Monthly Archives: February 2018

Watch out Rube Goldberg- We’re Coming for Ya!

Posted on by
2

Gev. Porat, Gev. Clyde and I are excited to share that we started a Passover themed Rube Goldberg challenge in ETC. Rube Goldberg machines complete simple tasks in complicated ways. We have challenged the class to place each of the traditional items on a Pesach Seder plate via a Rube Goldberg machine. After learning about Rube Goldberg and studying simple machines, we took today’s class period to tinker with materials and start drafting plans. We were not surprised by their wonderful ideas and extreme creativity. Please ask your child to share his/her plan with you and check out student blogs as they will be posting their journey through the challenge each week. 

We are most excited about the opportunities that this challenge provides for your child to grow his/her collaborative skills. We all agreed, kids included, that this challenge will take a lot of patience, perseverance and empathy as we go through many situations of trial and error while attempting to place an item on a Seder plate! In fact, 50% of their earned grade will be based on their learning process and ability to work with their peers. 

Over the next few weeks we may be looking for small items to help us through the challenge. These items may include paper towel tubes, matzah boxes, wind up toys, buttons, etc. If you have any “junk” laying around at home that may help, please send it to school!

Again, please ask your child about this challenge. The kids were so pumped to get started today; I know they would love sharing their ideas with you!

 

 

 

 

Happy Friday and a few Reminders :)

Posted on by
Reply

Happy Friday, Shabbat Shalom!

We had an incredible week of learning and fun in 5th and 6th grade! Fifth grade parents, please check your child’s ELA blog posts–some really incredible collaboration and thinking occurred this week. Fifth and sixth parents-  If you didn’t have a chance to check out my post about Social Studies, please do so and look through the wonders your children generated- they are wondering SO hard!

Next week Thursday we will celebrate Purim as a school community. In fact, we will celebrate the entire week with spirit days! Monday is Pajama day, Tuesday is University Day (represent your favorite university), Wednesday is Rainbow day (5th= blue, 6th= all colors), Thursday is wear your own costume and Friday is MJDS spirit day. Please remember that all costumes must be school and age appropriate- NO weaponry allowed. I am looking forward to seeing all of the creative costumes!

TODAY is our LAST early dismissal Friday! Enjoy the extra time with your kiddos! 🙂 We will dismiss at 3:30 next Friday. 

 

 

 

Wonder is the beginning of Wisdom

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday we started class with a warm up, a daily practice that gets us ready for class. I asked the kids to document any and all of their wonders they still had as we begin to wrap up our study of ancient Egypt. Their wonders have been guiding our learning throughout the entire year. In fact, this week we spent an entire day researching the difference between dynasties and kingdoms and then trying to find out how dynasties transferred power. All of this learning was guided by YOUR children! 

The kids and I had a great discussion about how true, rich learning really never ends. Because as a learner, we are constantly asking new questions and thinking deeper to try to discover new information. When we learn something new we are often surprised that we want to know more- and how exciting is that? 

We will come back to these wonders and explore them as we wrap up our unit. Please check out our class wonders (can be found by clicking any of the linked words) and connect back with your child. Maybe you can start investigating with them! 

 

Can you name and explain the four types of conflict?

Posted on by
1

This was the question of the day in Reader’s Workshop.

Today I asked students to create a video tutorial demonstrating their knowledge of the four types of conflict we have studied all week.  They were assigned partners and given a set of expectations and requirements via a rubric.

After questions and discussion over the rubric, the kids excitedly starting working. Some students decided to act out the conflict while others used pictures and/or videos as examples. I’ve included some pictures and video of their work here. Tomorrow we will wrap up and the kids will share their tutorials on their individual blogs.  I know they will love your feedback, please ALWAYS feel free to comment on their blogs. We all love hearing from you!

  

 

 

External VS Internal Conflict

Posted on by
Reply

This week we’ve been studying the four different types of conflict in fictional writing. The kids have had a blast coming up with examples from books, movies and real life! Please ask your child about the different types of conflict- they should be able to state 3 external types and 1 internal type. 

Today we split into partnerships and examined short passages, looking for evidence of conflict. We read closely and highlighted evidence that helped support our ideas of the type of conflict identified in the text. Then, each partnership shared a summary of the text (another important skill!) they had read in addition to their claim of conflict. 

Later this week we will continue working on our memoirs and learning more about elements of fiction. 

Good things come in Threes

Posted on by
3

Today we had the first of our three guest speakers visit the classroom. Professor Joshua Burns visited from Marquette to teach us more about Egyptian religion, specifically their beliefs about an afterlife. The kids were highly engaged and asked many thoughtful questions. Their wonders were never ending and their knowledge of ancient Egypt shined bright! 

Tomorrow, Rabbi Rachel will visit from Congregation Shalom. She will lead a discussion about the belief of an afterlife in Judaism. We will compare and contrast how our religious beliefs and customs surrounding death compare to those of ancient Egypt.

Lastly, we will have one more guest speaker on Thursday, February 15.  Doctor Sam Wann (partner to Dr. Josh Liberman-Hannah’s dad!) will visit our classroom to share about his personal experiences studying mummies. He has a super interesting perspective as he has traveled the world and examined mummies to learn more about heart disease! 

 

 

 

 

10 by 100

Posted on by
1

Tomorrow is the 100th day of School! That means we are more than 1/2 way through the school year. It is almost impossible to believe!! We have accomplished so much and had tremendous growth and there is so much more to learn and experience! I can’t wait!! 

During ELA I will ask your child (5th graders) to generate a list of 10 things they want to accomplish before they reach 100!  They will post these lists on their blogs. Please feel free to comment on their posts with your own lists;  I am positive they would love to hear YOUR hopes and dreams! Below is my list that I will share with them in class. 

In addition, just for fun, we will generate pictures that make us look 100…SCARY!!

 

Gev. Kimmel’s 10 by 100 

  1. Visit all 7 continents  
  2. Learn how to knit
  3. Write a children’s book
  4. Visit all 50 states
  5. Be a grandma 
  6.  Ride in a hot air balloon
  7. Celebrate 50 years of marriage 
  8. Complete a triathlon (or at least a mini!)
  9. Volunteer on a consistent basis to help those in need
  10. Learn how to use my DSLR camera and document my very blessed life! 

Human Connections are Deeply Nurtured in the Field of Shared Story

Posted on by
1

We have moved onto the next stage of the writing process- generating ideas. In order to gather ideas for potential memoirs, I asked the kids to make personal connections to a variety of mentor texts. I modeled the expectation by sharing my own personal connections and telling stories from my childhood. It was fun to share these stories and the kids loved hearing me embarrass myself!

After the mini-lesson I asked the kids to write long about one of their ideas. The results were fun and detailed. We ended class by sharing our short, but meaningful memoirs. I am loving watching your children blossom as writers each day.  We will spend the next few days generating more ideas before selecting a final idea to publish. Stay tuned! 

 

DISCLAIMER- Please don’t forget that as we generate ideas, our focus is not on spelling and/or grammar. This will come later as we work toward publishing pieces. At this point of the writing process we just want to get our ideas down, even if it looks/sounds messy!