New Vocabulary and Learnings!

On Friday, while it may have been broiling in our classroom :) , we ran a hot dog stand and discussed lots of new vocabulary with Deloitte tax specialists, Ms. Suzanne and Mr. Matt as part of Junior Achievement; the most important vocabulary word being... 

Then we also studied,

• innovation
• region
• resource
• natural resources
• capital resources
• human resources
• goods
• services
• risks
• rewards 

Today we had the honor of having ANOTHER guest presenter!  Ms. Tara from the International Wolf Center shared facts, details, and opinions about wolves in our country.  I have never seen us so engaged!  Students asked interesting and important questions, and were awed by the pictures, videos, and facts.  Among many things, we learned that wolves have a 100x better sense of smell than humans, can hear noises 6 miles away, have an adapted coat that keeps them warm and dry no matter the weather, have night vision, and can chew through the bones of their prey.  Ask us what prey wolves hunt and why wolves howl.



Tomorrow, we keep the fun rolling!  We will venture inside the Exploradome set up in the media center and examine motions across the sky!  We will investigate how the rotation and revolution of Earth cause day, night, and the year.  We will observe the differences in the appearance of the sky due to those motions. We will also track the movements of the planets among the stars over a period of time.

Junior Achievement on Friday

On Friday, volunteers from Deloitte will join us for the day in our classroom and lead us to think like entrepreneurs.  Our volunteers will help us examine regional and state resources and supply chains.  We will solve problems by weighing risks and potential rewards.  We will also see how resources are combined to create goods and services.  It'll be an exciting day!

To learn more about Junior Achievement, visit their website at https://www.jaum.org/

Decimals, the Colorado River, and the Reading Fair :)

With the decimal numbers below we can read them, write them as fractions, order them from greatest to least, and identify the place value of each digit.  Quiz us this weekend!  Next week, we will be able to add and subtract them!

48.75, 3.414, 0.936, 1.2



Throughout the week we've taken the perspective of miners, business owners, farmers and ranchers, Mexican citizens, environmentalists, American Indians, and city dwellers to learn about the Colorado River throughout history. Ask us how these settlers along the river have changed over time.  Ask us the danger of having more and more people settle along the Colorado River.  Ask us what government has done to try to fix the problems.

 

Finally, ask us about the Reading Fair :)

Back to School Tomorrow!

Fourth quarter begins tomorrow!!  We have exciting events coming up over the next few weeks.  Field trips and guest visitors galore :)

Look what I found over break!  Flashback to my fourth grade year!  Can you find Ms. Sawtell?!

Math Stations

We have our fractions post-test tomorrow and so we wrapped up the unit with a review day of five stations!  We've learned how to read fractions on a number line, read and compare fractions of a unit and of a set, and represent fractions of a unit and a set.  Our goal is to achieve at least 80% on our test tomorrow.  We're feeling confident! 

 

Isaiah, Alex, and Samire facing off during a memory game with equivalent fractions.

Isaac, Manny, and AJ analyzing fractions of a set.

O'nylah and Awnica stretching their brains with varied questions about fractions.

Mike and Franbon also testing their skills with different fraction cards.

Zane using his fraction circle to compare fractions.

Rain, rain, go away!

Most of the week looks like this :(  It is a short week though... 



May intersession begins on Friday!  We DO NOT have school on Friday!  Bridges' classes begin next week for those families who are participating.  School resumes Tuesday, May 31 for fourth quarter.

Trek the Trails

We are trekking the trails Friday afternoon! It is supposed to be a sunny and toasty day :)  I've encouraged students to dress in shorts, capris, or shorter skirts, and t-shirts.  Be sure to wear sneakers, too!  It is going to be very sunny so suntan lotion would be smart to put on in the morning, including bug repellent as we will be in the woods.  Please have students come to school with a water bottle.  There will a water station to refill!  Family is always welcome to join us if you wish!