Mark your calendar, it's time to celebrate great work!

It's hard to believe but the first nine weeks has come and gone! Families are invited to come celebrate the sweet successes of their child at the first nine weeks award ceremony. The ceremony will be held in the dining room on Thursday, November 8th from 9:15-10:15 am.  Awards will be given out by teachers for students who met their Readers to Leaders Goal, Perfect Attendance, and A/B Honor Roll.  Our principal, Mrs. Phillips, will give out awards for All A Honor Roll and Soaring Eagle Awards.  The Soaring Eagle award is an award that can be given out for a variety of different reasons. We hope to see you there!  

 

How is the Mass and Volume of Matter Measured?

Today our young scientists participated in a science lab to answer the essential question, How can mass and volume be measured? 

To get started,  students had to make a hypothesis about which has more mass a crayon or a pencil. Then, using a pan balance with gram weights, they had to measure the mass of each. 

After that, they made a hypothesis on whether a marble or a seashell had more mass, and then measured the mass of each. (When the groups analyze their data, they will realize that the mass of all the marbles in the class are the same, however the mass of the seashell changes. The smaller the seashell the less the mass, the bigger the seashell, the larger the mass.)

Furthermore, students made a prediction about the volume of two cups of liquid, and then used a graduated cylinder to measure each volume.  (The red liquid was in a tall narrow glass and the blue liquid was in a small wide glass. Each contained 150 mL of colored water.)

Students were surprised to discover that they could also find the volume of a solid. An object's volume is the amount of space the object takes up. To find the volume of a solid, like the marble and the seashell, students used water displacement. They put 100 mL of water in a graduated cylinder, then gently dropped the solid in the water. The volume is recorded by the number of mL of water that was displaced, or moved. 

Tomorrow, we will have Closing Session where students will have to compare and then explain their results. By the end of Science Workshop tomorrow, students will be able to tell how the mass of matter is measured, and how the volume of a solid and liquid is measured.

Fall Celebrations

Yesterday was one busy day! We had the opportunity to attend the K/1 Literary parade, enjoyed a pizza party sponsored by our friends at Reflex, had our fall party, and some students came out in the evening for the CCE Fall Carnival. These busy days bring with them much laughter and fun, and lifelong memories.

For the fall party, in the ShallRussell homeroom, our wonderful volunteers set up three stations. Students enjoyed playing bingo, making and eating owl cupcakes, and created the most precious craft, their very own owls in a tree.  I know you'll join me in saying a big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who made it possible. 

Bad Boys of Dance Guest Appearance

We had a surprise guest appearance today at Chets Creek by a former student, James "Chip" Boyd, a member of the Bad Boys of Dance. Chip has traveled the world as a dancer and competed on the TV show, So You Think You Can Dance. The Bad Boys of Dance will be performing this Friday and Saturday at UNF, so Chip and two other dancers gave our students  a sneak peek into their show. The kids were enthralled and couldn't stop talking about Chips' dance moves!

Our Angry Birds Space Literary Pumpkins

Shall/Russell's Chef Kids had a fabulous time preparing the literary pumpkin this year with the help of some of our awesome moms. Angry Birds Space was the perfect compliment to our Universe unit we just completed in Science. 

Stop by the Chets Creek lobby to see our pumpkins on display. 

 

Detectives at Work

Our first read aloud, Hank Zipzer, Niagra Falls or Does It?, was an amazing book. It taught us a that everyone learns differently, and to have empathy for others. It was also a great book to practice making mental movies. Even though this book is over, this laugh out loud series is sure to be a hit all year long. Our Hank Zipzer bin is constantly empty, and there is a long list of students waiting to read these amazing books!

Ms.Lipsky and Mrs O'Leary are super excited about our next read aloud, Edgar Allan's Official Crime Investigation Notebook. We prepared for the book by learning about the ingredients of a mystery book and watching a special message from the author, Mary Amato.

After reading the first chapter we learned that "Slurpy", the goldfish belonging to a 5th grade class at Wordsworth Elementary, had been stolen! The thief left behind a poem with clues to solve the mystery. "Who would do such a thing?" we all whispered. Stay tuned as we collect clues to solve this very challenging mystery!

Finding the Number of Squares in An Array

In our multiplication unit, students have been using an array model to help them visualize the organization of things in equal rows. Today, we worked on finding the total number of squares (or area) in an array.  Students also thought about the following essential question as they worked: How can I find the product of an array more easily? This led many students to the idea of decomposing (breaking down) arrays. The following is the work that students completed during the math workshop.

An array is a model for multiplication (and eventually division too). The goal is for kids to transfer this thinking to multiplication equations using mental math, without an array present. For example, a student might solve 8x6 as (4x6) + (4x6) or (8x3) + (8x3).