Dictionaries |
Each year third and fourth graders read with students in the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Ms. Lewis’s class reads on Tuesday mornings with the kindergarten class, and just recently Mrs.Koch’s class has started to read with some of the pre-k students on Tuesday afternoons. Reading out loud to the younger students gives the third and fourth graders some great practice of their reading expression, and gives the younger students an opportunity to connect and meet students outside of their grade level.
This past week we continued with our science unit, The Science of Flight. Pairs of students designed gliders on an iPad app and then built a model glider based on their design. Once the gliders were built we headed to the gym to see how they flew. Each group did three trials with their original design. We used a three-ringed binder and elastic band to launch the gliders. After their initial trial students modified the glider by adding paper clips or binder clips. Once those trials were complete we returned to the classroom to analyze the data, make a graph and answer questions. As we shared what we learned, students had further questions regarding the placement of the paper clips and binder clips. We will head back to the gym this week to further test the gliders with specific placement of the weight. Once we have completed these trials there is a final design challenge for the students to complete based on their understanding of flight.