonch.htm

April 7
We reviewed the life cycles we had talked about previously and started talking about the life cycles of mammals.  We looked at pictures of puppies growing and we read the book Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones .  We each made a small book about our own life cycle and watched a movie about animal life cycles.

April 9

Wildebeests migrate yearly in the biggest numbers of any mammal.  They are following the rain and the abundant grass that goes with it. 

We watched a brief video, looked at pictures of wildebeests crossing the Mara River and played a game that helped us understand the life of a wildebeests and its dangers.

April 28

We are beginning a study of habitats by learning what needs to be present in a habitat for animals (and people) to survive.  Today we read the book Salamander Room by Anne Mazer and played two games that reinforced the idea that animals need food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement to survive.

May 5

We have begun learning how animals are adapted to fit their environment.  We read the book Do Lions Live on Lily Pads?  By Melanie Walsh and discussed a powerpoint presentation of the similarities and differences between different animals in the same habitat and similar animals in different habitats.  It is found on the following website:

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Esheet.cfm?DocID=103

  We then went to the following website to explore the idea further:  http://www.activescience-gsk.com/module2/home.html

 
May 7

We talked about the desert environment.  We read the book Wet and Dry by Lisa Bullard and looked for desert animals in The Great Animal Search Book.  We talked about ways animals stay cool and get water in the desert.  The fennec fox was our example of ways that animals have adapted.  It is nocturnal, lives in a burrow, has large ears and furry feet.  We made fennec fox masks to help us remember some of those traits.

May 12

Today we moved on to wetlands habitats.  Wetlands come in a great variety and support a large number of animals.  We focused on birds.  After looking at pictures of some of the birds that rely on wetlands, we read the book Unbeatable Beaks by Stephen R. Swinburne.  This book compares bird beaks to a variety of tools.  The students each chose a tool that represented a bird beak and tried to “eat” a variety of foods.  They found that some beaks are better at eating only certain kinds of foods.  Some beaks can eat a larger variety, but might be best at a particular kind.

May 14

We went to the north and south poles today, visiting penguins in the south and polar bears in the north.  We learned that a thick layer of fat helps keep them warm, and that some animals burrow to keep warm, just as they burrow to keep cool in the desert.

May 19

With the help of Marco Monkey and Polo Penguin (from the book Marco and Polo) we visited the rainforest and learned about the importance of camouflage as a way animals adapt to their environment.   We had fun coloring butterflies to blend into the habitat of our classrooms and taking turns being predators, seeking them out.

May 21

Today we visited the African Savanna.  Like other grasslands, the savanna has few trees and bushes to hide in, so speed is an important adaptation.  We watched a short movie about cheetahs and also played a tag game pretending we were cheetahs and gazelles.  We learned being both a predator and a prey is tough!

May 28

We visited the temperate forest today and learned about food webs and food chains.  We played games to help us see how interconnected living things are and how energy gets passed from one living thing to the next, all the way down to the decomposers and back to the plants.  We also played a Hollywood Squares game to review information we learned.

June 2

We have learned alot about animals this semester.  We  put together all that we have learned and made our own designer animals.  The students were very creative making fish that fly and juggling monkeys and many other unique creatures.

June 4
Our last day of class.  We enjoyed snacks, shared our designer animals with our classmates and played computer games, colored animal pictures and worked on puzzles.  The computer sites we visited were:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/games/index.html

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/games_activities/index.cfm

 Feb. 5
We began our study of living things by comparing a gummy worm with a real worm.  Real worms live and move, gummy worms don't.  Gummy worms are tastier, though!
Feb. 7
The basic division of things is whether or not they are living.  We used a book, pictures and a video to help us learn that living things move, eat, drink, breathe, die and reproduce.  
Feb. 12
We explored our feelings about various animals and why we have them.  We also talked about how animals in fiction are different than animals in nonfiction books.
Feb. 14
We are taking the beginning steps towards categorizing animals.  We played some games that require noticing details about people, shoes, and collections.  We worked on learning how to sort them into groups using only one rule.
Feb. 20
Today we worked on categorizing animals.  Some of the students chose sorting rules that scientists often use.  What kind of babies the animals have, where they live, what they eat, what kind of skin or fur the animal has..
Feb. 26
We learned about grouping animals into vertebrates and invertebrates (animals with and without backbones).  We played again trying to guess the animals taped onto our backs.
Feb. 28
We had time to pet the animals visiting our classroom.  We explored the five groups of vertebrate animals; mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds.  We went to the following website to learn more:  http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/science/science.htm.

March 4
We looked at slides of a variety of animals and decided whether they were invertebrates, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds or fish.  Then we created a book of favorite animals that explained why they were favorites and what group they were in.

March 6
We got to feed crickets to real life fire bellied toads thanks to Grace H.  We read the book From Tadpole to Frog, made an origami frog and put together a frog life cycle that included the 3 stages of a frog’s life.

March 11
Our caterpillars started turning into chrysalids!  Just in time for us to study the life cycle of butterflies.  We learned that metamorphosis means a big change and started a mobile with the four stages of a butterflies life.

March 13
We watched a brief movie of a Monarch butterfly coming out of its chrysalis.   We finished our mobiles and read Waiting for Wings.

March 18
We learned about the life cycle of Canadian geese.  We played a game to simulate their migration and learn the importance of wetlands to a successful migration.

March 20
We examined boiled eggs up close, finding the membrane that helps protect the inside of the egg.  On a raw egg we saw the spot on the yolk where life forms and the stringy material that holds the yolk in place.

March 25
We started talking about the life cycle of a salmon.  We looked at some pictures, read the book Salmon Stream and watched a clip from the Magic School Bus Goes Upstream

March 27
We played a game taking us through the life cycle of the salmon.  The salmon started with a sniff of their home stream smell, made it past the hungry frog, through the dam turbines, around the gill netters, past the hungry orca and then had to identify their home stream by the smell again.  We also played a game online to see if we could get the baby salmon through the stream to the ocean.  To check it out, go to http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/salmonch.htm

April 8
We reviewed the life cycles we had talked about previously and started talking about the life cycles of mammals.  We looked at pictures of puppies growing and we read the book Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones .  We each made a small book about our own life cycle and watched a movie about animal life cycles.

April 9

Wildebeests migrate yearly in the biggest numbers of any mammal.  They are following the rain and the abundant grass that goes with it. 

We watched a brief video, looked at pictures of wildebeests crossing the Mara River and played a game that helped us understand the life of a wildebeests and its dangers.

April 29

We are beginning a study of habitats by learning what needs to be present in a habitat for animals (and people) to survive.  Today we read the book Salamander Room by Anne Mazer and played two games that reinforced the idea that animals need food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement to survive.

May 6

We have begun learning how animals are adapted to fit their environment.  We read the book Do Lions Live on Lily Pads?  By Melanie Walsh and discussed a powerpoint presentation of the similarities and differences between different animals in the same habitat and similar animals in different habitats.  It is found on the following website:

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Esheet.cfm?DocID=103

  We then went to the following website to explore the idea further:  http://www.activescience-gsk.com/module2/home.html

May 8

We talked about the desert environment.  We read the book Wet and Dry by Lisa Bullard and looked for desert animals in The Great Animal Search Book.  We talked about ways animals stay cool and get water in the desert.  The fennec fox was our example of ways that animals have adapted.  It is nocturnal, lives in a burrow, has large ears and furry feet.  We made fennec fox masks to help us remember some of those traits.

May 13

Today we moved on to wetlands habitats.  Wetlands come in a great variety and support a large number of animals.  We focused on birds.  After looking at pictures of some of the birds that rely on wetlands, we read the book Unbeatable Beaks by Stephen R. Swinburne.  This book compares bird beaks to a variety of tools.  The students each chose a tool that represented a bird beak and tried to “eat” a variety of foods.  They found that some beaks are better at eating only certain kinds of foods.  Some beaks can eat a larger variety, but might be best at a particular kind.


May 15
We went to the north and south poles today, visiting penguins in the south and polar bears in the north.  We learned that a thick layer of fat helps keep them warm, and that some animals burrow to keep warm, just as they burrow to keep cool in the desert.

May 20
With the help of Marco Monkey and Polo Penguin (from the book Marco and Polo) we visited the rainforest and learned about the importance of camouflage as a way animals adapt to their environment.   We had fun coloring butterflies to blend into the habitat of our classrooms and taking turns being predators, seeking them out.

May 22
Today we visited the African Savanna.  Like other grasslands, the savanna has few trees and bushes to hide in, so speed is an important adaptation.  We watched a short movie about cheetahs and also played a tag game pretending we were cheetahs and gazelles.  We learned being both a predator and a prey is tough!

 May 27
We briefly explored the forest and the animals living there.  We talked about food chains and food webs and how energy gets passed along starting with the sun.  We played a Hollywood squares game about food chains.  If you have powerpoint at home and would like to try it, you can download it from this website: http://teach.fcps.net/trt2/links/foodchain.htm


May 29

We have learned alot about animals this semester.  We  put together all that we have learned and made our own designer animals.  The students were very creative making fish that fly and juggling monkeys and many other unique creatures.

June 3
Our last day of class.  We enjoyed snacks, shared our designer animals with our classmates and played computer games, colored animal pictures and worked on puzzles.  The computer sites we visited were:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/games/index.html

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/games_activities/index.cfm

 
Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

Feb. 4
One thing that is necessary for safe flight is knowing where you're going, so we started our study of flight with practice reading maps and comparing them to pictures of a place.  We learned about the four cardinal directions and saw how maps change over time.
Feb. 6

Cliff Day came to talk about his career as a pilot as well as other careers in the aviation industry.  He encouraged the kids to think about what career they might be interested in for their future.  Thanks for the video, pretzels and blow up airplane!
Feb. 11
We talked about scientists as explorers and how maps and exploration change over time.  The students explored the classroom for hidden items and recorded them on a map.
Feb. 13
Cliff Day taught us about maps and geography.  We got onto Google Earth and found how detailed that can be.  I highly recommend downloading this free program (just google Google Earth) and playing around.  It is possible to pinpoint your house or any other site you find interesting.  These are not real time pictures, however.  Can your students date the picture by noticing details that have changed?  We also were introduced to Bernoulli's principal and Newton's laws of motion.  We'll cover those in more detail later.
Feb. 20
Captain Day introdued some difficult math problems that are an everyday part of life for him.  All that arithmetic you're doing at home can really be put to use in life, it's not just for torture!  He also gave us some homework to do.  Each student chose a city that Southwest Airlines flies to and will research that city.  The questions that they should answer are:
What state is it in and what is the capital of that state?
What time zone is this city in?
What is the population of the city?
List a major geographical feature in or near this city.
Name a well-known landmark or historical site in this city.
List the names of any major rivers, lakes, valleys, and/or mountains in or around this city.
This city is known for what type of weather (heavy snow, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc)?
How does weather impact tourism to this city?
Feb. 25
We looked at Cliff's schedule, using Google Earth to look at the various airports he was visiting, and to see the kind of terrain around the cities.  We talked about time zones and flight times.  Some students gave their reports on their cities.
Feb. 27
Our last visit from Cliff!  We designed SW Airlines ties and had a great time playing a game using the signals that the ground crew gives the pilot to guide them in.

March 3
We began to study air in depth.  I demonstrated several “tricks” that are possible because of air pressure.  Water staying in containers with holes, flowing uphill and staying out of a cup immersed in it.  All possible because of air pressure. 

March 5
We learned that air has mass.  This means it takes up space and has weight.  We inflated a balloon with air produced by mixing baking soda and vinegar, we found out how much the air in our room weighs and how much the air over our heads weighs.  We also prevented water from flowing through a funnel because air takes up space.

March 10
We looked at different kinds of air.  The CO2 filled balloons left from Monday were heavier than similarly sized balloons filled with my air.  We filled a balloon (partially) just by heating the air in a bottle.  We also used the power of hot and cold air to make cups adhere to a balloon.

March 12
We reviewed Bernoulli’s principle today; faster moving air has lower air pressure than slower moving air.  This allowed us to suspend a ping pong ball in the stream of air from a blow dryer, keep a card stuck to the bottom of a spool of thread and move two pop cans together without touching them.  We also created balloon rockets.

March 17        
We discovered some of the ways air pressure acts on other objects.  It is powerful enough to crush a pop can, prevent us from blowing up a balloon and shoot a syringe (no needle) across the room.

March 19
Air pressure can also hold things up.  We experimented with a variety of twirlers to see which one would spin the best.  The weight of the paper also affected the spin as did the size of the spinner.

March 24
We talked more about how air pressure works and tried a couple of quick experiments to experience it.  We learned about barometers and that wind is air moving from a place of higher pressure to a place of lower pressure.  We attempted to make anemometers, we’ll finish those on the 26^th.

March 26
We finished our anemometers, and then reviewed the water cycle and learned about clouds.  Clouds are formed when evaporated water cools and condenses around a piece of dust.  I demonstrated by making a cloud in a bottle.  Different clouds mean different kinds of weather.  We went to the following websites to learn more:

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/flash/flash_watercycle.html

April 7
We did an experiment that showed that soil heats and cools faster than water.  This effects weather because large bodies of water keep the air temperature more stable.  That is why our climate is more moderate than in the Midwest.  To fill in time while we were waiting for temperature changes, we used some WASL test questions for review (the kids did great!)

April 9

Cliff Day returned to explain why it is important for pilots to understand weather and have a good weather forecast before flying.  We learned about the dangers of rain, snow, thunderstorms, wind and clouds.  Thanks Cliff!!!

April 28

We began keeping records of our work in a science notebook, because recording what we learn is so important in science.  We also started learning about Newton’s laws.  We started with the first half of the first one; an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless a force is applied.  We investigated with pennies, water bottles and a variety of other common objects to observe that things don’t move unless you push them.

May 5

We continued to work on Newton’s Laws.  Today we started learning about Newton’s 2^nd Law, which states that force, mass and acceleration are related.  We started a lab using Matchbox cars to look at those relationships.

May 7

We finished our match box car lab.  The results weren’t entirely as expected, but we did see some relationship between mass, acceleration and force.

 
May 9

Newton’s Third Law today: For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction.  We started by having the students sit in wheeled chairs and push against each other to see what would happen.  We learned when we flicked a penny into the end of a row of pennies, only the farthest penny really moved.  The energy is transferred through the row of pennies until the last one doesn’t have anything pushing back against it.  I sent home a balloon and a straw with every student so they could try an experiment I demonstrated, which is detailed below.

Balloon Rally

Step 1: Attach a balloon to the end of a flexible straw with tape.

Choose the end that is furthest away from the bend.

Step 2: Push a straight pin through the straw about halfway

between the balloon and the bend in the straw. Fasten the pin in

the eraser of a pencil.

Blow up the balloon and bend your straw to a 90o angle before allowing the air to escape. What

happens?

Blow up the balloon and bend your straw to a 45o angle before allowing the air to escape. What

happens?

Blow up the balloon, but leave your straw straight (180o angle). Release the air in the balloon. What

happens?

Remove the pin and hold on to the straw as you blow up the balloon. Release the straw. What

happens?

 May 14
We had a review of Bernoulli's principle (faster moving air has less pressure) and have finally started working with paper airplanes.  The next few days we will experiment with paper airplanes in preparation for a contest to see which airplane flies the furthest, can hit a target or can land in a target area.

May 19

We started working with paper airplanes today.  We all used the same design and measured how far it would go.  Next, we added modifications to see how they would affect the flight of the plane.
 

May 21

Paper airplane work continued today.  The students started work on choosing the type of airplane they would like to use in our competition, which will be June 2.  They used a variety of sources to test out different experimental planes.  Just trying to follow the directions for some of them was a challenge!

May 28
Our final day to prepare paper airplanes for the contests next week.  The challenges for the students are to design planes that could compete in the following categories:
Beauty contest, Longest Distance, Best Tricks,  Hitting a target, and Landing on a target.

June 2
The contest began!  Lacey's plane won the Beauty Contest, Connor won for best tricks and Alia Mei won for Longest distance.  The target contests will be on Wednesday.

June 4   
Malia and Dylan shared the title for the in flight target contest (making the plane hit the doll).
Malia built the plane and Dylan was the pilot.  Dylan's plane got the most points for landing in the landing target, he shared his prize with Louis who was a very close second. 
We also played at the following websites:

http://wings.avkids.com 

 http://flightsimx.archive.amnesia.com.au/

 http://www.ueet.nasa.gov/StudentSite/funandgames.html


Also, I forgot to hand out the students' science notebooks, they will be here until June 19th if the students would like to stop by and pick them up

May 1

We worked out a logic puzzle figuring out the birthday month and weekday of a group of sisters.  We also looked through the work on positive and negative numbers and variables that we started on Tuesday.  It was hard remembering how to work with those negatives!

May 8

We are starting to take a look at probability.  If we pull plastic bears from a bag one at a time and put them back in, can we guess how many bears we have of each color without looking (assuming we know how many bears are in the bag)?  It’s difficult, but the more times we took out a bear and put it back in the better chance we had of an accurate guess.

 May 15
We worked on a logic puzzle from the following website:
http://www.puzzlersparadise.com/page1042.html
Kudos to Nick and Jason for figuring it out first!  We also worked more on probability, the chances of pulling an ace out of a deck of cards, or the chances of rolling a 6 on a dice, etc.

May 22
After playing the game 24, we reviewed the previous lesson's work on probability and started learning how to figure out the probability of an event happening using arithmetic.  How many different combinations of tiles are there if there are four tiles in each of three bags?

May 29
We tried an easier logic problem today.  More of us were able to figure out this one.  We reviewed equations using an unknown, such as x/2+4=14. 

June 3
Our last class!  It has been terrific working with these amazing students all year.  They have learned an incredible amount.  Things that were so hard in September are easy for them now.  Today we played card games and ate.  (Thanks for the snacks, Lacey and Cara!)  We played Skipbo, Speed and a new one for me, Egyptian Rat Screw.  (I think that's what they called it, kind of a cross between war and slapjack, it was fun!)

Feb. 4
We started learning some of the routines we will be going through each week; working out a story problem and talking about the calendar.  The rest of the class period we got acquainted with a variety of math materials we will be using during the semester.
Feb. 11
We worked on a story problem about pets and then we measured using marshmallows.  We learned about measuring length, weight and volume.  (And got to eat one clean marshmallow.)
Feb. 25
We started learning a little about probability.  We used spinners, trying to figure out which number would show up most often after making a prediction and graphed the results.

March 3

We read Bunches and Bunches of Bunnies in honor of our visiting pet and used it as a pattern for writing Handfuls of Hamsters. 

March 10

We used peanuts for math.  We made designs and weighing them, trying to look for a pattern when we added more bears to the balance, how many more peanuts would we need?  We also attempted peanut butter (note: don’t use dry roasted peanuts).

March 17
We used Lucky Charms to work on prediction, graphing and counting.  They were tasty, too!

March 24
Game day!

We played several different games.  I am listing the rules and materials for each below:

FIND YOUR NUMBER

Materials:

A deck of cards using cards 1-6 only

1 die

Procedure:

Each player is dealt five cards.  The first player rolls the die.  If the player has the number shown on the die in his hand, he may discard it.  The second player proceeds to do the same.  The game continues until one player has discarded all his cards

Alternate #1:

Cards numbered 1-10 could be used, using two dice.  The dice would be added together to make the number needed.

Alternate #2:

Use the same game – but use subtraction.

Standing in a Row

Purpose:  To teach the sequence of numbers and review one more and one less concept.

Materials:  Deck of cards with face cards removed.

Procedure:  Each player chooses a suit they want to collect and takes the ace of that suit out of the deck.  The ace is placed in front of the player who chose it.   The rest of the cards are placed in a pile face down in the middle of the table.  The child draws the top card, determines the numeral and the suit.  If it is the suit that she is collecting, she puts it in front of her in the appropriate sequence.  If it is not from the suit she is collecting, she puts it in the discard pile.  The second player may take from the discard pile or from the deck. As each card is placed in the proper sequence the child must say which number would come before and after that card.

The game continues until one player has correctly sequenced all the cards in the suit they are collecting. (Ace through 10)

Variations:

1.  Make a deck of cards using higher numbers.

2.  Make a deck of cards with only even or odd numbers.

Concentration (as you remember it)

Materials:

One deck of cards with one black suit and one red suit, no face cards

Procedure:

Turn all twenty cards face down in a grid.

The child turns over two cards, if they match, he keeps them and takes another turn, if they don’t match he turns them back over and the other player takes a turn.

The game is over when all the cards have been matched and taken by the players.

Alternatives:

Add a third or fourth suit.

Plus-Minus-Stay the Same

Materials:

100 chart (on back of instructions)

deck of cards with only A-10

crayons

Procedure:

1.  Decide who will go first.  The first player chooses two cards from the deck to get a base number.  The first card is the tens digit, the second is the ones digit.  A Wild Card (joker) can be used as any number.

2.  Decide whether you want to add 10 to this number, subtract 10 from this number, or stay with this number.  Color the resulting number on your 100 chart by coloring it in.

3.  The other player now chooses two cards from the deck, determines, the number, and decides whether to add 10, subtract 10 or stay with that number.

4.  Put the cards you use in a discard pile.  (If you run out of cards, mix these up and use them again.)

5.  The game ends when one person covers five numbers in a row-across, up and down, or diagonally.

April 7
We played Huff and Puff.  Each group had a variety of different items.  They were to guess how many times they would have to blow on it to get it all the way across the table.  They recorded their guess and their outcome on a chart.  Most students found the wooden bead was the easiest.  Surprisingly the yarn ball was one of the hardest.  

April 28

We worked on our daily problem.  The students are getting very good at knowing how to do it on their own.  We talked about the date and learned how to make tallies and count money to equal today’s date. 

Finally, we had a game day.  We played the following games:

SIMPLE COVER UP

Materials:

One die
Two pennies
Two pieces of paper with numbers 1-6 written on them

 Procedure:

Roll the die, cover the number with the penny that represents the number of spots on the die.
The player keeps rolling the die until a number that has already been covered appears.  The player adds the total of the uncovered squares and that is the player’s score for that turn.  The second player proceeds to do the same. The game continues until one player reaches 21.

 Alternate:
This game can be used with subtraction by starting with 21 and subtracting to zero.

BINGO CAPER

Materials: 
Two bingo game boards
Two dice
Pennies, slips of paper or other markers 
Procedure:
Write the numbers 2-12 randomly in the squares on the game boards.  (A simple 4x4 grid)  Each board should be different.
The first player rolls the dice, and covers the number corresponding to each die and the number equaling the two dice added together.  The second player does the same.  The game continues until one player has covered all their numbers and calls Bingo.  If the number rolled is already covered the player misses a turn.

 Alternate #1
Only the sum of the two numbers may be covered.

 Alternate #2
To make the game more complicated, write the numbers 4-24. Roll the dice twice and cover the sum on the game board (or use four dice rolled once).

 Alternate #3
Write only the numbers 0-5 on the grid.  Subtract the smaller number from the larger one on the dice.

 Alternate #4
Similar to Alternate #2 except that you subtract after you’ve rolled the dice twice.  Write numbers 0-11 on the grid.  

TUG OF WAR

Materials:
One gameboard
Two players
One die (dice is a plural word, in case you’re wondering)
One marker

Procedure:
Players place the marker on the black hexagon in the center of the board.  Players take turns tossing die and moving the corresponding number of spaces down or up the path they have chosen.  Players have a tug of war with the single marker until someone gets the marker to the FINISH space on his side.

May 5

We used animal crackers to explore estimating, sorting, graphing and counting today.  Yum! 

May 12

Today oreos were our medium for counting, graphing,problem of the day, and weighing.

May 19

We read the old favorite The Very Hungry Caterpillar and worked on a problem that uses algebraic thinking, figuring out how much a caterpillar would grow by the time it is 10 days old.  We finished up watching a movie about counting animals both forward and backward in groups.

June 2
Our last day of class, we had snacks and played a variety of math games.  Thanks for a great semester with your students!

 Feb. 6
We started learning some of the routines we will be going through each week; working out a story problem and talking about the calendar.  The rest of the class period we got acquainted with a variety of math materials we will be using during the semester.
Feb. 13
We are continuing to work on how to solve a story problem.  We are trying to follow a format the works for most kids and is expected on the WASL for those 3rd graders that will be taking it.  We also used marshmallows as a unique measuring device and used our measurements to write equations or number sentences.  We discussed that finding a difference between numbers equals subtracting.
Feb. 20
We have started a unit on probability.  Probability is used regularly in every day life and is often easier to understand in large groups where we can work with larger pieces of data.  Today we predicted which numbers would come up most often on spinners and graphed the information we gathered.  Our predictions were right!
Feb. 27
We continued studying probability by making our own spinners.  The students could choose how many numbers to put on the spinner and then had to predict which number would show up most often. 
March 5

We tried to figure out statistically how many teddy bears of each color there were in a bag by taking out a sample of them.  We found the more samples we checked, the more accurate our guess could be.

March 12

We tried out a 3^rd grade WASL problem, a good exercise in mathematical thinking, even for those not taking the test.  It asked the students to draw a shape with 5 sides with one side measuring 3 inches.  It took some work for some, but all were successful.  We also used two bags of teddy bears this time, and after trading them back and forth between bags, we guessed how many of each color would be in each bag.  It came out almost even, much to our surprise.

March 19
We used Lucky Charms to work on graphing and finding the differences between our prediction and our guess.  We ran out of time before we could statistically predict how many of each kind of the cereal in a whole box, but we enjoyed eating them.

March 26
We played another probability games.  Using 6 disks that are red on one side and yellow on the other, we guessed what combination of disks would come up the most often, 1 red and 5 yellow, 2 red and 4 yellow, etc.  We found that 3 red and 3 yellow came up most often for the largest number of people. 

 April 9

We worked on a difficult problem of the day today:

I made cookies.

I started with 24, but then

Dan ate 5,

Megan ate 4,

Lindsey ate 2,

and I ate 6.

How many cookies did we have left?

We also tried out a 3^rd grade math WASL problem which was more difficult than I expected:

The 24 students in Mrs. Smith’s class formed a line. Every third

student was wearing red. Every fifth student was wearing blue.

What was the fifteenth student in line wearing?

Show how you got your answer using words, numbers, or pictures.

 We finished by finding out how many times we had to roll a dice before we got a 1.  Once was most common, followed by four.  Surprising to me!

April 30

We used dice to study probability today and I introduced the idea of writing the probability of an event as a fraction.  We tried to figure out how many combinations of numbers we could get with two dice and how often doubles would come up.  We played a game to see how many times we would roll before doubles came up.  Three rolls was the most common result.

May 7

The students worked on a district wide 2^nd grade math assessment.  The most difficult part for most of them was explaining their thinking.  I will send home copies of their work with each student May 14.  We also worked on a problem of the day about animal crackers and estimated how many animal crackers in a jar.  After counting the crackers, the students had to figure out how they could share them equally.  This was a good challenge!

 May 14
We started work on a statistics project.  We read this book:

 and then each student came up their our own Would you rather...? questions.  They asked the question of everyone in the class and are preparing some way to present the information to the class on Monday.

May 21

The students presented the statistical information they had gathered.  Many are posted in the classroom.  Good work!  We also worked on an algebraic thinking game called Comparing Handfuls.  We will use the information we gathered to find out how many teddy bears second and third graders can hold in their hands.

 May 28

We used dice to play a bingo game. The students got to choose which numbers to put in the squares in the grid.  I rolled the dice and they could cover any one of the sums on their board that corresponded to the dice.  Next, we will look at the results and the kids can make a new board to see if it improves their chances of winning.