Math
This week the students turned into budding, young architects right before our very eyes as they brought their visions for their Green Home to life! First we watched a short video clip on architects and blueprints as a means of setting the stage for the challenging activity they were about to encounter. Then following the guidelines of the project, each group “hit the drawing board” to come up with a floor plan for their home. In this process, students had to consider such things as square footage, layout and functionality of the rooms, and of course, scale factors! Our drawings were done on ½ cm graph paper where the students had to determine the value of each box on the grid for both the actual house and the scale model they are going to construct. This was a very intellectually stimulating activity that required loads of teamwork, perseverance, and patience. I am pleased to say that I could not have asked the students to take this task more seriously. The student buy-in was incredible, and it was so exhilarating to watch them bring the mathematics to life!
In addition to working with measurement conversions, area, and scale, we also learned about how to find the area of composite figures. Composite figures are figures that can be divided into smaller, more recognizable figures. Once the smaller, more “basic” figures have been identified, then traditional formulas for area can be applied. This provides a great opportunity for students to review all of the area formulas we learned last year for triangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, and of course, rectangles. I encourage you to bring this concept to life in your own home as well. Take some time (if you haven’t already) to analyze the shapes of rooms in your house. Give your child a tape measure, and have them calculate the square footage of a room or two. To help them make sense of numbers in their world, observe other homes or buildings when you’re in the car and make estimates about their square footage. All of these conversations you have with your child help to bring these concepts into an even more meaningful context and can be the means of generating some great dialogue amongst your family.
This week the students turned into budding, young architects right before our very eyes as they brought their visions for their Green Home to life! First we watched a short video clip on architects and blueprints as a means of setting the stage for the challenging activity they were about to encounter. Then following the guidelines of the project, each group “hit the drawing board” to come up with a floor plan for their home. In this process, students had to consider such things as square footage, layout and functionality of the rooms, and of course, scale factors! Our drawings were done on ½ cm graph paper where the students had to determine the value of each box on the grid for both the actual house and the scale model they are going to construct. This was a very intellectually stimulating activity that required loads of teamwork, perseverance, and patience. I am pleased to say that I could not have asked the students to take this task more seriously. The student buy-in was incredible, and it was so exhilarating to watch them bring the mathematics to life!
In addition to working with measurement conversions, area, and scale, we also learned about how to find the area of composite figures. Composite figures are figures that can be divided into smaller, more recognizable figures. Once the smaller, more “basic” figures have been identified, then traditional formulas for area can be applied. This provides a great opportunity for students to review all of the area formulas we learned last year for triangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, and of course, rectangles. I encourage you to bring this concept to life in your own home as well. Take some time (if you haven’t already) to analyze the shapes of rooms in your house. Give your child a tape measure, and have them calculate the square footage of a room or two. To help them make sense of numbers in their world, observe other homes or buildings when you’re in the car and make estimates about their square footage. All of these conversations you have with your child help to bring these concepts into an even more meaningful context and can be the means of generating some great dialogue amongst your family.
A Quick Word About Homework…
Homework is getting SO much better! Thank you for the support you’ve shown me at home! I’m already seeing the payoffs! This week there is no “Mixed Review” – only a “Skills Practice.” In lieu of the Mixed Review, I would like the students to carve out some time to study what we’ve learned so far this year. In class, we had a great discussion about what this “looks” like. Here are the ideas generated by the kids:
· Re-read my Math daybook notes taken in class
· Go to the Class Notes page of Mrs. V’s Math Website and watch video tutorials and take self-check quizzes
· Re-read pertinent pages of my Math On Call book
· Copy Mrs. V’s Math Powerpoints from the “L Drive” at school onto my flash drive and watch them at home
The important thing about studying is to remember that most of us were not born knowing how to do this! It is an acquired skill that we refine over time, and it’s highly individualized in that people have to learn what works best for them. I will tell you this – most people cannot just sit still and read information passively to commit it to memory. Most people must interact with the material. The website is a great means of doing this. It’s also very helpful for most people to talk aloud with someone else. The auditory and verbal component of actually having to formulate thoughts deepens their understanding, resulting in better retention of content. So study groups can be very effective – as long as they stay on task! I have also encouraged them to use YOU as their audience. Have them take YOU through one of my instructional Powerpoints placing themselves in the role of the teacher, with you being the student. Studies show that teaching someone else how to do something makes the teacher, as well as the student, smarter! Plus, it takes you out of the hot seat! Kinesthetic Learners need to add movement to their studies, so I encourage them to come up with creative, yet effective ways to do this. Perhaps they do jumping jacks or lunges as they recite definitions or formulas. Perhaps they come up with hand motions to depict concepts such as area or perimeter. Put them in charge of their own learning, but hold them accountable. J They are ready for it!
Science
This week has been amazing! The last few weeks your children have been exploring energy in a variety of ways. We looked at alternate energy by utilizing the Internet in a Web Quest. Your children made wind turbines in class and created a room of bubbles! We studied convection, conduction, and radiation. You children created solar cookers to discover more about these concepts and as a bonus received a yummy treat! We used solar cells and observed how the radiant energy can be harnessed to create electricity. Green house gases and global warming were widely explored through videos (ask about the polar bears) and a global warming laboratory activity. We analyzed your homes for energy efficiency and brainstormed methods to make our homes more energy efficient. This week we pulled all this knowledge together to create a cumulative project the brings all these topics together into one Green Home.
Veronica Westendorff was our guest educator on Monday and Tuesday. Mrs. Westendorff is a professional landscape architect, and she was able to share with your children professional information about creating blue prints and land development, passive energy and interesting stories about her career. We were very fortunate to have her expertise to apply to their Green Home projects! Mrs. VonCanon did an amazing job with the blue prints! She taught about scale drawing and proportions. We able to apply all this information into real life applications in the creation of a blue print for their Green Home! Wednesday and Thursday we worked in groups to create a detailed plan for creating their Green Home. Your children needed to make selections on what type of flooring to utilize, energy sources, type of insulation, roof material and landscaping were just a few of the decisions they had to make based on the information we have discussed in class. Friday we started construction of the model of our homes with cardboard boxes. We will be using the blue prints to make our model homes. It is such a joy to see all your children so engaged in a project. Everyone is enthusiastic and diligent on their work. The Green Home Expo will be an exceptional day!
Parents, thank you for answering the call for materials! We received many boxes, tile and wood pieces. Your children will have abundant supply of materials to work with!
Homework is getting SO much better! Thank you for the support you’ve shown me at home! I’m already seeing the payoffs! This week there is no “Mixed Review” – only a “Skills Practice.” In lieu of the Mixed Review, I would like the students to carve out some time to study what we’ve learned so far this year. In class, we had a great discussion about what this “looks” like. Here are the ideas generated by the kids:
· Re-read my Math daybook notes taken in class
· Go to the Class Notes page of Mrs. V’s Math Website and watch video tutorials and take self-check quizzes
· Re-read pertinent pages of my Math On Call book
· Copy Mrs. V’s Math Powerpoints from the “L Drive” at school onto my flash drive and watch them at home
The important thing about studying is to remember that most of us were not born knowing how to do this! It is an acquired skill that we refine over time, and it’s highly individualized in that people have to learn what works best for them. I will tell you this – most people cannot just sit still and read information passively to commit it to memory. Most people must interact with the material. The website is a great means of doing this. It’s also very helpful for most people to talk aloud with someone else. The auditory and verbal component of actually having to formulate thoughts deepens their understanding, resulting in better retention of content. So study groups can be very effective – as long as they stay on task! I have also encouraged them to use YOU as their audience. Have them take YOU through one of my instructional Powerpoints placing themselves in the role of the teacher, with you being the student. Studies show that teaching someone else how to do something makes the teacher, as well as the student, smarter! Plus, it takes you out of the hot seat! Kinesthetic Learners need to add movement to their studies, so I encourage them to come up with creative, yet effective ways to do this. Perhaps they do jumping jacks or lunges as they recite definitions or formulas. Perhaps they come up with hand motions to depict concepts such as area or perimeter. Put them in charge of their own learning, but hold them accountable. J They are ready for it!
Science
This week has been amazing! The last few weeks your children have been exploring energy in a variety of ways. We looked at alternate energy by utilizing the Internet in a Web Quest. Your children made wind turbines in class and created a room of bubbles! We studied convection, conduction, and radiation. You children created solar cookers to discover more about these concepts and as a bonus received a yummy treat! We used solar cells and observed how the radiant energy can be harnessed to create electricity. Green house gases and global warming were widely explored through videos (ask about the polar bears) and a global warming laboratory activity. We analyzed your homes for energy efficiency and brainstormed methods to make our homes more energy efficient. This week we pulled all this knowledge together to create a cumulative project the brings all these topics together into one Green Home.
Veronica Westendorff was our guest educator on Monday and Tuesday. Mrs. Westendorff is a professional landscape architect, and she was able to share with your children professional information about creating blue prints and land development, passive energy and interesting stories about her career. We were very fortunate to have her expertise to apply to their Green Home projects! Mrs. VonCanon did an amazing job with the blue prints! She taught about scale drawing and proportions. We able to apply all this information into real life applications in the creation of a blue print for their Green Home! Wednesday and Thursday we worked in groups to create a detailed plan for creating their Green Home. Your children needed to make selections on what type of flooring to utilize, energy sources, type of insulation, roof material and landscaping were just a few of the decisions they had to make based on the information we have discussed in class. Friday we started construction of the model of our homes with cardboard boxes. We will be using the blue prints to make our model homes. It is such a joy to see all your children so engaged in a project. Everyone is enthusiastic and diligent on their work. The Green Home Expo will be an exceptional day!
Parents, thank you for answering the call for materials! We received many boxes, tile and wood pieces. Your children will have abundant supply of materials to work with!
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