Friday, September 25, 2015

Week of September 21-25

This week, my 3rd graders learned all about variables, expressions, and equations. They even figured out how to work backwards using inverse operations to solve for variables. One class learned how we can use algebra to play number tricks on people. I'm excited to see if anyone figures out the math behind the number trick I did in class!

In 4th grade, we built our robots and discussed how robots have a brain and a body just like humans do. We also started to learn how the programming component works. Next week, we will get our first programming challenge: getting the robot to move straight.

The 5th graders are zooming through our lessons on turning circles of evaluation into racket code. We've been learning about functions and have been entering code into wescheme in order to see what our functions evaluate to. I'm really impressed with everyone's ability to keep up with our fast pace. By the end of this unit, we're going to turn into professional programmers!

Friday, September 18, 2015

Week of September 16-18

This week, my 3rd graders were introduced to our algebra unit through the use of number games. My 4th graders began building their LEGO robots, and my 5th graders learned how to create circles of evaluation and turn them into racket code.  Even though it was a short week, we were all very busy! For hw assignments, look at grade level pages.
busy at work building robots





Thursday, September 10, 2015

Week of September 8-11

It's been amazing to finally meet with my students this week!!! We viewed a video on "grit" to gain a better understanding of what it's all about, and we started to look for words and images that represent what it means to us.  Here's an image that I especially like because in order to have grit, you must have a growth mindset:


 For homework, I asked my 3rd and 4th graders to continue to research the meaning of "grit" and to come prepared with words and images to add to our classroom poster. I challenged the students to come up with their own quotes and images that have special meaning to them and can motivate us throughout the year.

In 5th grade, we will be using algebra and computer programming to create our own video games. We reverse engineered a simple game called NinjaCat to see how the individual parts work using a coordinate grid.  For homework, students were asked to draw a sketch of a game they are interested in creating making sure to include a player, a target, a danger, and a background.

Click here to play NinjaCat

Monday, September 7, 2015

September 1, 2015

I can't believe it's September already!  I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and that you're ready to embark on an exciting new school year. This year, we'll be talking a lot about the word "grit" - what it means and how it can help us be successful in all aspects of our lives.  Check out the video to get a better understanding of what grit is all about: