Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Architecture is the theme for the month of February.




From prehistoric pile dwellings to the impressive structures of the Roman Empire and the towering skyscrapers of today's biggest cities, architecture tells the story of human history and culture. On every continent, major buildings offer enchanting insights into the people who built them. This is an alluring  topic to study. I am really enthusiastic about it. Students will be covering different types of architecture, but focusing mainly on skyscrapers: some of the tallest structures  in the USA and around the world. 
Children seem enchanted with skyscrapers. They often ask, "Are these tall buildings built in the sky?" We are taking advantage of this fascination to focus on skyscrapers. The first skyscrapers were built in the USA. Their popularity has spread over the years. Now we can find these towering giants in cities around the world. A skyscraper is like a small world in itself. Imagine thousands of people going to work at the same address.

We had a great discussion about what all is required to build something: land, permit, architect, bricks, cement, concrete, sand, steel, lumber and the list goes on.
This morning our young architects chose their piece of land (paper, shape, size... they had to design within that piece of land). They first had to think about what they would like to build.  They then designed their building, using geometric shapes and adding how many pieces  of squares / rectangles /  triangles they used all together! Sean said, "he loved this activity". In the afternoon, children closed their eyes and thought about the kind of house they live in, and then drew it out... Please keep on coming to our classroom and enjoy looking at different buildings that the children will be designing.



Blogger: Mrs. Adhikary






Secret number / Can you guess what number that might be?

Secret Number:
                                                                         0  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
clue :-                                                              10  11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

1. It is greater than 12
2. It is less than 16.
3. It is even

The secret number is____14_____

We did this math yesterday. The children were all very quiet , when they were listening to my direction....  think ..think.. think.. Suddenly Oliver G. said , " I know what number it is, it is 14. So he got up from his chair and went and crossed 14. Then the others said, " I was going to cross that one out, too". Parents, this is a fun way to talk about -- odd / even / units / tens , when you are driving !

Sunday, January 31, 2010

CAVE:Growing our own stalactites and stalagmites.

Roly ploy Amelia.

 What must have taken a million years for the stalactites and stalagmites to grow in a cave, we grew our own  within an hour. Oliver Schutt kept on saying, " oh my goodness, I don't believe this, this is amazing".

We had also done an experiment on layers of the Earth with jello. It was a project that lasted for  five days, the first day we made the inner core. The second day the outer core the third day mantle and the fourth day the crust. On the fifth day we enjoyed eating the layers, for some children they participated in the experiment , but, got to eat ice cream instead.

 A poem

by Amelia Marks

 The stalactite
was flying a kite
and I got a bite!

(

                 


Thursday, January 28, 2010

The way to start a day is appreciating nature and its beauties.

For my birthday I received  a vase with gorgeous roses from all of my friends at Summers-Knolls. I wanted everyone to enjoy these beautiful flowers! Someone must have picked from faraway places shipping them to the flowershops with care.
This morning my students were shown how to arrange flowers. One even said, "I'm going to make a beautiful creation," and they did, each one of them. Then they carried their flowers carefully and placed them in different areas all around the school. They all seemed really thrilled to make their special arrangements. What a joy to see this activity!
I've included a picture of a book I just added to our Peace Library. It's a wonderful read with lovely pictures that are all about appreciating nature. There is a glorious image of a sun and I have to share that when Amelia saw the illustration, she asked which direction was east. When I pointed towards the east to signal where it was, she put her palms together and bowed a silent, "Namaste."
I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Adding by Double Digit Numbers :)

I introduced double digit number addition yesterday.The children are enjoying it thoroughly and understanding it as well. I started as a game with one student, and now everyone wants to do it.YAY. This morning children got clip boards with paper and pencil and were making their own problems. " math is so much fun" said one student . I had a big smile on my face and said, " totally"


Friday, January 22, 2010

Echolocation- seeing by hearing / Is air moving in or out?

Why do bats have big ears? How do they see by hearing? Our class wanted to experience, how it must be for a bat , without hitting a stalactitie or bumping into a wall, how each bat hunts its food and locates its spot on the ceiling in the dark part of a cave? Our children discovered that it is not easy, we had one bat , who was blindfolded, the bat had to listen to a moth ( another student making sound from somewhere in the classroom ). The bat held his big ear ( a paper funnel that they made) and tried to eat that moth by following that sound. The children discovered that  it is not easy! Someone said, " I was bumping everywhere, and it was too dark, I don't want to be a bat".

Is air moving out of the cave or in?
When the wind blows: Is air moving throough the cave? The children experimented this by holding a piece of paper down. Some said  the paper was moving towards the twilight zone, hence air is flowing out , one student said, "her's was moving  into the cave "!



Wednesday, January 20, 2010

My wish for tomorrow.

It is amazing to know how well informed our children are about Haiti and the devestation that people are going through right now. I took the opportunity this afternoon during  our " buddy time " and introduced something about what we could wish for tomorrow. I read a few poems that children all over the world had written about their wish. Our children were equally compassionate talking about, hunger, war, peace, and helping each other. Here are some of their hearts speaking out.
Some children took their projects home , and some thought it would be nice to leave it at school. Enjoy looking at them.