I am SO excited to see the Sharks in just a couple of weeks!  It's going to be an outstanding year full of fun and adventure.  Below is a list of supplies we will need to start our year off right!  Please bookmark this site as it will be your window to our classroom.  Weekly emails will be sent when a new post is ready for viewing.

SHARKS 2011-2012 Supply List

Please label your child’s supplies, coats, backpack and lunch! Thanks!!

Remaining school supplies will be provided by Seabury and are community shared.

1 regular sized backpack (please no wheels if possible)

3 folders with inside pockets (any fun design they want!)

1 wide ruled spiral notebook (80 page size is sufficient)

1 pair of headphones (cheap dollar store ones work well)

A water bottle to leave on their desk

1 box 24 count crayons

Everyday is a Busy Day

NB is using a meter stick to find the measurement of the chair

We have been using a variety of tools to measure length in inches, feet, yards, centimeters and meters.

An Chiuly activity with our Artist in Residence Joni

Making observations with the leaves and petals

Fun scientific tools to study leaves in more detail

Here are some of the differences and similarities the students independently wrote down while studying leaves.

More Artist in Residence

JE using a meter stick to measure the whiteboard

Mrs. Katy is helping DS with an O'Keefe inspired art project

Here are a bunch of pictures of us over the past couple of weeks.  The Sharks have been so busy with hands-on activities, and making the connections between their work and the real world. 

Mangos, Papayas and Guava fruit, Oh My!!

This week we have been talking alot about seeds and how they travel from their parent plant to their new location to germinate.  We read "The Tiny Seed" by Eric Carle, and each Shark is writing and illustrating their own version of this tale using collage and texture painting and publishing on Powerpoint.  We cut open some fruits and found, or attempted to find (do naval oranges have a seedless variety?? If so, oops!) When I asked the class to share examples of fruit, I got every fruit under the sun, except the basics like apples, bananas and oranges.  Have you ever had jack fruit??

The seeds we planted are beginning to germinate for the garden.  Now, if only mother nature would cooperate and give us some warm weather to plant them!!  We will be studying cacti, the photosynethesis process, and the purpose of a flower in the coming weeks as we continue to "travel" to various regions and learn about different Native American cultures.

There's gotta be seeds in here somewhere??

LW is dissecting an orange( I didn't know they were seedless!)

The best part of today's lesson was eating the fruit!

CH and EJ showing off their Pueblo dresses.

NB and GH leading their own reading group!

JE and DS enjoying the fruit

Exploring Seeds

This week, we have talked about the life cycles that humans, insects and plants go through.  We saw that all living things begin as a seed, and go through several transformations in life.  We read The Dandelion Seed today, and discussed the ways that seeds travel.  The students then designed seed coats that would allow their seeds to hitchike, like pinecones and berries, fly through the air like maples and dandelions, and float by water like coconuts and cranberries.  The students tested their designs for effectiveness.

THANK YOU to all the parents who supported this year's fund-an-item of supplying our classrooms with smartboards.  I had a chance to bring the demo board to the class for the morning that the students LOVED interacting with the board.  They will be installed and ready for use either at the end of this year, or definately this fall.

NB, DS, and AD testing their floating seeds

EJ has made a flying seed.  I hope it works!!

Will this flying seed be successful??  You'll have to ask MP.

Deosn't get any more hands on than this!

We took advantage of the beautiful spring weather to start preparing the garden for a delicious fall harvest.  The Explorers were with us as they prepared the Native habitat, while the Sharks weeded the front garden beds.  We are currently collecting data on ground temperatures to determine the best time to plant our seeds. We will be germinating several plants after spring break, and maintaining the vegetable garden until school lets out in June. 
Today in class, the students worked in their own cooperative groups on self-directed projects.  Some students were planting seeds with a control and variable, testing the affects of soda vs. water, soil vs. rocks, and if baking soda affects plant growth.  Others were building mazes for our class beetles, and timing how long it took for them to travel different differences.  They observed the strength of the beetles when they saw how it pushed a dice out of its way to reach its food.  A new testable question emerged as one began to wonder if beetles have eyes and can see, or rely on the sense of touch and smell.
All in all, a busy open-ended learning day!

GH and JE breaking up the ground to pull weeds

LW found an old root ball

CS hard at work

MP and DS finding new critters and picking up compost

Great teamwork EJ and CH!

A new friend...can we put him under the microscope?

Finding lines of symmetry with pattern blocks

AD and JE observing the preying mantis egg.  When will it hatch?

Observing our World Through Math and Science

The Sharks have had a lot of opportunities to construct their learning through manipulatives and other tools.  In math, we have talked about 2-d and 3-d, as they occur naturally or are manmade.  We have a great time at the Tacoma Art Museum finding shapes within photographs taken right here in Tacoma. We observed that shapes in nature do not have nor need to have perfect sides and corners to be considered shapes.  We even saw many organic shapes! In the classroom, the Sharks used toothpicks (edges) and marshmallows (vertices) to create their own figures.  In science, I pulled out our BRAND NEW (Thanks fund-an-item 2010 donors!!) microscopes, as the Sharks observed various seeds and recorded their observations in their journals.  One student commented on how he noticed that the same type of seed can come in different shapes and sizes.  Several noticed parallel line patterns on the seeds.  They really enjoyed using the scientific equipment! 

This Thursday is the Science Fair from 6-7:30.  A bake sale will be from 7-7:30 to collect donations for Japan Tsunami/Earthquake relief.  One student's family in our class has family members in Toyko!  I am happy to report they are all okay.  We are also doing a coin drive and all donations will be given to Red Cross.  If you would like to donate a baked good, please bring individually wrapped goodies with your child on Thursday and I will pass them along.  The middle school is hosting the event.

CS, MP, LW and NB constructing 3-d figures

AD, GH, and JE busy finding hidden figures in their shapes

GH, AD, and LW using the microscopes to observe seeds

EJ and DS looking closly at an acorn seed

CH studying her observations

Cooperative Learning

The Sharks loved everything about mapmaking!  After we worked in small groups building maps, there was such an interest to continue that our focus went to building a 3-dimensional city.
It didn't take long to decide what to do.  They wanted to build Seaburius, after the made-up city in their auction movie.  Some kids went right away to adding roads and laying the plan out, while others built. 
Each day, new items were being added or removed.  One day they wondered about a power station.  Another day they decided the city had enough money to build a casino.  After awhile, a need for a neighborhood came up.  Bringing in people to the city also brought in a cemetary and even a mausoleum!  The Sharks had to negotiate their wants and needs for football stadiums, stores, parks, and a transalantic tunnel to the castle.  The builders had to take in account the size of their building and roads.
This project went on for a couple of weeks, engaging in the building process for hours!
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  Even though the "final" product was never completed, the skills and concepts incorporated in the arts, social studies, math and cooperation will carry over to future lessons.

EJ is adding road and speed limit signs to Mushroom Road

AD's strip mall to include a bank and a Godfather's Pizza

NB and GH discussing plans on paper

CS adding a pasture for the horse stable