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
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
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
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
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
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
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
Monday, May 7, 2012
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
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
Thursday, May 3, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
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:
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:
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
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
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
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
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