It's been a fun week back after break and we've been super busy. Here's some of our highlights from the week.
On Monday we had new seats and new teams as well. We played some team building games and each group made a team name. This activity was an idea I saw on Pinterest that referenced Ron Clarks "The End of Molasses Classes". The use of balloons is a fun and easy way to spice up any activity! We played it were the kiddos had 3 minutes to pass around the balloon and show a number with as many representations as they could think of. The winning team that showed the most ways got to pop the balloons!
My students also had a blast doing a measurement activity and predicting how much they'll grow this year. After doing some measuring the kids surveyed each other and graphed what they thought they would grow. We found out the average child grows 2 and a half inches a year!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/New-Years-Measurement-2271736
I promise this basketball hoop has educational value! LOL! This has been an idea for several months, that has finally come together. There's still some things I'd like to change, like make the posters larger, but for now it is what it is! So this is our 8 mathematical practices display, and it has an interactive feature! We've been working on discussing the elite 8 and how we use them in class and at home. When they can justify how they use a practice, they can make a basket! We've only had one make it in so far, and it was a dunk so even better. I sense a fraction component coming on with percentages :)
For science we've been diving into forces and motion, and got to see it in SLOW-MO!!!!!! While learning about Newtons Laws, we tried out this demonstration and it was a hit!
I have 3 packs of pencils left in my classroom.. I'm desperate! I've done pencil wars before and it was really motivating to students to try and keep track of their things. If they can keep their pencil until January 28th I'll make a sweet treat! We'll give it a shot and every month have a new reward. With switching classes it can be difficult to keep track of all their stuff, so hopefully this will gently nudge them into holding onto their pencils :)
Hope you all had a great week back! I know I'm exhausted, time for some Zzzzz!
Diana
I love your balloon idea! I'm going to have to steal that one - next week, I meet with a small group of students who are struggling with math skills and this should be a fun way to get them thinking about numbers.
ReplyDeleteI love the Elite Eight idea! How exciting for your kiddos! :)
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