Messages from the Deep: February 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Valentines and Snow Days

Our Valentine's Day Party was SO much fun! Mrs. Bruce brought us cupcakes and juice packs and then we played several "Minute-to-Win-It" games. We stacked Conversation Hearts, put Skittles on our foreheads, transferred a Lifesaver with sticks in our lips and worked to pick up M&Ms with chopsticks. Erika's team won three of the competitions and Olivia's team scored on the last one. Check out Donnell and Joseph focused on getting the lifesaver to transfer from one stick to the other without dropping.

Last week was the first time we studied Greek & Latin root words. We memorized lots of number roots and saw how that root was present in many words we already knew.

When we get back from our SNOW days we will be introduced to our NEW Greek & Latin Roots. If you want to get a head start you could start making 11 flashcards. Include the roots "aqua" and "hydra" with the definition "water" too.

Aqua/Hydra=water

aquarelle-watercolor painting
aqueduct-a pipe or channel for moving water to a lower level, often across a great distance
aqueous-watery
aquamarine-turquoise color
aquatic-in or of the water
Aquarius-constellation pictured as a man carrying two buckets of water and a zodiac sign
hydrophobia-fear of the water or rabies
hydraulic-powered by water
hydrant-a water source in the street
hydroponic-growing plants in water

In case you are wondering, all our tests for this week will be pushed ahead to next week! So, have fun with your families in the snow, ice or puddles! See you Thursday, maybe...

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Beatnik Poetry Cafe...Can You Dig It, Man?

Everyone agreed that the "Beatnik Poetry Café" needs to be an annual event! Our performers were out-of-this-world! Not only did we look way cool, but our performances were unbelievably impressive. Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Lewis Carroll, and many more poets were honored. Special thanks goes to Olivia's and Zachary's moms for setting up our café and making the delicious hot chocolate and Chloe's, Sarah Reilly's, and Emily's moms for agreeing to bake desserts. Now here are some of our performers:

Donnell and Zachary

Maddox

Brooklyn

Max

Keira

Hannah

Joseph

Erika

Jonathan

Emily

Special thanks to Connor! Not only did he recite a poem, he entertained us in-between performances with his bongo playing!!

Surf's Up!

This is what's planned for the week:

Wednesday-Math/multiplication of fractions

2 x 1/4 = 2/4=1/2 1/3 x 2/7=2/21

Remember! Reduce it for full credit!

Thursday-Language/Homophones

(too, to, two)

(there, their, they're)

(your, you're)

(here, hear)

Friday-Reading/Greek & Latin "Number" Roots...students will memorize the root and the number and be able to give one example for each. Example: 1....uni....unicycle

3....tri....tricycle(this practice sheet is already in our notebooks)

By Friday Social Studies- Be able to recite the "Preamble" to the Constitution and understand the meaning of specific words that we annotated on the copy in our notebook (example: union, establish justice, domestic, tranquility, defense, welfare, liberty, posterity)

We will be decorating our Valentine bags on Monday...so you can deliver your valentines Tuesday-Friday.

Look for names of classmates on the back of this week's newsletter.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Can You Use Magnetic Force to Power Your Boat?

Here is your mission if you choose to accept it!

Here's your STEM store! You have a total of $15 to spend.

This is what happened:

Connor's group made their boat out of cardboard but when they put it in the water it didn't float.

Pierce's group used a plastic bottle with yarn but they couldn't get the magnet to power it.

Olivia's group used a plastic bottle also with a magnet taped to the bottle cap and the end of the tub of water, but the magnet didn't always power it.

Sarah Reilly's group used a powerful magnet inside the plastic bottle and a magnet at the end of the tub of water and it seemed to fly toward the other magnet.