Today we continued to work with the ideas of concentration, dilution and volume. To help with this, we created an experiment in which students manipulated solutions to determine the effects on volume and mass. Ultimately, this experiment not only built greater understanding with the Next Generation Science Standards but also proved a terrific introduction to volume.

Today we got another visit from art teacher Joy Brackney. Mrs. Brackney shared with the students how to mix mediums with a Halloween themed piece of art.

Today students started their investigation into saturation. In this case, students added salt to water until the solution became saturated. Students then used a balance to determine the amount of salt that went into the solution.

This investigation is just beginning and we will learn about citric acid and how to compare crystals in the coming days.

We are establishing our peer editing process in which we sit in a circle, pass our Writing Journals to each other, and identify strengths in what we are reading from colleagues. This is a strategy first introduced to me by Kitty Gillette, a 4th grade teacher at Westergard Elementary, and it has proven to be a great way of building classroom community. Moreover, it helps everyone become better writers.

Today we started learning about the properties and behavior of different substances. Our first experiment is allowing us to get closer to understanding to fundamental ideas of chemistry including being able to describe mixtures and solutions. Over the coming weeks we will learn about density, mass, solubility, and chemical reactions.

We are one week into our exploration of the Maya and ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica. Our big question is how geography effects culture and we are sifting through some challenging material, collecting ideas and information, to answer this question. The use of the parenthetical will become key as we start supporting claims with evidence and appropriate reasoning. (And look, no uniforms, picture day!)

Today we completed our first Structured Academic Controversy (SAC). Students read two articles about lunch policies in which some districts are requiring all children to eat meals prepared by the schools. Some students had to support the claim that children should be able to bring their own lunches while others had to argue the opposite.

This was an opportunity for students to learn to how to appropriately argue and consider perspective taking. In this case, students did not initially know which side they would take and had to prepare for both stances.

We are quickly establishing our Word Study routine and students know how to complete a closed sort, an open sort and how to integrate their understanding into a game of Eye Spy. We will briefly discuss Word Study at our Brown Bag Lunch in September. Until then, please consider playing a game of Eye Spy, using the words from school, over the next few weeks.

Students are learning to annotate text and identify claims, evidence and reasoning. Despite this being our first attempt, the children have proven quite adept at the process and were able to find all the relevant information in the passage.

This is a strategy we will continue refine and apply throughout the year. This will prove especially important as we start Document Based Questions and We The People.

The first two days of school focused on establishing our classroom rules and procedures. We described “expected” and “unexpected” behavior for group work and applied this to a several icebreakers, content from Youcubed.org, and the introduction of Confidence Buddies. Student completed job applications and signed their rental agreements.

We did our first Number Talks, Juicy Sentences and learned the basic of annotating complex text. In short, it has been a great two days!