Harry Potter Times

Hello,

The quidditch match is set!  The Harry Potter Club has the gym on Friday June 8th until 5:00.  We will stay after school tomorrow (Wed) to make brooms (out of swimming pool noodles) and discuss the rules.  We will have a full scale practice this Friday from 3:30 til 5:00.  Any donations of duct tape, especially brown, will be gladly accepted.  Now I have to figure out setting up the hoops and the field of play in that gym.  Look for permission slips tomorrow.

In social studies today, students started getting their information together to do mini newscasts on their chosen country.  Ask your child what country that their group chose.  I am hoping to start videotaping by the end of the week. 

I heard from more than a couple of parents that there are rumors going around that we will not be allowed to group for math next year.  I don't know if that is true or not. 



Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

book swap

Hello,

With over 450 books to choose from, the book swap was definitely a success.  We had many great books brought in.  It felt like Christmas around here.  No one went home empty handed because everyone got to take home one more book than they brought in.  Hardy Boys, Harry Potter, Lightning Thief, Little House on the Prairie books, picture books, Bone books, Boxcar Children, Babysitters Club, Warriors, Choose Your Own Adventures... a ridiculous amount of series were represented.  Take a look at what your child brought home.

My classroom clock slowed way down again.  It is my third clock and it doesn't look like this one is going to be a keeper either.  It really messed me up today, when I had twenty math students waiting to come in fifteen minutes before expected.  We had pulley projects and supplies all over the room.  I took the math class outside and we did a lot of sidewalk chalk math.  I hope I can get another new clock.  If it's the batteries they really should last longer than a month.  We'll see. 

I'm still trying to track down the elusive gym schedule.  I found out today that I need a log in user name and password to have access to see the gym schedule.  I'll make another call tomorrow and see how far I can get.  Almost there I hope.  Quidditch awaits.

Have a good night,

Mr. Shea 

pulleys, pulleys, pulleys

Hello,

We did a lot of work with pulleys today.  We changed the direction of the force, the angle of the pulleys, and the size of the pulleys.  We created fixed and movable pulleys.  We made pulleys that could increase or decrease the amount of force needed to do the same job.  Much of this was done with the Lego kits that I just acquired from Ebay.  Lego used to make these great kits for schools devoted to one simple machine.  I got ten of the pulley kits and my early feedback on them is that they are awesome.  I think the kids will understand pulleys more fully this year.  I have another day to show some of the mechanical advantage set-ups, but their basic understanding is already ahead of what I've been able to teach in the past. 

Spelling words went home tonight.  We really had the have and the have-nots on the last test.  Only 2 kids got between a 70 and a 90.  Most aced it or flunked it.  There were the usual amount of top grades, but an unordinarily high amount of low grades.  I think some kids might have gone on vacation early.  Back up the bus. 

We have a ton to accomplish these last few weeks.  I will be cramming more social studies and science into our reading/writing times.  That doesn't mean that we will be doing much less of those, only that they will be highly content related. 

We will be headed over to Crimmins Field on Friday to witness "Pickett's Charge."  Please fill in a permission slip.  These are necessary because we will be walking off of school grounds.   It looks like a regular field trip permission slip, but you can write a separate note if you haven't seen it come out of the backpack.

Have a good night,

Mr. Shea

Ridiculous speed

The month of May is going by at warp speed.  Thank you for keeping your children grounded and keeping their noses to the grindstone on their at-home reading and their other homework.  I'm sure that there are as many distractions at home as there now are at school.  Tomorrow we start our Arts are Elementary drumming classes.  Please ask your child about it after school tomorrow.  I don't know what to expect, but the people of AAE usually do a great job bringing in very creative and talented people. 

Your child used a hammer today in our study of wedges.  They will surely use a screwdriver tomorrow in our study of screws.  I'm hoping to get to pulleys too, but with a spelling test, math class and drumming, I doubt that will happen.  We are once again short on masking tape.  Thank you if you already donated some.  I'll get some more this weekend. 

We had a report card meeting tonight after school.  I think some of the changes that we decided to make will make the report card more readable. 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Building stuff

Hello,

If your child isn't having fun learning about simple machines and building stuff then I don't think I can interest them in school.  It is my favorite unit and it is only going to get better.  Today they were challenged to create a vehicle and an inclined plane where the vehicle would go as far as possible.  We will finish up and tweak these creations tomorrow morning. 

There was a little more talk about our upcoming invention fair.  I don't like the name, "Invention Fair" for what we are doing.  I'm not even using the word invention in class during this unit.  We are learning about simple machines: what they are, how they work and how they can be put together.  Everyone will be making a machine that uses all six simple machines.  My hope is that we can then connect some of these machines together.  The creations will show off our knowledge of simple machines.  We should be able to explain them using words like inertia, gravity, friction and acceleration in a proper way.  I'm not worried about whether or not the creations do anything useful or can be sold in stores.

Parents will be invited in to see what we have accomplished, but this is being done very differently than the other four classes that have already finished the unit this year.  I'm hoping that noone has a stand alone project.  I want them to have the challenge of connecting their creation with another.  We'll see how that goes.

I've got to run.  Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Levers and wheels

We finished our wheel and axle creations this morning.  Your child should be able to tell you how they make work easier or faster.  They should also be able to tell you what a force is, what friction is, what work is, and what a simple machine is by now.

We moved onto levers in the afternoon.  We focused on first class levers like see-saws, scales, and catapults.  We'll get into some of the second and third class levers tomorrow as I raid my tool box and steal most of the utensils out of my kitchen.  (My wife always knows what unit I'm teaching when her lemon squeezer disappears.)  Ask your child what a fulcrum is.  They should know because their homework is to list five household levers and explain how they work.

I have more info on our Arts are Elementary sessions that start on Friday.  Here is some information on our presenter this year:

Michael Wingfield is a performer with over 20 years of experience in the songs and rhythms of the African New World.  Through instruments such as conga, bata, shekere, and other percussive arts, Michael imparts the spirit and history of the African Diaspora in a way that speaks to the complexities of a diverse culture.  In a series of hands-on workshops, students will be ushered through the rudiments of the African musical idiom, learning about the ways in which to communicate a language, understand history, and expand perspective and self-awareness within any given community.

We're looking forward to it.

Have a good night. 

Mr. Shea

simple machine needs

Hello,

Real quickly: we need masking tape for our simple machines unit.  The school stuff has very little adhesive.  I bought some, but the kids are going through it fast.  Any that you can scrounge up or purchase would be greatly appreciated.

We started building today.  Wheel and axle inventions.  Fixed axles too.  More tomorrow, including levers!

Gotta run.  Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Share centers

Hello,

I hit up the Auburn share center on Saturday and then grabbed some more stuff at the Topsham share center today after school.  These are buildings that have donated items for teachers to use in their classrooms.  They kind of look like junky indoor yard sales, but spools, string, straws, wood scraps, dowels, and plastic doo dads really come in handy for a unit on simple machines.  Thank you to the parent group for paying for us to have access to these centers. 

We can never have enough options of materials for the kids to build with, so feel free to donate anything that could be used in a display of simple machines at work: wedges, pulleys, screws, nails, scrap wood, tubes, spools, yarn etc.  My real need right now is more masking tape.  We will go through that quickly during this unit. 

Today, we experienced the power of friction when combined with lots of surface area.  The kids tried to pry two phone books apart.  The phone books had their pages intertwined.  The pages actually are wedged together.  There is a good Mythbusters where they actually use tanks to try to pry them apart.  We watched a two minute clip of that episode today.

My math class is taking on to long division better than any class that I can remember.  Nice work.  Those struggling with multiplication facts are having the most trouble coming up with right answers, but I can see that they have the concept down. 

Tomorrow is a Hawaiian themed dress up day.  I know I don't own a Hawaiian shirt.  Maybe I can scrounge up a flowery tie. 

Have a great night,

Mr. Shea

No power

Hello,

We went without electricity for the better part of the day.  That only added to the strange energy that is always abuzz during an early release day.  The power returned just after the class got all ready for the bus announcements. 

Teachers met with their grade level teams to discuss any changes that we would like to see made on the report card, and to plan out the end of the year.  We have a lot of activities planned for the last five weeks of school, including our Arts Are Elementary unit with drummer Michael Wingfield starting next week. 

We are slowly saying goodbye to all of our Bowdoin volunteers.  They have finals next week and most are making their final appearances this week.  Thank you to Stefan, Peter, Coral, and Leah.  Their help has been fantastic and I'm sure your children have benefitted from their presence in our school. 

The book fair opens tomorrow.  The school parent group is providing each child with a five dollar credit.  They can purchase one book for that amount or less, or use the credit toward a more expensive book. Here are a couple examples of what I mean: A three or four dollar book would be free for them, but they wouldn't get any change. A six dollar book would cost them one dollar of their own money.  Much thanks to the parent group for this fantastic gift.

Another week is flying by. My to do list keeps growing while the time to do it keeps shrinking.

Have a good night,

Mr. Shea

CREA guest speaker

Hello,

The class made me proud again today.  We had a guest speaker from CREA come in speak to us about adaptations.  I feel like our class definitely has a good grasp of what they are now.  They answered all of her questions correctly and often went above and beyond in their answers.  I got the "Wow!" look from her a few times, which always makes me feel good. 

Reminders: Tomorrow is another early release day.  The school book sale starts on Thursday. 

My math class dove into long division today.  They'll get homework on it when I know that they understand why it works. 

Not only have we been looking at some Rube Goldberg machines in science, we wrote cause and effect stories in writing.  Homework is to write those up more smoothly, so that each event causes the next.

We ran a few friction tests today.  This group is going to love our Force and Motion unit.  I can't wait to see some of their creations this year.  As we get further into the unit, I'll let you know when you can come in to view your child's project.  Hopefully it will be connected to several others in a long chain of machines. 

Have a great night,

Mr. Shea

Maine State House

Hello,

Our field trip to Augusta was a success.  Thank you to the five parents that helped chaperone our kids.  I thought we represented Brunswick well.  I was especially pleased with the quantity and quality of questions that our class came up with in the House of Representatives.  They made me proud. 

Field trips sap the energy out of children and adults alike.  I'm going to take one of my free passes tonight and just give you a list of things that we saw/discussed that you can ask your child about.

Hall of Flags
Margaret Chase Smith portrait
Samantha Smith statue
Liberty Bell replica
How to become a page

Have a good night,

Mr. Shea

Friday already

The whirlwind season has begun.  It goes very fast from here on out. 

We hit many topics today as we went through a concise history of Maine.  We had to stop and discuss/explain some of the points along the way.  Questions came up about: the ice age, French and Indian War, War of 1812, Spanish-American War, WWI and WWII, the Civil War and the great depression.  (I know, I didn't put them in order)

I was a little disappointed to find out that the senatorial candidates for Olympia Snowe's current position spoke last night at Harriet Beecher Stowe without me knowing about it until after the fact.  I spoke to a bunch of teachers today who also didn't know.  I feel like we missed out on an educational opportunity.  I wish I could have informed you.  Fourth and fifth grade studies way too much government to be caught so unaware of something so major in our own backyard.  After all, we're taking a field trip to Augusta to see an near empty State House.  I would rather sit with some kids to hear a few candidates speak. 

I was pleased with the double digit multiplication of my math class today.  They definitely understand multiplication to be able to do it so well, so quickly.  Ask your child 23 x 45.  If they don't get 1035, tell them to check their work and tell you what they did wrong.  I bet they'll get it.

Some of the boys complained that our new read aloud, 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass, is too girly.  I reminded them that the main characters in most of our read alouds have been boys.  It just goes to show that the research that says that young girls will read books regardless of the sex of the main character, while boys generally do not, is correct.  They'll get into it soon enough.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

No homework besides math and the regular 20 minutes of reading

Hello,

I don't have a whole lot of time.  Thanks for getting the field trip slips in.  We are going to the Augusta State House on Monday the 7th.  I haven't done this field trip before so I hope it is educational for all of us.  I have some requests in to be chaperones.  I still haven't been able to find out if there are any limits on this, so please bear with me for one more day.

I showed the kids this link today:

http://htwins.net/scale2/scale2.swf?bordercolor=white

I think you'll be pretty impressed if you give it some of your time.  As one of the kids said while watching, "Wow... I feel really small." 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea

Chorus concert a success

Hello,

I just saw our fourth grade chorus put on a successful spring show.  I especially liked the baseball song and the rainstorm that they performed with their hands.  Bravo to all involved.

The fourth grade team agreed to no homework tonight due to the concert.  My math class voted for half an assignment though so they could continue to work toward a pizza party.  They get a check on the board every time everyone in the class comes in with their homework completed.  They are two checks away from earning their goal.  I told them an easy assignment would mean an easy check mark.  They bought it.

Biome projects will go home tomorrow.  Ask your child how they did.

It's getting late.  Back to a bit of normalcy tomorrow.  We did get spelling words this week, by the way. 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea