Small Group Skype

Today we Skyped with the North Carolina Zoo.  Each of student prepared the following:

1. Wrote predictions on the animal's physical characteristics, diet, and habitat.

2. Illustrated a picture showing the three predictions.

3. Came up with a couple of questions and wrote them on sticky notes. 

They shared their thoughts with the presenter, Nikki.  Then they were able to meet various live animals including a blue-tongued skink.  Students were able to interact with the scientist and ask their questions and any new ones they came up with during the presentation.  After learning about the blue-tongued skink, they sent a thank you message.  Now they are able to ask any follow-up questions in the future by simply calling them on Skype.  The next small group is planning to use multiple iPads and the group calling aspect of Skype.  Thank you Mr. MacAllister and Nikki!   

When Nightime Falls....

..... the creatures of the night come out and we go to sleep.  We've been learning about nocturnal animals in our classroom.  During reading, we've read Cynthia Rylant's Night in the Country as part of our author study and nature walk theme.  Our recent Scholastic News introduced us to three nocturnal animals that scientists recently discovered.  Plus, we've learned a lot about owls both through fiction and non-fiction texts.  So, it was time to meet with some experts in the field.

We had the privilege to visit the North Carolina Zoo last week to meet some of creatures that come out when we are asleep.  Through Skype, we learned from Mr. Steve Gerkin and Ms. Hannah, both educators at the zoo.  Mr. Mark MacAllister helped us set up this special experience and ran everything behind the scenes tech-wise.

We saw the skeleton of a bat on Mr. Gerkin's iPad and learned how the wings are the fingers.  Ms. Hannah showed us a live owl and we learned about how she was injured and now cared for by the zookeepers.  Mr. Gerkin put on soft-ball glasses to give us an illustration of how large owls eyes actually are compared to the size of their heads.  The students loved that part and giggled galore.  We heard an owl call that was rather humorous in its uniqueness as well.  Students also met a hedgehog.  She was so adorable and amazing!  They saw her eat some treats and opened up a special place in their hearts for this nocturnal creature.

Thank you for giving us some "night vision" during this wonderful Skype experience!  

Fall Problem Solving

We've been working hard to become proficient problem solvers.  Using various word problems that Mrs. Griffith created with our names and a fall theme, we used the Show Me app to share our thinking with you.  Each student tried to include an equation and either a tape diagram/bar model, number bond, or comparison model with label to support their thinking.  Check out our projects.

Open House 2013

GEObash 2013

Missing Addends

During math intervention, students worked with the iPads to create their own word problems.  They had to create a missing addend story problem, solve it with a strategy of their choice, and complete a ShowMe with the steps.  Check out their completed projects below.

The following day, students created word problems to exchange with a partner. Here are two samples.

Fast Math... Manipulatives Mixed with iPads

 Today we used a variety of manipulatives to solve triple-digit minus double-digit subtraction with various needs for regrouping.  Students used place value disks, traditional hundreds, tens, and ones, as well as dollars, dimes, and pennies.  First, they created the number they were going to subtract from with the manipulatives.  Next, they worked with their partner to simultaneously take photos and regroup/ungroup as necessary.  Last, they subtracted the second amount to find the difference.  Many students seem to like the re-write vertically to subtract or the traditional paper and pencil method.  But, hopefully the use of the manipulatives with aid in the increase of their understanding of why they are doing what they are doing at each step.  The visual picture and representation of the values creates better comprehension. The free app we used doesn't have a speed adjustment. We've requested the paid one for next time to slow down the video for our viewers. Thank you to Grandma Linda, Mr. Carls, and Miss Torrey for working with different groups of students.