Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 9, 2017
As part of our study on water conservation, students went on a hunt throughout Floral looking for the ways in which water is used in our building every day. Custodian Mr. Poe led us on a guided tour of the hallways, kitchen, and basement, where both kids and teachers were surprised by the amount of potable water needed to keep just one building in operation every day. The intent is to make kids aware of the precious and limited resource that water is in our community and our world. This week, students will learn about sources of pollution, including erosion, point, and nonpoint sources; the cost involved, both economically and environmentally; and possible solutions.
We will also collect data on water sources at home. In this week’s math homework packet is a tally sheet for students to use. Please help your child find sources they may not think of or see, such as underground sprinklers/irrigation, heating and cooling units, and communal facilities if you live in an apartment or condominium.
Shrewsbury’s bag ban is once again the subject of debate this month! It’s a perfect opportunity for students to use their skills of analysis, reading comprehension, and critical thinking to learn more about the pros and cons related to the issue. They will then craft opinion writing pieces in which they take a side and defend their argument with reasons based on their research. A kid-friendly summary of the arguments for and against bag bans in general can be found here.
Students have been otherwise engaged in the opinion-writing process! The Common Core’s throughline is “College and Career Readiness,” and it starts here with students creating pieces in which they reference texts they have read. Here are a few samples from book recommendations from 1) Vinnie, on Splat the Cat, 2) Melanie, on Belle the Birthday Fairy, and 3) Arin, on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 1) First, it has funny characters. For one thing, Splat the Cat does silly thing. He swims with the sharks, searching for buried treasure. 2) Second, there’s an interesting setting. There’s Fairyland, the most incredible place. And a non-freezing ice castle! 3) The plot has lots of action, like when Violet turns into a blueberry and when Mike TV goes in the television. Terrific!
This week we wrap up our learning on data and graphing by examining line plots and bar graphs. What’s important for kids to know at the end is that information can be shown visually in a variety of ways; that a “key” holds important information for interpreting graphs; and that there is a difference between reading a graph (just saying what you literally see) and interpreting them (telling what the tallies, bars, numbers, and words mean); and that graphs can be used to solve real world problems. This page from the student book illustrates these points well:
Here’s more pics of us learning about water sources; determining importance using nonfiction articles; and more:
