Look At the Pretty Sounds!

This week was a pretty exciting week in the world of science.  We have been studying how sound works, and our voice works. We have had an opera singer come in and show us how her voice works.

We have been discovering how birds song and how that compares to how our own voicebox operates. This week we wanted to see what sound looks like. We created our own tonoscopes in science class with Lisa. We used a large yogurt cup, a balloon, a needlepoint loom, construction paper and tape. We cut a hole in the side of the yogurt cup, and put rolls of paper into them. We stretch the rubber from the balloons over the needle point loom. We then pushed it over the top of the yogurt jar and added a little salt. When we spoke into the tubes, it made beautiful pictures on the top of the rubber. It was pretty amazing to see what patterns went with what sound.

We also were able to see what would happen if we hooked up music to a plate with sand on it. We could see how the sand was jumping around with different tones. We also had the chance to see which frequency would make the sand or salt jump highest. We discovered that this was called the Resonant Frequency.  In addition we attached a resonator to different materials and found which created the best sound.

We discovered a ton of new things about sound this week.

Snowball fight with paper balls. Not trying to hit each other, but trying to get as many paper balls to the other teams side.

Have a fantastic break!

Math Class Changes

One of the main goals in the 3/4 level is to foster a child's ability to work independently. With that in mind, we are moving to have the textbook be the main focus for our work.  During independent work time, the students will be mostly focused on working in their textbook.  If they are struggling with a particular topic, I will assign related workbook exercises to complete.  The textbook doesn't leave much space to work on their problems, so I have given them each an orange folder with paper to work on. 

I will be evaluating them based on their textbook work.  While the textbooks stay at school, the workbooks may go home for extra practice.  This goes for all students unless we have already specified a unique need for a particular student.

The textbook explains how to do the math in each of the sections. The goal is for the student to be able to read the text and figure out how to do the math themselves, leaving the teacher to fill in the gaps and make meaningful connections between the abstract problems and the real world.  It also allows the student to move ahead at their own pace and not have to wait for the teacher to explain everything.  This is also the strategy used by the math teachers at the next levels of math at this school.  I would like to prepare them to be able to succeed in those classes as well.

I hope these new changes will help the students become more independent in their mathematical adventures.

Let me know what questions you have.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

PROJECTS ARE DONE!!!!!

Our team did an amazing job balancing the school play with their work on their Project Time project.  I am delighted to say that everyone turned in their projects on time and was brilliantly prepared to present their projects to the class on Friday.  Every project was well thought out and received positive feedback.  Some prompted great discussions about what makes a good project and the value of the more unique projects.  I was very impressed.  Each presentation was recorded for archival purposes and should be available soon upon request.

Hover board testing

A new desk

MONEY FOR A GREAT CAUSE

While the projects this term were aimed at our personal interests and skills, 2 teams decided to use their powers for good.  They decided to have a Bake Sale and Drink Sale to benefit animals.  Between the 2 groups and 2 days, they raised $114.  They decided to combine their earnings and split it straight down the middle to help two animal charities.  They chose The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to help the sharks and the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic to help cats.  Each institution received $57.  For more information visit: http://annarborcatclinic.com/ and http://www.seashepherd.org/

A PURRFECT SURPRISE

Moved by our generous donation, The Ann Arbor Cat Clinic decided to invite us to their clinic, give us a tour, and let us visit with some of the cats.  We were not expecting that!

New Project Due Date

Hi Team,
Just to give you a heads up, due to the crazy schedules of the last 2 weeks, project time projects will be due this Thursday. Students will be given class time to work on their projects and presentations  all this week. They also may work on them at home. Presentations will be all day Friday. Each presentation will be recorded and shared with each student's parents. I will be checking in with each student/group on Monday to check the progress of their project and project reflection sheet/project log.

Let me know what questions you may have.

Mythbusters!

Hi Team! 

In science, for the past few months, we have been learning how to be good scientists. We have been discussing the Scientific Method and working with all its parts (Asking a question, Making a hypothesis, Making a prediction, Experimenting, and Drawing a conclusion) to create experiments and learn new things. We have also learned how to include factor such as variables and a control. 

For the past few weeks, we have been watching Mythbusters, and discussing how they use the scientific method in their show to prove or disprove a hypothesis. We have also been searching the episodes and our own experiments for factors that may cause an error in our results. We found that even the professionals make mistakes sometimes.

This Friday, we traveled to The Imagination Station in Toledo, Ohio for their Mythbusters exhibit. We got to try real Mythbusters experiments and draw our own conclusions.

We had tons of fun experiencing new concepts and learning about physics. 

I even got to doge a paintball pellet!

For more information about Mythbusters go to: http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/

Traditions

On Friday, Team Spencer visited the headquarters of one of Michigan's oldest traditions, America's Thanksgiving day Parade.  It has become a tradition in our class to visit this space every year.  This yearly national parade (This year will be the 89th parade.) is an important part of the culture and identity of our country and our state.  My father has been a volunteer for over 20 years and has made sure to make this a part of our family's identity as well.

My dad (The Original Spencer) was kind enough to give us a tour of the facilities.  We learned how floats are made, the ways in which to propel the floats, all about balloons, and cool information about the different types of costumed marchers that volunteer in the parade.  We also received cool historical facts about Detroit and its history with the parade.

In the coming week we will be exploring, in depth, the impact the parade has had on the identity of the people in our community, the history of the event, and how the floats specifically reflect and represent the people in the community.

Be sure to check out Me and my family in the parade next to the Blue Cross Blue Shield float. Look for the blue float heads. I'll wave at you!

For more information on America's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Please visit: theparade.org.

Writing Project

Hi Team!

Over the last month and a half, we have been reading "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick. In the story, [[SPOILER ALERT]], one of the main characters writes beautiful stories using artifacts he has collected from antique shops and resale stores.

We have decided to do the same. We went to Treasure Mart and bought items that inspired stories within us. Not only did we have to look for interesting artifacts, but we also had to compromise with our partner, budget our money, and be held responsible for the money, the receipt, and interacting with the staff at the store. Everyone in the class was well behaved, quiet, and very respectful of the fragile nature of the items in the store.

We are going to start off small, by writing short stories of our own. We did a lot of magical thinking while searching for our objects, and most items have already got quite the story to tell.

In The Marvels, the stories that were told about the objects defined the identity of an invented family. We are going to take our stories and find creative ways to combine them all. We seek to create a new set of characters and use our real life artifacts to help define their identity. We will be researching the objects that we have procured and using our new knowledge to help add interesting details to our story. We are then planning to make a small museum where we display our objects and our writing. I hope you will come by and visit it.