Wear orange tomorrow

Hello,

I forgot to remind the class to wear orange tomorrow.  It is walk/bike to school day and that is the chosen color for our grade.  Nice and visible. 

The movie club is planning to film a "jail break" sequel to their debut bank robbery film.  It is hard to get twelve kids on the same page, but I think it will be a success.  I'm not sure what they got out of The Wizard of Oz viewing, as far as their filmmaking goes, but we talked about what makes a good film plot.

I introduced an Andy Goldsworthy book to the class library.  He is one of my favorite artists.  Your child's homework is to explain to you who he is and what he does.  Here are a few samples of his work:

   

He uses pieces of nature as his medium.  He has some fascinating pieces to look at, yet they are very accessible.  He has a lot of pieces that make you think, "That's so neat!"  and then, "I think I could do something like that too."

We attempted to do some art in his style this afternoon.  The kids got some fresh air and ran around collecting leaves, twigs and rocks.  I was hoping to post a couple of pictures to show what our class did, but my personal email always goes to my spam folder.  I should be able to post them tomorrow.

The rain tonight should bring down some brighter leaves to work with, but I thought the kids did well with what was available to them. 

We finished the day with some science.  I was surprised with the results of an afternoon science probe on "What is a solid?"  Several kids still were confused on whether powders (yes), squishy balls (yes), and cloth (yes) are solids or not.  The probes get right to the heart of their understanding and help me clarify any confusions. 

For the record: Atoms or molecules in a solid are in a fixed position and can only vibrate in place.  In a liquid the atoms or molecules are more loosely connected and can slide past one another.  They are still not independent of each other as in a gas, however. 

In terms of what we can see, solids generally maintain their shape and have a definite volume.  Liquids can be poured and take the shape of their container.  Although powders can also be poured and take the shape of their container, this is because they are tiny, individual solid pieces, and not because atoms or molecules are sliding against each other.  The collection of particles behave this way, much like filling a jar with marbles.  Clear? 

I hope my facial hair brings the Sox more luck tonight. 

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea