Tower Power

Today's Jumpstart had us solving riddles with our one syllable rhyming hink pinks.  We also did a quick word building challenge looking at strategies for morphing the words we had already though of to build our list and persisting in our thinking even when we thought we had found all the possible words.  Today's high score was 16 words made out of the letters in AREA & PERIMETER.

We finished our chapter 2 area study with a check-up quiz.  Students showed off their abilities to define, estimate and calculate area of both regular and irregular shapes.

Next we used all six of the SPARK C's to complete the Castle Tower Challenge!  Students practiced collaboration to work in their group using pipe cleaners to build the tallest structure.  They used their content knowledge of castle building job and design features. They persisted in setbacks of one armed laborers, a loss of supplies and barriers to their communication. Their creative and critical thinking help them design these beauties!

We had fun with our first reader's theater experience.  We divvied up parts and read "How Does it Feel to Live Next Door to a Giraffe".  Students practiced fluency and oral expression as well as evaluating the script for themes and coming up with a zoo design to help the animals show more tolerance for one another.