Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Winners of the E.T. Challenge!
These students scored 100% on their Addition with Regrouping Test!
Their math skills are
OUT OF THIS WORLD!
Friday, December 13, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Robotics Learning Lab: Sneak Peek!
Look at our future Engineers:
The students have been working hard on their STEM Robotics projects. For those of you who aren't teachers, that's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Learn more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STEM_education
This group is currently working on a robot that responds to voice commands!
In room 14, we know you're never too young to invent!
Look what arrived from Poland!
Today we received a Christmas present all the way from Poland! The nice people at www.displate.com sent us a beautiful work of art for our classroom featuring a fox in a misty forest full of trees! This kids absolutely adore our new edition and we've placed it right on the inside of our door thanks to the the included magnet!
Thanks again Displate!
Monday, December 9, 2013
Van De Graaff Generator Hair by Bianca!
Van de Graaff generator: Nearly as simple as combing your hair
To understand a Van de Graaff generator, you must first understand static electricity. All matter is made up of atoms — tiny objects that contain positively charged particles called protons, and negatively charged particles called electrons. In most materials, the number of protons exactly equals the number of electrons, and the material is uncharged. Some materials, such as hair and nylon, lose electrons very easily. When you run a dry comb through your hair, your hair loses some of its electrons to the comb. As a result, your hairs become positively charged (too few electrons), and the comb becomes negatively charged (too many electrons). This has two effects. First, if you bring the comb close to a metal object, such as a doorknob, you will sometimes see a spark as the extra electrons jump from the comb to the metal — static electricity! Second, your hair may stand on end. Because each hair is positively charged and positive charges repel one another, your hairs repel each other! To get as far away from each other as possible, they stand up.
A Van de Graaff generator is only slightly more complicated than a comb running through hair. Van de Graaff generators have several parts: a motor, a belt, two rollers, two "combs," and a metal sphere. In the generator I built, the bottom roller was made out of nylon, and the upper out of Teflon. As the motor turns, the rubber belt first goes over the nylon roller. One comb pulls electrons from the nylon (which loses electrons easily) and transfers them to the rubber belt. The belt then travels to the Teflon roller. The second comb collects the electrons from the belt and stores them on the metal sphere. The motor turns very fast, so the sphere quickly collects a lot of electrons and becomes negatively charged. Touching a charged sphere is truly a "shocking" experience!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Some Smart Cookies!
In kindergarten, we studied letters and sounds, in first grade we studied words and sentences, and in second grade, we're studying about paragraphs and how to LEARN from the things we read. Teachers call this COMPREHENSION, but you can just call it a fun way to find out more about all the things you love!
What is something fun you've learned about in a book?
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Science Experiment!
Our Incredible Science Experiment!
This morning we got to do an amazing science experiment by poking a pencil through a bag of water. First, we had to gather all the supplies. We needed a large Ziploc baggy, a box of twelve sharpened pencils, and some water from the faucet. Next, Mr. Slay had us predict what would happen to the bag full of water. I thought it was going to pop and spill water all over the place. I was really felling curious about the whole thing. Finally, we performed the experiment in class. We filled the bag with water, sealed it at the top, and then Mr. Slay called students up to poke pencils through it. I poked my pencil in one side and out the other and it didn’t even spill! It was incredible! I hope that we can do more exciting science experiments like this throughout the year.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Dodgeball (as seen from the sky!)
Our Phantom DJI strikes again, giving us a birds-eye view of the classic PE game of Dodgeball!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
The Haunted Mansion (Adjectives, Commas in a series)
Haunted
Mansion
Last Wednesday I went into the creepy old
haunted mansion down the street from my apartment. The first room I entered had
a zombie in it! The zombie was sluggish, stinky, and overweight. The second room I went into had a werewolf in
it! She was hairy,
annoying, and
persnickety. The third room had a ghost in it! This ghost was gruesome, unfriendly, and childish. I was so
frightened that I quickly escaped out the back door. This was the most exciting
night of my life!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
TOP SECRET Contraction List!
are not = aren’t
cannot = can’t
could not =couldn’t
did not = didn’t
do not = don’t
does not = doesn’t
had not = hadn’t
have not = haven’t
he is = he’s
he has = he’s
he will = he’ll
he would = he’d
he had = he’d
here is = here’s
I am = I’m
I have = I’ve
I will = I’ll
I would = I’d
I had = I’d
|
is not = isn’t
it is = it’s
it has = it’s
it will = it’ll
must not = mustn’t
she is = she’s
she has = she’s
she will = she’ll
she would = she’d
she had = she’d
should not = shouldn’t
that is = that’s
there is = there’s
they are = they’re
they have = they’ve
they will = they’ll
they would = they’d
they had = they’d
was not = wasn't
|
we are = we’re
we have = we’ve
we will = we’ll
we would = we’d
we had = we’d
were not = weren’t
what is = what’s
where is = where’s
who is = who’s
who will = who’ll
*will not = won’t (irregular)
would not = wouldn’t
you are = you’re
you have = you’ve
you will = you’ll
you would = you’d
you had = you’d
|
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Look who joined the 100-Mile Club! Giant Wooden Man!
Want to learn more about the 100-mile club? Click here: http://100mileclub.com/
How many miles will you run this year? Set a goal and stick to it!
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Learning analogies with Luis
This is an analogy:
A suitcase holds clothes as a glass holds water.
Bonus! If you can leave another analogy in the comments, you will be rewarded with 2 beep beep bucks!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Our first Phantom video!
The class had fun chasing Captain Quad, but if they want to catch him, they'll have to learn how to fly!
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Our first day with our Phantom DJI!
Today we named our Phantom DJI quadcopter "Captain Quad" and took it out for it's first flight!
We had an amazing time with it!
Do you want to know more about quadcopters? Look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadcopter
Do you want to learn more about our Phantom? Look here: http://www.dji.com/product/phantom/