PLTW & The Gingerbread Man

PLTW- Structure and Function

The Three Little Pig's houses.

We listened to the Three Little Pigs and we discussed the structure and function of a house. Students were given materials to build a house. It had to have the following components:

• a floor
• walls 
• a roof
• It had to withstand the blower fan (the Big Bad Wolf!)

The Gingerbread Man

We read the Gingerbread man then decorated him. Next we wrote a sentence that described him.

What we were up to last week.

Osmo

Our Donors Choose project requesting an Osmo gaming system was funded. It interacts with an iPad and has some very fun educational games. We started with the Tangam and the Numbers game. Next we will learn to use the Words and the Coding game.

Project Lead the Way (PLTW)

We continued the Structure and Function module of PLTW. Students have been learning what an Engineer is and what structure and function is. (Example: Function of a chair and the structure it needs to be in order to meet that function.) We read the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and we discussed the structure and function of the beanstalk as is pertains to the story. So I gave the students 10 pipe cleaners to make their own beanstalk. We drew a beanstalk design that met the following requirements:

1. All 10 pipe cleaners need to be used
2. Your beanstalk needs to stand on its own
3. I will be looking for the tallest one.

Then we had to build it. 

Christmas Poinsettias

It is that time of the year. We are starting to craft some art for the holidays.

November Owls and Tom the Turkey

One of the the themes for the month of November was Owls. We learned about owl habitats and their physical characteristics. We wrote about what owls are, what they have, and what they can do.

 

We also participated in an owl pellet investigation.  Students dissected owl pellets and wrote down their findings on an data sheet.

 

Our class and their families did a wonderful job on their Tom the Turkey Disguises.

Graphing with Candy Skeleton Bones

Last week week graphed using candy shaped like skeleton parts. They had to use the data and write down how many each they had. Then tell which bone they had the most or least of.

The Pumpkin Project

Each table group had a pumpkin to investigate. Students had to measure the height, count the lines, see if it floated or sank, and count the seed they scooped out.

Letter Fluency

We are learning letter naming fluency with focus boards.

Math

We had fun learning greater than with our dice shakers.