Lost & Found Leaders

The students enjoy being Lost and Found Leaders.  The students help by rolling out The Lost and Found racks each day.  Also, two students are on the morning announcements to advertise some of the lost items. On Thursday, we organized all the items by color in hopes of making it easier for students. (We're hoping to get another shorter hanging rack as the green rack is just too tall for most kids to look through easily.)
On Friday, groups of students used the iMovie app on our iPads and created movie trailers to advertise some of the items.  Each group was in charge of a different color group.  Several groups have finished and I have successfully uploaded two of them to YouTube.  

Check out two of the trailers here:

Lost & Found Movie 1 - Black

Lost & Found Movie 2 - Blue

 I sent the link to classroom teachers so they can show them in their class in hopes of more lost items being returned to their owners.

Science Investigation

We set up an investigation trying to find out if ice cube would melt at the same rate. We had two cups of water and added salt to one of the cups. Then we added ice cubes to both cups. We turned on the timer. Many of us were surprised when the ice cube melted faster in the plain water - 6 minutes compared to the ice cube melting in 9 minutes in the salt water. The students used all of their science skills during this investigation.

Math Review and Test

We have finished our chapter on numbers to 1,000. We will review in class tomorrow and the test will be on Friday, December 11th. 

Scientists Draw Conclusions!

The students worked with partners and counts the seconds it took a to put the chips into a cup one at a time.  Then they tried it again and the other partner put the chips in one at a time. The results were similar. They also had a chance to discuss how they could improve their test. They learned that when scientists repeat the same procedure they often get similar conclusions. 

Scientists Use Tools

The students explored which tools work better. The had a meter stick and a metric ruler and they had to measure the thickness of a book, height of a desk, and length of our white board. They had to decide which tool would work better. They decided that measuring small objects with a ruler because a ruler is easier to move and hold. Also, it is easier to measure larger objects with a meter stick because you had to move it fewer times. They also had a chance to use a hand lenses and to see a teeny tiny picture in their book! Fun, fun, fun at science time today.

Scientists Make Observations

The students enjoyed working like a scientist! They used their observation skills to sort and classify some shapes. Students were able to sort them several different ways. They were sorted by color, shape, and size.  They also learned that scientists work in teams to make observations and classify objects. 

Working with Writing Buddies

The students worked with partner today to help improve their writing. We looked at the 2nd and 3rd Writer's Checklists and the students decided what part of their writing would they like to revise. Was it the beginning, ending, opinion part or adding more examples of proof to support their opinion? Once the students decided what part they wanted to revise, they worked with other partners who wanted to work on the same thing.  They enjoyed working with a partner to improve their writing.