We continued our rock discussions this week. We began with a classification activity where they had to cut and paste pictures of rocks and decide if they were igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary. There were some healthy discussions about how how
Weekly Summary: Pi Celebration – Electrons and Neutrons – STEM
In honor of Pi Day (3/14) we spent STEM discussing all things pi. We had a reading of Sir Cumfrence and the Dragon of Pi and then played a dice game based on the digits of pi. I had another
Weekly Summary: Paragraphs Part 1: Evidence! – Muons – Writer’s Workshop
As we’re beginning to draft our essays, I reviewed the basics of evidence and its role in argument (generally) and body paragraphs (specifically). Most students REALLY struggle with finding and explaining evidence, so I tried to normalize that struggle. Indeed,
Weekly Summary: Lunges – Muons and Electrons and Neutrons – Gym
The focus of this week’s class was lunges. We talked a bit about form and what muscles are involved (quadriceps and gluts are the main ones but the core along with some calf muscles are also very important! The muons
Weekly Summary: Agriculture – Quarks – Nature Study
Today we talked about plants in a very particular context: as crops! I brought some compostable trays with multiple compartments, and these were the “farms” — each of the compartments being a different field. I made up a story about
Weekly Summary: Animal names – Neutrons – Gym
This week the Netrons tested their knowledge of baby animal names, and animal group names. They also demonstrated their teamwork and support for each other, a happy by-product. The planned activity was for each Neutron to match the name of
Weekly Summary: Shadows – Quarks – STEM
What better way to embrace the sunshine than to study shadows today? We started out discussing what we knew about shadows. And low and behold these little smarties knew all the facts I was going to give them. They did
Weekly Summary: Making paddle boats – Electrons and Neutrons – STEM
We took advantage of the beautiful weather to work outside and enjoy some water play, even if contained in a plastic kiddie pool. The Neutrons and Electrons were shown a couple of examples of paddle boats and given access to
Weekly Summary: Soccer and Easter games – Muons – Gym
The start of class was delayed due to passing deer 😉 After a running warm-up, Muons dribbled a soccer ball around cones. Half the class then did a relay with dribbling and passing, the other half opted to just pass
Weekly Summary: Easter Movement – Electrons and Neutrons – Gym
Thanks to the wonderful preparation and printouts by Alison, gym was an Easter-themed blast this week! After a brief warm-up, the kids rotated through stations including “hatching out of the egg” (start in a squat and break the egg shell