Adventures in Learning

Great show today show such wide variety of talents from our students!  Here are a little look at some of the entertainment!

Take a look at the combined efforts of Grades 3-5!  All choreographed by Maria Schaller!

Enjoy!

Wow-O-Wow! I am always encouraged to see all the cook stuff kids come up with, but today they blew me away!  Having spent 3 class periods working on their diagrams and inventions, today students presented them to class.

I am truly blessed to be able to work with such creative minds!  From flower powered rockets to toy dusters, and jet packs grade 3 really came up with some great ideas!

It’s exciting to think that this generation of free thinkers might one day provide me with my own jet pack that runs on solar power, and can make any drink I want while in flight =)

Great job by everyone!

Here are a couple of video presentations!

Be Well!

As we move into our second school week of 2010, we have been getting back into the groove of daily life again =)  It’s wonderful to be back with the kids and learning about all the fun things they did over break!

Usually on Mondays for Language Art we focus on Peer Reading.  After we finish our daily journal we split up into groups of two or three, find a comfortable spot and get down to some reading.  Students are welcome to sit outside in front of the class or remain inside, it’s their choice.

This has really worked out well!  I find students that usually are hesitant about reading openly in class are much more comfortable when reading with a friend.

Towards the end of class, when everyone has finished reading, we will discuss what we have read as a class or complete a worksheet.  It’s really encouraging to see so many kids excited about reading!

Here are a few pictures from today’s Peer Reading!

Some of the benefits of Peer Reading include;

• Active learning and involvement
• Improving peer interactions through peer motivation and support
• Collaborative Learning
• Public Speaking
• Listening skills
• It’s Fun!

Be Well!

Kids just get cooler and cooler every time they get the chance to create something!  I am so impressed with what our students were able to come up with for the science fair!  During the last week students have been researching, building models, creating, hypothesizing and making a big fun mess in the process!  Here a few pictures from today’s science fair.

Great Job Everyone!

Here are a couple of videos from today’s activities!

Have a Great Weekend!

Earlier today in Bangkok food began falling from the sky!  Hamburgers, pancakes, gumballs!  It then began raining cream soda and at one point cheese began falling in large chunks!  Good thing our ever ready team of reporters where there to cover the story!

Take a look!

Having just finished the story “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett, Grade 3 will be putting on their own news report tomorrow.

Little did we know that food would begin falling from the sky right here in Bangkok!  The good thing is that the students began to form their own action plans and news reports to let people know.

For the last two days students have been writing their scripts, preparing their microphones and coragraphing their upcoming stories.

Today was the last day of practice so tomorrow we will be the first to break the “Big Story”!  Check back to see the new videos!

Until then, watch out for falling meatballs!

Today during Social Studies we discussed some of the consequences we are facing because of the over use of our natural resources.  I prepared a slide show to give students an idea of what kind of environmental problems we are now facing.

Students then came up with ideas on how to solve the different issues.   Some of the ideas included;

Deforestation

“Recycle the paper, Don’t cut the trees.”

“Don’t use one side of paper”

Air Pollution

“Use bicycles”

“Try to use solar power”

“Don’t smoke”

Excess Garbage

“Reuse, Reduce and Recycle the garbage”

“Send it to space”

Water Pollution

“Don’t throw trash in water”

“Don’t throw dirty water in the water”

These are just a few of the great ideas the kids came up with while working in their groups.  It’s important to keep their minds engaged in thinking out their own solution!  Be Great Problem Solvers!

Here are a few pictures from today’s class!

We also looked at a couple of Biodegradability Timelines as well.  Take a look for yourself.

Biodegradable Timeline

Cans (aluminum) 200 yrs
Cans (tin) 50 years
Cardboard box 2 months
Cotton Rope 3 to 14 months
Diapers (Biodegradable) 1 yr
Diapers (disposable) 450 yrs
Fishing line 600 yrs
Glass Undetermined
Photo-degradable drinking cup 6 months
Plastic bags & wrappers 10 to 20 yrs
Plastic bottle 450 yrs
Plastic six-pack holder 400 yrs
Styrofoam (buoy) 80 yrs
Styrofoam (cup) 50 yrs
Wood (painted 15 yrs
Wood (Plywood) 1 to 3 yrs

80% of marine debris is washed, blown or dumped from land. Plastic accounts for more than 50% of all marine debris. Many objects look like food to marine mammals and birds -- this debris can lodge in their stomachs and cause starvation.

Getting children to start thinking globally now can make all the difference!

My Grade 3 kids never cease to amaze me!  Last week students were asked to create skits about the environment, people who live there, and the use of natural resources.  What they came up with was wonderful, and it truly show how creative and talented they really are!  Here are a couple of videos from today’s presentations!

Enjoy!

In Social Studies we have been talking about human features, physical features and different types of environments.  Today we began a new project where the students will be creating “Environment Skits”.

• Students were divided into groups 5
• Each group has to choose an environment to speak about and come up with a skit showing how people have adapted to live there.
• Students must also explain what types of natural resources are found in the environment as well.
• Students will also come up with a poster background showing what the environment looks like.
• Each participant must have dialogue during the skit and a script must be written and turned in before the performance.
• Students are welcome to create props, dress up and follow their own story line as long as there is no violence and it is relevant to what we are studying.
• Students are encouraged to work together, find information in their textbooks, notes, internet etc…
• Projects will be presented on Thursday (3A) and Friday (3B)

Here are some pictures from today’s class activity.

Currently in Language Arts we are learning about simple and compound sentences.  I decided to try out a new game and see how it worked.  The end result was the “And Or Game”.  The idea is to help students learn how to create compound sentences using the words “and” and “or”.  The kids really took off with it and were cheering for new and funnier words!  Below are directions on how to play =)

Materials:

• A4 paper about 5-6 sheets
• Student notebooks or paper
• A white/black board
• Markers, pencils or pens

Set up:

• Design a simple graph on the board for you to write the words you want the students to use in their sentences.

• On a piece of A4 paper, write the words AND and OR in big colored letters.

• You can keep score or have the students keep score.  (Usually easier to have them due to the pace of the game)

Directions:

• Have each student title their paper “The And Or Game” and have them number their paper.
• On the chart, write 2 or 3 random words that students must use in a compound sentence.  *Note you can also use punctuation marks for a little extra challenge.
• Just before students start, show them the word “AND or OR”.  Students will then quickly write a complete compound sentence using the words given them.

• The first student to complete the task, having written a proper compound sentence receives two points, and then reads their sentence out aloud to the class.
• The rest of the students gain one point and take turns reading their sentences to the class.
• After a set number of rounds (I use 5) the student with the most points wins!

Group/Team play:

• Next divide the class in to groups or teams. (usually 3-5 students per group)
• Give each group a piece of A4 paper.
• Have students collaborate within their group on the sentence writing and compete to be first.
• Follow the game directions above.

Have Fun!