The Nutcracker

The Daily 5

The Discoverers love when it is Daily 5 time! This is our literacy center time where we can read independently or with a partner, work on stories and plays or use the computer for spelling activities.

Everyday Math Fact Triangles

The Discoverers are busy learning their multiplication facts. One great way is to use flash cards to review facts whenever you can. In the car, while making dinner, or add a few minutes to homework time to review facts. Have your students sort the facts by product or factor. Have your student make lists of facts or make a fact book. It is important that your child learn the fact correctly the first time. Once they are confident check the blog for websites where they can test themselves.

Discussion Groups

After the presentation by Rory's mom, The Discoverers broke into discussion groups to talk about other famous buildings around the world. Some of them were already familiar to the class, especially the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. We used what we learned from the presentation to look closely at the buildings to determine the resources, why the architect designed it the way the did, and the function of the building.

How we express ourselves

Today Rory's mom taught us all about the Wales Millennium Centre. We learned that the architect wanted to design a building that expressed the culture of Wales. He used materials from different parts of Wales including slate, glass, metal and wood. This ties in directly with our central idea that social structure, culture and the built environment have a direct influence on one another.

The Discoverers

Look closely and you can see the snow falling behind the portraits.

SNOW!!!

In case you missed it, here are the pictures to prove that it really did snow at school!! We had a great view through our big window.

Snowy Day Recess

I never thought I would say, "Snowy Day Recess!" But Friday proved me wrong.

PYP Planner- Architecture

In our new planner, we are exploring the purpose of built environment, the cultural expression of architecture, and the planning, design and construction process. We began by taking a look at form and function and explored using shapes to build a dream house. Each design was truly unique.

Everyday Math

The Discoverers enjoyed working together to build arrays. In this math workstation, students had to roll a die to determine the factors and then create an array with unifix cubes. The last step was to record the array and the equation.

Bookmark Winner!

We almost forgot to mention that our very own Allison won the bookmark contest. Her bookmark design was turned into a bookmark for sale at the book fair. I heard thru the grapevine that it sold out!!!