The New Room 17 News (formerly Room 5 and Room 8!): September 2013

Back to the seeds

Friday afternoon, it was time to water our fava bean plants. They especially needed it before the weekend.

One person from each group filled a graduated cylinder with 60 ml of water. Then they had to show it to their group to double check that it was 60 ml.

The plants were watered.

The purpose of our experiment is "Do fava beans grow best in direct or indirect light?' Because of this, we had a discussion of what that even meant! Were the pots in the window with the sunlight hitting them in direct or indirect?

Direct sunlight was decided (correctly!) and then there was a discussion of where in the room would we place some of the plants so they were in indirect light. By the sink was the consensus.

The hard part was decided which groups plants would be moved to the indirect light area. Two groups chose to move, but 4 wanted to stay in the window with direct light. However, previously, they had all agreed that 3 would be in each place.

Choosing a number I had written down was the deciding factor. The group that chose the number closest to the number I had chosen moved to the indirect lighting.

As I'm writing this at home, I cannot remember which groups are where...but we'll keep you posted!

Emerson comes to visit Room 5

Emerson is one of my 4 year old grandsons. He lives about 4 hours south of here, but came to visit last Thursday afternoon. Friday, he came to be part of Room 5!

He came about 11:30 ... and after a short shy spell, he told some Room 5ers about his monster truck. At that point, the shyness was gone!

He went to lunch with us, and after lunch, he went to the kindergarten playground to play with his little buddy, James. Their dads have been friends since they were in elementary school! I, of course, went with him.

When our lunch recess was over, it was time for Silent Reading. Remember on Fridays, Room 5ers can sit with a partner and read a non-chapter book. Emerson read a bit to some of our students, but then told Kate and Makenzie he wanted to play a game.

They played checkers! I was a bit lax on the rules since he was here. Emerson definitely was loving these 'students' and they were definitely enjoying him!

A little crowd gathered to play checkers...

Some continued to silent read...as did Elias! He asked me if he could read a book on his iPad. Times are definitely changing in the teaching world!

Kai had made himself comfortable. He asked me if I wanted to take a picture of him and his "couch." I did!

Writing up our plant experiment was what followed Silent Reading. Emerson got his paper and followed right along. When I told Room 5 to write their name on their paper, he wrote his. When they copied the 'Purpose' and wrote their 'hypothesis,' Emerson decided he wanted to draw a monster truck.

When it was time for him to leave, (his dad came at 2:20 to pick him up with James), he turned in his paper.

He had written part of what we wrote ... he wrote SEEDS, dirt, POT, and DEEP. Not bad for a 4 year old. He had also written GRVEDIGGR for his monster truck. (The truck's name is Gravedigger.)

It was definitely fun for me, for Emerson, and for Room 5 to have this little guy come visit for part of the day!

Meredith and 'Farm to Field'

Meredith came to our classroom on Thursday to prep us for our field trip this Tuesday!

She told different scenarios of an apple...and the apple getting from the apple farm to the consumer.

Before she started, she said she needed someone with a lot of energy... I'm really not sure why, but so many Room 5ers all looked at Lucas... he laughed and became the apple!

The energy of the apple was demonstrated by Lucas doing jumping jacks....a LOT of jumping jacks! Good thing he had a lot of energy!

The idea was that when you buy directly from the farmer or a farmer's market, the farmer who did all the work, gets more of the consumer's money. Plus, the apple (or whatever food is being sold) is fresher...

After the presentation, Meredith gave everyone a green bean to try.

The students were encouraged to bend their bean...to see how pliable and fresh it was. They were also encouraged to taste it...

We had mixed reviews on the raw green bean...

Some of us liked it...

Some weren't so sure!

and some had to think about it!

I loved taking their pictures from the back of the room when they weren't paying any attention to me!

Photosynthesis

In studying plants, we've learned about photosynthesis.

After reading and talking about it, we drew a plant and wrote about photosynthesis...

how plants take in sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrients and water...

and gives off oxygen!

We talked about how through photosynthesis, a plant makes sugar for energy.

We've also learned that in the food chain, plants are always 'producers.'

The first animal that eats the plant is called a 'primary consumer'...which is what Toto was in our story.

By drawing the picture illustrating photosynthesis, Room 5ers should be able to remember this process.

Plus, it was definitely fun to paint!

Planting Fava Beans

For our next science experiment, we planted fava beans.

I called 4 students out at a time.

There were 4 cards: 'dirt', 'dig hole', 'plant seed', and 'water.' The groups were to each choose a card which defined their part in the planting.

The person who chose 'dirt', put the pot in the bag of potting soil and filled it to within an inch of the top.

The person to 'dig hole', used their finger to dig a hole 1 1/2" deep. To check, they then used a ruler to measure and make sure it was 1 1/2" deep.

Next, the seed was planted and the whole covered up.

The person with 'water', was to fill a graduated cylinder with 60 ml of water to water the plant. Then that person also carried the plant into the classroom and set it in the window.

Our seeds were planted...and now we're ready for the next part of the experiment!

Here we are with our buddies!

Our serious picture...

and our funny faces!

Chalk math with our buddies!

Thursday when we went to our buddies, Ms. W explained how they were practicing adding and subtracting.

It was a beautiful day. Each student, both 1st and 4th grader, got a large piece of chalk. The fourth grader would draw, for example, 3 circles...then leave a space...and draw 2 more circles. The 1st grader knew that meant to add. They would then write 3 + 2 = 5.

Ms. W also showed the 4th graders how to show subtraction. They would draw, for example, 6 circles. Then they would put a slash through 2 of them. The 1st grader would then write 6 - 2 = 4.