Thank you Mark Cavalier, Alison Duffy, Carolyn Kelly and Chris Robie for joining us yesterday for our field trip to the planetarium.  We had a wonderful time.  The children thought seeing the rocket, jet, and many space devices, and being in the planetarium was exciting. The children who learned even more about their research topics were excited that much more.

The children know a great deal about space.  When we came back to school and the jotted down the things they wanted to remember many of them noted that they got to see things in a way that helped them to understand better.  Other loved the opportunity to try to land the space shuttle of the lunar module in the video simulation.  The children also had fun with the treasure exhibit- searching for treasure, panning for gold and understanding a bit more about the discoveries that are waiting to be made.

 

 

The Big Bang of Space Inquiry Museum

Tuesday – March 19 – 6:15 to 7:15

 We hope you all received an invitation to our museum about space.  This week has been about writing and creating and putting the displays together.  It is interesting to see how the children work and how they are preparing to share what they know with you.  The diversity among their approaches is mind-boggling.  Some are very careful about proofreading, others not at all.  Some really need to anchor their work around pictures and visuals, while others are all about writing up their research and getting their words just so.  Some get caught up in the technology – taking screen shots, selecting images, preparing brochures, while others are glad to design and draw.  I am sure you will learn a great deal from our night.

 

Focusing on Fractions

We have continued our work with fractions and are learning how what we know about multiplication can help us discover amounts when they need to be partitioned off into equal groups.  All of a sudden we are noticing “fair shares” everywhere – when we are dividing out model magic for a project or when we are cutting cardboard apart to make parts of the solar system.

Bits and Pieces –

• Growing for the Greenhouse – At the beginning of the month we began some marigold seeds as part of a project to gain attention for the greenhouse that the school is hoping to build this summer.  The children began over 200 seedlings that we shared with voters on Tuesday.  Thanks to them for that great work.
• Greenhouse Fund Raiser – on the night of our Big Bang Museum when you  buy pizza at Flatbread in Hampton between 5 and 9pm some of the money will go toward the greenhouse fund.
• Fables and Choices – We have continued our conversation about choices.  This week we read a fable called The Children and the Frogs.  It helped us consider the unintended consequences of our choices.  We realized that it can be important to really look at what is happening.