Poetry Madness 2013 – Round 1

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Every March in the USA there is a college basketball tournament. It has the nickname “March Madness” because it is always action-packed and full of excitement.

We have our own version of March Madness, but instead of basketball teams, we have a tournament of poems! We call it “Poetry Madness.”

 

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This is how it works: There are 16 poems in the tournament. Every day Mr. Salsich reads two poems and the students privately vote to see which poem is more popular. The winner moves onto the next round and the loser is out of the tournament. After the first round, we will get down to 8 poems, then 4, then 2, and finally we will crown the champion poem.

You can help us vote!

We want to have our families, friends, and blogging buddies be able to vote for their favorite poems too. So, each week we will record four poems from the tournament and ask visitors to vote for their favorite one. The most popular poem will advance to the next round. After four weeks we will have the “Final Four” most popular poems. Then these will face off against each other to see who is the champion poem of 2013.

Round One

Here are the first four poems to vote for, read by Brendan, Piper, Cole and Sandy:

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Which poem did you choose? Why?

How was our reading?

If you have written a poem you would like to share with us, please write it in the comments.

Do Eggs Float?

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Can an egg float?

In science we are learning about Properties of Matter. Properties of matter are the ways that we can describe and compare matter.

Some physical properties of matter are: flexibility, absorbency, transparency, hardness, buoyancy, and many others.

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We did a science activity to investigate the properties of:

 Solubility - if an object of matter dissolves in liquid, Buoyancy - if an object sinks or floats, and Density - how thick different objects of matter are.

We wanted to see if an egg could become buoyant. Normally they sink, so we wanted to see what would happen if we changed the water they were in.

Changing the density of water

We added salt to the tap water, one teaspoon at a time. Salt is soluble, so it dissolved easily in the water. 

After each teaspoon of salt, we put the egg back in to observe the result.

If the egg wasn’t floating, we added another teaspoon of salt and stirred it in. Then we tested the egg again. We recorded each teaspoon of salt that we added.

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Here is a slideshow of our experiment:

Eventually, all the eggs began to float!

Then we recorded the final data, and wrote down why we think the egg began to float.

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Why did the egg float in salt water but not tap water?

Do you think you could use this method to make other things float? How about a paper clip? 

Building Boats 2013

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Our new science unit is all about Properties of Matter. Properties of matter are the ways that we can describe matter. Some physical properties of matter are: weight, texture, color, absorbency, transparency, and many others.

We did a science activity to investigate the property of Buoyancy: if an object sinks or floats.

Bouyancy - Sink or Float

Buoyancy – Sink or Float

Mr. Salsich gave partners a limited amount of materials to try to build a boat that could float and also hold marbles. We tried to see how many marbles our boats could hold without sinking.

Here are the materials we were given:

Building materials

A 6″ x 12″ piece of tinfoil, 6 popsicle sticks, 4 rubber bands, 4 straws, 2 pieces of sponge, and one piece of modeling clay. 

We didn’t have to use all the supplies, but these were the only materials we could use.

Here is a video showing what we did and what we learned:

(Special thanks to Ryan’s mom for helping test the boats!)

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Here is a link to an article and video on Wonderopolis about buoyancy and boats.

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Have you ever done a “sink or float” experiment?

What are some ways that scientists learn?

Some students said the tin foil floated because it was light. How do heavy, steel ships float?

What was your favorite part of the activity?

“Light On My Feet” – Irish Step Dancing, a guest post by Piper (part 2)

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(This is part 2 of a student post by Piper about her Irish Dance experiences. Click here to read part 1.)

Irish dance competitions are usually done at a feis (pronounced “fesh”). A feis is a dance competition and I dance in front of judges. One really important thing though is to never stop dancing when you are on the stage. Usually when I am waiting for my turn to dance, I listen to the music playing and say all the steps in my head. I am usually not nervous. I am more excited to get up and have my turn. I have competed at over 25 feisanna. My first one was when I was only 5 years old.

One of my early competitions

I moved from level to level pretty quickly. I have been awarded a lot of trophies, medals and ribbons. At a feis, you have to go to a special room after your dance to see if you place. If you do, your number will be listed. I am usually really anxious at this point to learn if I did really well. I always want a first or a second. When I see my number, I feel joyful. It makes me feel that my hard work pays off.

This weekend I competed at a feis and placed third!

On the podium!

Sometimes I haven’t placed or I didn’t place as high as I wanted, it only makes me try harder the next time. But I am still happy.

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This year, in the month of November, I competed in my second Orieachtas.

On stage at an Oireachtas

An Orieachtas (or “the O”) is the next level above a feis. You have to have competed in feis, placed and been picked by your dance teachers to compete. The competition is very hard because dancers who were in the Nationals and Worlds also dance at the “O”.  I was very nervous that year and did my best. After seeing all the girls dance, and watching the solo dancers, I was determined to get back to the “O” this year and compete in those rounds.

At times I felt frustrated, annoyed, excited, nervous, stressed out and happy when I practiced for this past year on my two solo dances. It was incredibly difficult to master the steps good enough to compete. But I was determined to place. At the “O” in the solo round, I had to dance a reel.

(Here is a video of me dancing the Reel: “The Tulla Bee Set” at school. I had to dance it in the cafeteria because there is a lot of movement and the classroom was too small.)

After the reel, I waited a few hours and danced a slow jig. Don’t let the slow jig name fool you, it is very fast. The judges combine those scores and only half of the dancers make it to the final round. If your number is called, that means you placed. That was my goal, to place.

As I waited in the ballroom to hear if my number was called, I felt very anxious. I had my friends with me from my dance school and they cheered me on and said I was good no matter what. Only 16 numbers were called, and mine was one of them! I shouted to my mom, “ I did it!”  I had to get my solo dress on and dance one last dance called the St. Patrick’s Day. This dance was a dance that I have been dancing for over a year, and I felt confident.

We had to wait hours, almost until 9 pm for awards in the ballroom. When my competition was called, I climbed the steps to the stage and waited for my number. There were over 4,000 people watching. It was amazing. Every time the judge said a number and it wasn’t mine, I was thrilled. I kept jumping up and down.

Winning a crystal cup at the Orieachtas

I made it to the top 10; I placed 8th which means I am qualified to compete at the Nationals this July in California! I have never felt so happy. All of my friends who dance and my teachers hugged me and crowded around me. It was one of the best moments of my life.

I reached my goal. My hard work paid off and I was so happy.

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What kind of dance do you like to do?

Is there something that you work hard at to get better and better?

Reader’s Theater – Wayside School: “A Package For Mrs. Jewls”

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We have been learning about the importance of reading fluently.

This means to read smoothly, at the right pace, paying attention to punctuation, and with the right expression. Reading with fluency is very important for reading comprehension.

A great way to practice reading fluently is with Reader’s Theater scripts. Reader’s Theater scripts are kind of like scripts for a play, but instead of acting the parts out, the readers have to use their voices to bring the reading to life. They are fun for the readers, but also for people who are reading along in their head.

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Wayside School books by Louis Sachar

the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar

Below is our performance of a Reader’s Theater script from the book Wayside School is Falling Down by the hilarious author Louis Sachar. 

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If you enjoyed this reader’s theater performance, you might like our previous ones about Wayside School also; Joe Learns to Count and Miss Zarves, or this fractured fairy tale – Don’t Mess With Red Riding Hood.

The Wayside School books are very strange and very humorous. If you like these kind of books, give them a read, you will be laughing for sure!

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How was our reading?

What did you think of the story? What were some humorous parts?

Did Mrs. Jewls use technology in an appropriate way?

“Our World, Our Numbers” – New Global Project

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In our class we love to connect and learn with our friends around the world.

Today we are launching a new global project called Our World, Our Numbers.

We have a blog http://ourworldournumbers.edublogs.org where we’ll meet up with our blogging buddies to learn together for the next five weeks.

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In late 2011, many of us worked on an award winning global project called Our World, Our Stories. This latest project is based on a similar format with a mathematical focus.

Classes involved

The students are all from primary (elementary) classes and are from three different continents and five countries.

Mr Avery’s sixth grade class from Massachusetts, USA

Mrs Monaghan’s 3/4 class, Room with a View, from England

Mrs Morris and Miss Jordan’s grade four class, 4KM and 4KJ, from Victoria, Australia

Mrs McKenzie’s 2/3 class, B4, from New Zealand

Mrs Yollisí 2/3 class from California, USA

Mr Salsich’s third grade class from Connecticut, USA

Mrs Watson’s K/1/2/3 class  from Canada

How will it work?

Students from all classes will connect and collaborate by sharing their mathematical lives. This will happen through the blog and involve a variety of media.

A different class will lead a mathematical topic every four days or so, publishing posts and replying to comments.  The other classes will read the posts, possibly publish their own posts, and leave blog comments.

We will share topics such as currency, seasons, time zones, population data etc.

The learning

Through blog posts, the students will teach each other about different aspects of mathematics based on aspects of their own culture.

The learning will continue in the commenting section where students, teachers and parents will engage in conversations to explore mathematical and cultural topics further.

Students will gain an understanding of mathematics through the eyes of children in different countries and cultures. They will make comparisons and contrasts between their lives and other students’ lives.

If you want to keep up to date with how the fun and learning unfolds, there is a “subscribe via email” box on the right hand side of the Our World, Our Numbers blog.

Get Involved
We encourage all members of our blog community to get involved!
4KM and 4KJ are leading the first topic by sharing about Australian currency.
Head over to the Our World, Our Numbers blog now to check out 4KM and 4KJ’s post and leave a comment.

What do you think about our new global project?

“Snow Days” – The Blizzard of 2013

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We had a HUGE snow storm last weekend! Our town got about 21 inches (53 centimeters) of snow. In fact, because we got so much snow and the winds were over 35 miles per hour, the storm was categorized as a blizzard!

Almost two feet of snow!

Since the roads were so slippery and a lot of places lost power because of the winds, we had snow days (no school!) on Friday and Monday and a delayed opening on Tuesday.

Slippery Roads

Slippery Roads

Snow days are one of the most exciting things about winter in Connecticut. The students (and teachers!) get a surprise day off.

In this post we are going to share some of our thoughts and experiences from the blizzard.

Deep snow!

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During and after the blizzard we took pictures of what it looked like at our homes. Then, when we finally got back to school we talked about our experiences and wrote some descriptive paragraphs about the blizzard.

Here is a slide show with our writing and pictures from our snow day, blizzard experiences:

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(Here is a link to learn more about blizzards, snowflakes, and winter weather.)

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Does it snow a lot where you live?

What did you think of our writing and our pictures?

What is your favorite winter activity?

Patriots Football Game at Gillette Stadium – a student post by “Nugget”

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Have you ever been to a American Football game? I went to one last month. As you probably guessed, it’s me, “Nugget”, on the left. (You might remember me from The Mathlete Show – Comparing Quarterbacks.)

At the Patriots game at Gillette Stadium

Well, this was actually the Houston Texans against the New England Patriots playoff game, on January 13, 2013, at Gillette Stadium.

This was a good game because both the Texans and the Patriots were 12-4 in this season. We got there kind of early, so it wasn’t that packed, so we could easily see them warming up.

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Right before the game starts, in a playoff game, the home team runs out of a big inflatable helmet or their symbol, between giant sparklers.

The Patriots making their entrance

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Don’t you think it would be cool to be a professional sports player? I do, because I think playing sports is extremely fun!

From where we were sitting, this was what the view looked like. So, we had pretty good seats.

Our view of the field

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You would think that our flat screen tv’s are big, but they’re nothing compared to these:

Enormous TV screens!

The fans were going wild! It seemed like it was impossible that it would be even a little quiet.

It was good that the the score ended 41-28 for the Patriots!

Victory for the Patriots!

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Did you know that the win was Tom Brady’s 17th postseason victory?  That is one more than Joe Montana, making Brady the winningest player in NFL playoff history!

Of course, there was a ton of cheering when the Pats scored, but there was also a lot of cheering when they got an interception, because it doesn’t happen often. 

“Wow.” I thought before I went to sleep, “WOW!”

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Have you ever been to an American Football game? If so, where?

What is your favorite sports team? 

If you could be a professional athlete in any sport, what would it be?

Eating Prickly Pear Fruit

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Last week we ate fruit from the prickly pear cactus. Prickly pears grow in the dry habitats of the southwestern United States.

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Prickly pear cactus with fruit

We first learned about prickly pears when our classmate Cole brought back some prickly pear pads and fruit from his trip to Arizona.

Prickly pear pad

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Then we connected with Mrs. Fraher’s third grade class in Arizona to learn more about the deserts of the southwest. We skyped with them and they told us some amazing facts about prickly pears.

Skyping with Mrs. Fraher’s class

Mrs. Fraher’s class also sent us some prickly pear jelly (which was delicious!) but we wanted to try to the real thing.

Mr. Salsich got some prickly pear fruit from the supermarket for us to try. When the fruit is sold in a store, the spines and stinging hairs (“glochids”) have all been removed, so they are safe to hold and to eat.

Here is a video of us trying the fruit, with our reactions to it, and some of the things we learned from eating it:

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Why do a lot of wild fruits have small, hard seeds in them? How does this help the plant?

Can you think of other wild fruits with hard seeds?

Have you ever eaten cactus fruit or another unusual food? Tell us about it!

World Education Games 2013

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Today we started practicing for the World Education Games, which will officially take place March 5-7.

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Every year students from all over the world compete in friendly, 60 second competitions of math, spelling, and science. It is a great way to get faster at math, spelling, and keyboarding – and it is a lot of fun!

Competing against students near and far

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When we played today we played against students from as far away as Nigeria and Hungary, but we also played against some of our friends right in the classroom!

playing against friends

Victory!

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It will be fun to have practice games, and the real thing on March 6, 7, and 8 will be very exciting. Last year 5.9 million students from over 235 countries combined to correctly answer 293,571,830 math questions! Wow! How many will we answer this year?

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Since part of the fun is seeing what country you will be playing against, we will keep track of the countries we have played against in the comments.

Click here (or in the Learning Links) to visit the website and login to compete with students all over the world.

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What do you enjoy about playing the World Education Games?

What countries have you competed against?