January Into February

It's been a busy week. We've launched into a new science project, continued our work in grammar, written a few drafts of preposition poems, and reviewed fractions, decimals, and percents. The snow conditions conspire against cross-country skiing but we had a good outing on Monday. We'll skate at Vermont Academy tomorrow (Friday) for PSD.

This morning, students visited an interactive grammar website. You and your child might like to visit the site together and race the clock in a helping verb challenge. http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/helpingverbs We also discussed identifying nouns. I stressed that a noun can be an abstract emotional idea as well as a person, place or thing. The next step is to recognize the subject of a sentence. With these skills rehearsed, students will begin to diagram simple sentences

In science, we've begun working on the initial part of a mechanized vehicle project. As a precursor to building, students are exploring electricity and electric circuits. In the classroom, we're building different kinds of circuits and switches. We're learning about conductors, insulators, and short circuits. Tomorrow, we'll experiment with partial conductors and resistors. Ultimately, students will design and build mechanized vehicles in a project that applies an understanding of circuitry. As we head into the vehicle planning process, each student will explain how his or her vehicle design minimizes friction and utilizes a specific drive ratio. Stay tuned to the blog to see pictures as vehicles begin to take form.