Family traditions.  Family traditions are an important part of the holidays.  Your traditions are unique to your family.   They connect your grandparents, parents, kids, aunts, and uncles.  Every family has certain things that bind your family together.  Do your family traditions revolve around food?  Do they center around certain activities or games?  Maybe your family traditions revolve around helping others.  Please take a moment and describe your holiday family traditions.

-Mr. Lund

In this period we are learning a lot of cool and fantastic things!

 In Science we are learning about chemical and physical properties. We are also learning chemical fractions, reactants, matter and products. Did you know that the reactant is always on the left side of the equation and the product is always on the right side?  The product means the substance that is made during the chemical reaction. The reactant is the substance that used in the reaction.  Also, did you know that matter can not made or destroyed. Remember we are a type of matter!

We are also learning the three types of reactions. They are a combination reaction where the compounds come and form together. Decomposition is a reaction where compounds split apart to form smaller compounds!  Our last reaction is the replacement reaction. That type of reaction is when molecules switch places. We are also learning the places of where the equation places are.  It is really exciting!  

In Social Studies we have been learning about Jamestown and how it was very unsuccessful until they finally started to work really hard because John Smith came to make the people work hard and be successful. We’ve also have been learning about English explorers and the battle against Spain. We also were learning about the first Thanksgiving. We let the Wampanaga group come in because they showed them good fishing spots, how to grow food, like corn. They had a lot of food items but they did not have corn. Isn’t that awkward? 

We are enjoying these topics in science and social studies!  What has your child told you about these subjects?  What have you enjoyed in these subjects?

-Ryan and Cam

This week’s math challenge should be easy – try at least one of these “magic math tricks” on your family and friends!  (You should be seeing many people over the holidays!)  Once you’ve amazed them, return here and comment about your experience!  (or have THEM comment!)  - Mr. Lund

Finding Someone’s Age – Number Trick

• Ask the person to multiply the first number of his or her age by 5.
• Tell them to add 3.
• Now tell them to double this figure.
• Finally, have the person add the second number of his or her age to the figure and ave them tell you their answer.
• Deduct 6 and you will have their age.

Grey Elephants in Denmark – Number Trick

• Pick a number between 1 & 10.
• Multiply by 9.
• If the result is a two digit number, add the two digits together.
• Subtract 5 from the resulting number.
• Beginning with the letter A as 1, count over in the Alphabet that many letters ( I usually will count a few out loud ” A is 1, B is 2, C is 3.”)
• Now think of a Country that begins with your letter (Only big Baseball fans, or Cigar smokers will get the Dominican Republic, the rest will get Denmark)
• Take the second letter in your county and think of a Circus Animal that begins with that letter.
• Wait a couple of seconds and Declare “There are no Elephants in Denmark!

Cell Phone Number Magic – Number Trick

• Grab a calculator (you won’t be able to do this one in your head)
• Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
• Multiply by 80
• Add 1
• Multiply by 250
• Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
• Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again
• Subtract 250
• Divide by 2

Of course….. The real math trick is how these tricks work.  If you look closely, you might discover the math that is involved in each trick!

Please take a moment and answer these survey questions about your technology usage. Your answers are completely anonymous, so please be honest! After taking the survey, please leave a comment explaining how you use modern technologies! – Mr. Lund

Scenario: While checking out at the grocery store, in the self check out line, you find someone’s change left in the register, $8 to be exact. Do you a) turn in the money or b) take the money and run?

-Mr. Lund

When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don’t state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
– Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

I thought this poem was a great description for our Friday Poetry Workshop. I am lucky to be a part of Mr. Lund’s class as they explore the fascinating world of poetry. But we, the teachers, are not the leaders during class. We follow the students as they “squint” at poems and share their thoughts and feelings about what they see on the page. Their thoughts are much more eye-opening and insightful than ours and cause us to see the poems in a new light. We are repeatedly impressed at their depth of understanding and the meaningful connections they make to the poems.

Some days we share a poem as a class, on others we meet in small groups to discuss our thoughts. We add each poem to our poetry notebooks, which also contain poems students have chosen on their own. Writing poetry is also a part of the workshop. Right now, students are using an ActivBoard flipchart to learn a variety of poetic forms. Then they write their own. Can you think of a better way to learn about the power of voice in writing than to look closely at poetry?

I’d like to know how the students are feeling about our workshop. What do you enjoy? What could we do to make it better? Mr. Lund and I really enjoy this time with the students and our enjoyment of poetry has increased since beginning this weekly workshop. I’d also like to know how the parents feel about poetry!

–Mrs. Larson

A big thank you to Mr. Sheedy, Mr. Rios, Mrs. Wilson, and Mrs. Wurtzler for joining us on our trip! The kids learned about the many conflicts that Illinois service members have been apart of from the War of 1812 to our troops overseas today. This trip will help the kids understand these moments in history as we study them this year. – Mr. Lund

According to Purdue University, SEM stands for scanning electron microscope. The SEM is a microscope that uses electrons instead of light to form an image. Since their development in the early 1950’s, scanning electron microscopes have developed new areas of study in the medical and physical science communities. The SEM has allowed researchers to examine a much bigger variety of specimens.

The scanning electron microscope has many advantages over traditional microscopes. The SEM has a large depth of field, which allows more of a specimen to be in focus at one time. The SEM also has much higher resolution, so closely spaced specimens can be magnified at much higher levels. Because the SEM uses electromagnets rather than lenses, the researcher has much more control in the degree of magnification. All of these advantages, as well as the actual strikingly clear images, make the scanning electron microscope one of the most useful instruments in research today.

I’m sharing this information with you because ASPEX Corp., a SEM maker, is offering to scan a sample for free!

What would you like to see up close? What would you want scanned? Dirt? Bugs? Carpet????

-Mr. Lund

My mom asked me to watch my younger brother while she ran a quick errand. Two of my friends stopped by and want to play video games. I’m not supposed to have friends over when my mom’s not home. If they leave before she gets home, she will never know. What should I do?

Being sick this week caused me to miss posting the weekly “Can You Solve This” math problem! On Friday, I was absent from school to attend my brother-in-law’s wedding in Madison, Wisconsin. The weather was gorgeous and the wedding was equally as nice! Sitting at the reception, my mind wandered to my missed math post. It was about this time that the bride and groom went for the traditional cake photos and I had my idea for this week’s math problem!

Brian and Caryn’s wedding cake has three square tiers; each is 8cm high. The tiers have lengths of 60cm, 48cm, and 36cm. What is the surface area to be covered by frosting? There is no frosting between layers. To receive credit this week, you must post your answer (How you solved it & why you did those steps) by the start of school on Thursday. – Mr. Lund