Holiday Door, Boats and Stone Fox

Our school holds a holiday door decorating contest every year. I might be a very competitive person when it comes to things like this, so we were shooting to win. Of course, we chose a Frozen themed door since it is quite the popular topic among most children. See below of our finished product. I drew and painted Elsa and Anna. Olaf is made out of toilet paper (which the students thought was quite weird you could create a snowman out of tp). I also used tulle around the door frame and have decided it is now going to be my border of choice. Super cute! Plus who doesn't love a little frill and glitter.

However, I am sad to say after getting a little insight into the voting results so far, it looks like when it comes to kids, using an iPad to take selfies is WAY cooler than Frozen (Have your Selfie a Merry Little Christmas). So my love goes out to Miss H. Way to go girl for being so creative! However, I am already planning my door for next year. :-)

 

 

In science, we are working on the 4Cs: communication, creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. We have just started to design and assemble our boats. The objective: Can you make a boat that floats and can hold the most weight? We have talked about what it might look like and what supplies you would need in order for things to float. The kids then had to answer trivia questions in order to earn their money. Next, they were able to purchase the supplies their group needed to get started. We have incorporated other skills along the way such as supply and demand (as the price of popsicle sticks went up when supplies were low) and bartering in order to sell their supplies back to earn back some money. We are very focused on the creative process and what it means to work on something, test it out and then reflect to make it better. As we progress through building, we will also be pulling in a little of the Engineering Design Process. So awesome! We are becoming intense, engaged learners.

 

 



Finally, in reading, we are finishing up Stone Fox. All I have to say is WOW! What an ending. Just ask your kids what they thought about Stone Fox. I can't wait for tomorrow when the kids will be writing what happens next. We had some pretty intense conversations at the end of the book and they were asking for a sequel. Amazing! I love seeing motivated students who are seeking more information.

Have a great night!

Mrs. Farkas