Today, we learned about a new artist named Sonia Delaunay, who integrated circles and diameters in his art work. Then, we traced circles to make our artwork. These turned out gorgeous! Some students were able to begin coloring. We've worked a lot this year on fine motor skills such as tracing and coloring, because these are essential to writing success!

Today we practiced a variety of lines added to our concentric circle painting. We're practicing the art element of line and variety as well as the art element of design. We're also learning geometry because we're discussing the angle of a line and the features of a circle (diameter, radius, chord, etc.). We're also working on improving patience and fine motor skills :)

Today we reviewed our story The Dot and talked about what lessons our main character learned. Then, we did some math and learned about about the diameter and the radius of a circle. Finally, we added in an art element and started an art project with concentric circles. We'll finish this up next week!

Today we reviewed how to find the perimeter and the area of a square and we also finished up our radial design name projects! They are swoon-worthy! Truly beautiful. We also read the story The Dot and we will be working on circles next!

We continued our perfect square lessons by creating a radial design project on a perfect square. Hopefully, these will come home this Thursday. They are stunning!

Today we read A Perfect Square, which is a simple, cute book about a square and all the possibilities for that square! We measured the sides of squares and found the perimeter and then we put one-inch squares in larger squares to determine the area. We also talked about what a Perfect Square is in mathematical terms. We also discussed sequence and calendars.

Today we had open STEAM day. Students constructed, made patterns, disassembled and reassembled, drew designs, and just had a really good time!

Today we made witch traps for our Hansel and Gretel study. Students were only allowed gumdrops and toothpicks and they had to create a trap so that the witch could not escape. This was a lot of fun! and everyone created different designs.

Today we read about Hansel and Gretel. We talked about characters and how they respond to the challenges they face. Then, we made a map together to show Hansel and Gretel's path from their house to the witch's house.

Today we completed our STEAM challenge for Jack and the Beanstalk. We worked in pairs to create the tallest beanstalk. The pair that made the tallest was Grant and William. Their beanstalk was 4 feet tall! Next week, we'll learn about a new fairy tale story and character!

Today we read Jack and the Beanstalk and discussed the many lessons Jack learned! The class was able to come up with several. Then we began designing our STEAM challenge--We're trying to see who can build the tallest Beanstalk! We spent some time observing real world tall towers and what features they have.

Today, we finished up learning about Johnny Appleseed by practicing our pattern skills. Pattern practice is great for more complex algebraic concepts. We used apples to stamp different patterns of colors and cuts of apples. We also observed the differences between a vertically and horizontally cut apple.

Last week, we worked on coordinate grids with Little Red Riding Hood. For some fun practice this week play the board game Battle Ship! If you don't have that game, you can play Cali and the Coordinate Grid.

Today we read Little Red Riding Hood and compared what we knew about the story and what actually happened in the book version we read! Then we made a coordinate grid map and began placing items on our grid by using coordinates (A4, G3, D2, etc). This will help students develop familiarity with coordinate grids, which helps in map reading and higher math skills such as algebra and geometry. Next week, we will work on coding paths on our map and a STEM challenge of basket building.

We finished up decorating our gingerbread glyphs from last week. Then, we decorated a gingerbread house using our amazing math and listening skills. We've had a great time working on gingerbread for the past two weeks! I'm excited to read more fairy tales and work on completing more STEAM challenges with all of you!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Today we listened to the Gingerbread Man story. We learned about repetition in stories, as the Gingerbread man is constantly saying, "Run, Run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man!" We also learned about a new mathematical way to represent information called a glyph. A glyph is a graphical or color-coded report to share information. Our glyphs were about gingerbread men, of course! We also worked on "coding" a path for the gingerbread man to escape all of the characters who want to eat him!

Today we had a STEAM challenge to make a bridge for the Three Billy Goats Gruff. This was a tricky one because we could only use paper. Plus, Dr. Rowe introduced the STEAM store and everyone had to budget for their supplies this time. This was a fun element added on to the challenge and a great way to get some math added into our lesson. Speaking of math, we also reviewed symmetry since we made our trolls using a symmetrical painting technique.

Today we made symmetrical Trolls for our reading of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We also planned our bridge STEM engineering project. We will work on these once we return from Thanksgiving.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are blessed beyond measure!

Today we recapped our STEAM experiment about the three pigs and the big bad wolf. We thought about what we could have done to make our structures more stable so the wolf would not be able to blow them away. Then we read a new story about The Billy Goats Gruff. We described our main character of the book (either the goat or the troll), and cited evidence from the book to support our thinking. Then we practiced making our own troll faces. Next week, we'll do more with the troll faces and plan our STEAM challenge.

Today we tested our Little Pigs' houses against the Big Bad Wolf (hairdryer) to see if they were stable enough to withstand his huffs and puffs! Most everyone had a structure that was mostly still standing. A few of the structures were slightly moved and relocated from the original position, but mostly still in place. A few others lost some shingles (popsicle sticks) along the way, but mostly were able to remain standing!

Today we built our structures for our little pigs. Only one team was able to make it to the test stage. We'll keep working on our structures next week too. I'd like for everyone to get the chance to test their structures.

Today we read the TRUE Story of the Three Little Pigs, which is hilarious if you haven't read it before. It tells the familiar tale from the wolf's point of view. Then, we compared and contrasted the wolf and the pigs and found out they had a lot in common. Finally, we began our plan for building a house that could not be blown down by the wolf! We'll build and test our structures next week!

We had open STEAM day today! Groups were able to rotate through 4 stations (STEAM books and drawings, mosaic puzzles, wooden blocks, and Cube Stackers). Everyone was able to rotate through all the groups and everyone had a great time working on a lot of different tasks!

Today, we ready After the Fall, which is about Humpty Dumpty and what happens after he falls off the wall! It was a fun book and we were able to take about positive and negative reactions to things that might happen to us. After that, we headed outside to build walls for Humpty. Everyone choose their own building materials and made a wall for a hard boiled egg to sit in. Several of the designs were able to hold Humpty without breaking the egg!

Today, we designed a way for Rapunzel to get down from her tower. This was a team challenge, so everyone had to communicate and work together to solve the problem. Some teams really struggled with this. They wanted it to be an independent challenge and only use one person's idea . Everyone had to work together to design one structure. We began building today, but we did not get to test our designs, so we'll finish that part next week!

Today, we watched an animation of the Rapunzel story. It was a short, little 15 minute clip that varied in many ways to Tangled, so we enjoyed comparing and contrasting and thinking of the character's actions in the book. We also discussed the "lesson" in a story. The students were able to list SEVERAL great lessons from the story. I was really proud of them!

After that, we worked on developing our STEAM plan for next week. Our challenge is to get Rapunzel down from her tower. So far we have brainstormed some great ideas, including a parachute, slide, and ladder. Next week, we'll work on designing our blueprint and building our tower escape route.

Today we began by reviewing our story and doing a little math! We graphed our opinions on whether Goldilocks should have entered the Dinosaurs' house. After that, we learned how to build using cardboard without using tape or glue. We built beds for Goldilocks and tested our structures to see how stable they were.

This week, we worked on the Stories portion of our class and we practiced sequencing. We read Goldilocks and the 3 Dinosaurs and students had to recall what happened first, second, third, and last in our story. After that, we designed our STEAM challenge. Next week, we'll build a bed for Goldilocks!

We reviewed the STEAM terms this week and everyone did a great job remember what disciplines the letters represented. We also briefly reviewed our book from last week, Iggy Peck, Architect because we had some new friends joining us today and they did not get to hear the story. Some literary terms we learned this week are: characters, setting, problems, and solutions. Lastly, we built bridges and tested them. Some worked great and had no trouble standing strong. Others were not as stable, but we learned from our builds and thought of what to do better next time!

We had a GREAT first day! This class is so much fun! We learned Dr. Rowe's rules for the year (see below) and then we listened to Iggy Peck, Architect. We learned new reading words such as characters and setting. We also retold what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. We ran out of time for our build, but we will do that next week! I'm so proud of how hard all the kiddos worked today! I can't wait to see what they will do this year!

Dr. Rowe's Rules
1. Listen Carefully
2. Follow Directions
3. Be Respectful