February 2019 archive

Og’s Great Adventure – 5/6 ETC

This week in ETC, the kids worked in groups to solve Og’s Great Adventure, a digital breakout activity. Students were required to use critical thinking, collaboration, communication & creativity to solve this challenge. Using the clues and pictures given, the kids had to figure out four different locks to be able to “escape” (a number lock, a color lock, a word lock, and a directional lock). It was amazing to see how well the kids worked together and how they were able to use their thinking and reasoning skills to figure out each code and break the lock! Gev. Noorlander and I joked about how every group was able to figure out the locks so much quicker than we were able to. Needless to say, we were SO impressed. 

Make sure to ask your child about Og’s challenge! If you are feeling up to it, try to solve it too 🙂

Have a great week,

Gev. McAdams and Gev. Noorlander

 

Math Test for 5th Tomorrow

Tomorrow, February 14th, 5th graders will be taking their Unit 4 math test on multiplying decimals. Students have been working so hard learning the different concepts that go into learning how to multiply. In class, we have spent the past week reviewing. Students are expected to study for at least a half hour practicing problems in their review packet.

If possible, please check in with your child and make sure they are prepared for their assessment tomorrow!

Thanks so much!

Have a great night!

P.S. Just a reminder that we do not celebrate Valentine’s Day. Please leave candy and cards at home. Thank you again!

New Quarter Focus – 5/6 ETC

Hi 5/6 families!

This week we started our next ETC unit, which focuses on developing logic and reasoning skills. To kick off the unit, we began by playing the game Clue. The kids worked in groups of 4 to use deductive reasoning to determine the answers to each of the following questions: 1)”Who done it?” 2) Where? and 3) How? Students were not allowed to use the notepad that Clue provides to keep track of what is going on in the game, rather they had to figure out a way to keep track of what was going on in their own way. Some kids chose to use Google sheets, others had an ongoing list on a piece of paper, and others created their own chart, similar to the one the game uses. It was so cool to see all the different ways students tracked what was going on in the game. Over the next few ETC class periods we will continue to use the game Clue, however each time we play a new additional logic challenge will be added. Stay tuned to read your student’s blog to see their reflection process through this activity.

Happy Friday,

Gev. McAdams and Gev. Noorlander

Exploring Air, Mass, and the States of Matter – 6th Science

This week in 6th grade science we began to dive deeper into our driving question, “How can I smell things from a distance?”. To investigate this, students were given menthol crystals to determine whether a single material could exist in all three states. Along with this, as students conducted this experiment they were required to analyze and interpret what they noticed when the menthol was heated and cooled, to determine the characteristics of solids, liquids, and gases. Students concluded that depending on the substance when a gas becomes cooled it can turn back into a solid, which is what happened with the menthol. When testing the states of matter of water, students realized that when water vapor (a gas) gets cooled it turns back into a liquid. After completing these two labs, as a class we understood that cooling does not always mean a substance will turn into a solid, a gas could cool and become a liquid as well. Moving forward, our next learning objective is focusing on creating accurate models to describe and show air when trapped inside of a flask. Stay tuned to see those models and hear about how we are getting closer and closer to answering our driving question!

Enjoy the weekend!

Creating the Dream Energy-Efficient Home – 5th Science

Over the past week in 5th grade science we have began focusing on energy efficiency and what makes things more energy-efficient than others. To explore this concept further, in groups, students were given the objective to create an energy-efficient home. Along with this, they had to explain what energy conserving actions they were going to take to make sure they used less energy. To study this, students watched different videos on how individuals made their homes more energy efficient, as well as read about it. We learned about the best home insulators, the best color to paint your home so it reflects the most light, the best windows, etc. Ask your child about the home they are building and how it is energy-efficient to find out more.

Have a great weekend!