Meeting the Mayor!

Through student-driven interests, I scheduled a meeting with the Mayor of Tacoma.  The Sharks had some great questions to ask, and the Mayor was excited to hear all of them.  Here are a few of their questions:

What is your favorite thing to do?

How do you make a law?

What is your favorite thing about your job?

How did you get to be Mayor?

Who do you work for?

After sharing their questions, we got to visit her office and see Tacoma from her rooftop garden.  Afterwards we had lunch at the middle school. 

Here are some of things your Sharks learned about being a Mayor:

GH: It was interesting.  She told us everything we asked.

AS: You have to ask a lot of people to make a law.

JL: Even Mayors have to obey rules.

LR: She has lots of lawyers to help her decide what we should do for the community.

VK: She had to ask for votes to become Mayor.

CH: Her favorite type of math was division.  She uses it in her job to pass out money.

CW: We learned that her favorite thing about her job was to meet other students.

JT: She has 9 city council members.  There job is to make new laws.

AM: She works for the people of Tacoma and has to live in Tacoma too.  There’s 200, 000 people in Tacoma.

TV: She forgets names of people because she meets a lot of people in her job.



Food Bank vs. Grocery Store

After many participated in the Hunger Walk last month, I was able to coordinate a trip to visit a local food bank to see how their donations were being used. I think that their impressions of a food bank prior to going have changed significantly. Back in the classroom today, the students worked in teams as they compared a food bank to a local grocery store using a Venn diagram. On Friday, the Sharks will share what they have learned at the all-school Gathering, and watch your email for an upcoming food drive led by your Sharks.

The "clean" version of our Venn Diagrams.  Each group created their own.

One group sharing their comparisons to the rest of the class.

Learning many interesting facts about this Food Bank

CW is helping shelf some "fun" food items.  Each family only gets ONE item from these shelves a week.

We noticed that many of the shelves look bare.  This food bank serves about 3000 people a month, and is able to spend $4900 to purchase food necessary to serve others. 

Happy Halloween!!

Sending all of you a belated Happy Halloween from the Sharks.  Thank you to all the parents who were able to come and/or contribute in some way.  A special Thank You for Ellie who coordinated and led many of the activities in the room.  I love and appreciate everyone's support and participation!!

The Bean Bag competition is ON!

Who's the Mummy?

We are Tiny Alien Scientists...

...exploring foreign liquids and solids from Planet Earth.  We are investigating whether we can physically change each object while still keeping their properties.  Using a States of Matter curriculum tailored for gifted students, the Sharks had to use their senses to describe each object and record their data.  Afterwards, they "changed" each solid and liquid to make is smaller to determine if the properties of their object changed.  Using the scientific process, the students started with a question, gave their hypothesis, collected data and shared their results.

The next day, while cleaning our "alien" ship, Mrs. Van noticed that one of the mysterious substances (cornstarch) had water spilled on it and turned into "goop."  The Sharks really worked hard at deciding whether or not the mysterious goop was a solid or liquid.  Bottom line: The cornstarch does not mix well with the water, therefore, it begins to mix with the water giving it a "liquid" look, but as soon as it is touched, the cornstarch molecule clump up and turn the goop into a solid.  Watch to see how some students described it below:

We Know All About Eggs!

We continue to explore different types of communities, and how they impact our lives.  On Thursday, we went to Wilcox Farms in Roy, WA.  The students visited buildings that were over 100 years old and compared how life back then differed from today. Also, we walked through several buildings were eggs were cleaned, packed and ready to be shipped to our local grocery stores.  The strongest memory is the smell; chickens are not the sweetest smelling animals!!  I have some follow up lessons that we will do over the next week to see what other businesses provide us with goods and services, and the types of communities these businesses exist in (ie: rural, urban, suburban).

Unfortunately, I was unable to take any pictures inside the factories, but the students enjoyed exploring the old equipment and vehicles on the farm.

Making a delivery in the milk truck from the 1940's

The schoolhouse from 1905.  Many noticed spaces for ink and quills, and that the desks were all different sizes...

Does your Shark have any idea what this is??

Quote of the day: "I bet your jaw will drop when we get this thing moving!"

The Daily News

Two Sharks today did a news and weather report for the community of Back City.  Please watch!

What Math Looks Like for the Sharks

Prior to Seabury, I taught in public schools where I was required to teach a specific lesson on a specific day regardless of my student's abilities with the concept.  Some days it felt like throwing a ball at a target, hoping that most of the kids were comfortable with the lesson to move on.  Even worse, those who were above the level I was teaching wasn't allowed to work ahead, because, if they moved to another grade level in math, then what were they to do the next year?  There was very little flexiblity with advancing students who were ready. At Seabury, there is no glass ceiling to what your child can do.  I preevaluate each child's abilities and stretch them as far as they can, not as far as the math book will allow.  In the next few years, they will continue to recieve what they need, regardless of the level of performance.

I have two different math groups that I lead twice a week.  These groups are flexible and will change as new skills are introduced.  So, if your child is strong with place value, but struggles with basic facts, they will get the instruction they need at their level.   Currently, I am pulling resources as high as the third grade text and beyond! 


The girls are making 4 digit numbers in a game of Snap!  Here they are to make the largest number possible with the numbers they draw.

 

Using counters to show equations that equal 10.

TV and VK are using place value dice to compare numbers in a game of "Who Has More?".

Who Has More? Gameboard.  This game can be place with single digit to six digit numbers, and math facts.

JT and I are using addition facts to "bump" each other off the game board in the game of Bump.

In math groups, I believe in using manipulatives and hands-on games to teach and reinforce mathematical concepts. It makes learning the concept fun and more concrete than just doing worksheets. Base 10 blocks, counters, and several types of dice are just a few items in my suitcase of math fun.  I send home math worksheets on Tuesday and Thursday that review what was done in math groups. If you are seeing their homework becoming difficult, please let me know right away! Homework should be practicing previously taught skills and concepts and not intended to have your child struggle.

In addition, other skills are being practiced and learned in a real-world application setting.  One example from today comes from our Literature Circles.  Students were building houses with a variety of materials.  Money and telling time will come into play very soon as the students are developing a community.  Already, we have a fish store in the works, as well as a swimming pool (memberships start at $50 :) ).

AM is marking lines in her cardboard house.



JT using a measuring the height of his "house" with a tape measure.