We are Engineers!

Hello Everyone!

We had a fantastic week in Room 13!

On Tuesday, we built bridge prototypes for the community in Ortega, Columbia. We used our blueprints to help us with our building. After we built the bridges, we tested them! We put the bridges in between two desks, and put weights on the bridge to see how much weight it could hold. Many of the bridges held over 7400 grams! Take a look at some picture of our work. Thank you to Mr. Southworth and Ms. P for their help with our project. Here are some quotes about our activity.

- "We learned that sometimes, if you add more materials to make your structure stronger, it will actually make it weaker because it is too heavy." -K
- "If you don't use strong materials, your bridge might break." -G
- "If you use bendy materials such as cardboard, your bridge will bend when weight is added." -R
- "It's not as easy to make a hybrid bridge as it looks!" -D
- "I really liked building the bridges." -K
- "A hybrid bridge may not be a good choice for the environment because the river span is not very long." -M

Have a fantastic weekend!

Love Room 13

The Great Orchestra!

Welcome everyone!

We had a magnificent week! We were busy working on many activities.

First of all, we went to the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra field trip at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. We saw many instruments such as drums, violins, double basses, and a tuba. They played pieces from three composers: Brahms, Bach, and Beethoven. Here are some of our thoughts about the field trip.
- "I really liked that we got to sit on the top row of seats." -M
- "I liked the drums and symbols." -D
- "I felt scared because we were sitting so high up!"- T
- "I really liked when the harp played." -R
- "I was surprised when two people ran onto the stage!" -T
- "The songs were lovely." -O
- "I liked when the percussion played." -H

This week we started Math Problem Monday. In our class, we are going to be given a challenging task that we will work to solve. Can you fill in the blanks to this problem?

Also, this week we did science centers. We experimented with different fasteners such as tape, marshmallows, Lego, rubber bands and plasticine to see which one was the strongest. Now we have different choices of fasteners to use when we build our prototype bridges for Columbia!

Stay warm this weekend!

Love Room 13

Our Finished Masks

Welcome back to our blog!

Today is the first day of February! It has been a cold and snowy week, but we are staying warm in Room 13!

First, we finished our animal masks with Mrs. F. We added some final details such as whiskers, fur, feathers and extra paint. Take a look at some of our final products. 

Here are some thoughts on our experience with our artist in residence.
- "I felt happy making the masks." -H
- "It was fun!" -T
- "I really loved learning how to make masks." -N
- "I am surprised it took 4 days to make our masks!" -E
- "I was really excited to make the masks with Mrs. F." -G
- "I really liked how the fur felt. It was so soft." -M
- "It was very hard but fun!" -R
- "Our masks look fantastic!" -D

Next, we started researching our animals! We are learning about the animal's characteristics, diet, habitat, threat to their habitat, life cycle, parental care and predators. When we are finished, we are going to write scripts and stories about our animals, and use our masks.

Thanks for looking at our blog! Students from Room 13- if you comment, you will get to put your name in the jar 3 times!

We are excited for our field trip to the CPO on Tuesday. Everyone, please bring your lunch!

Love Room 13 

Animal Research Websites

Amazon River Dolphin
http://mrnussbaum.com/amazon/amazon_river_dolphin/
https://kidzfeed.com/pink-river-dolphin-facts/
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cetaceans/about/river_dolphins/pink_river_dolphin/

Arctic Wolf
https://www.kidsplayandcreate.com/arctic-wolf-facts-for-kids/
http://easyscienceforkids.com/best-arctic-wolf-facts-video-for-kids/
http://interesting-animal-facts.com/Arctic-Animal-Facts/Arctic-Wolf-Facts.html

King Cobra
http://www.ducksters.com/animals/king_cobra.php
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/king-cobra/#king-cobra-hood.jpg
http://animalstime.com/king-cobra-facts-for-kids-what-do-king-cobras-eat/

Wooly Monkey
http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/woolly_monkey_facts/490/
https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Woolly_monkey
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/woolly-monkey/

Macaw Parrot
http://www.ducksters.com/animals/blue_and_yellow_macaw.php
https://www.folly-farm.co.uk/zoo/meet-the-zoo-animals/blue-and-yellow-macaw
http://animals.mom.me/macaw-parrot-4178.html

Artist in Residence

Welcome everyone!

This has been a short week of learning, but it has been very busy!

First of all, we continued making our masks with Mrs F. This week, we did paper mache. To do paper mache, you take strips of newspaper and dip it in a paste mixture. Then, you take your two fingers and wipe off the extra paste. Finally, you put the strip of newspaper on your mask. The entire mask must be covered with newspaper. Today we are going to paint our masks! Stay tuned to see our final products.

Second, we worked on a Reader's Theatre performance this week! When doing Reader's Theatre, we read a script and act out the lines with actions, expression and a loud voice. Today we are going to present our plays to our class. In a few weeks, we will work on writing scripts, and using the animal masks as props.

Lastly, other things we did this week include researching the community in Columbia where the bridge collapsed 12 years ago, researching different types of bridges, and reading books such as "This is How we Do It" and "Ada Twist Scientist."

See you at Parent-Teacher interviews! Remember to return your CPO field trip forms.

Have a great long weekend!

Love Room 13

On the Way to School

Good morning everyone!

Welcome to our blog! We had a very fun week!

First of all, we had a guest in our class. Her name is Mrs. F and she is an artist! She is working with us to make animal masks. We are making animals that live in Ukraine, Peru, Tunisia and India. We stared by using paper plates and shaping the plates to fit on our heads. Next, we used newspaper to shape the face of our animals. We are so excited to continue our work with Mrs. F next week!

Also, we watched a movie this week called, "On the Way to School." In this movie we followed four children and their journey to school. Their names are Carlito, Samuel, Jackson and Zahira. Here are some observations we had from the movie.
- "I saw that Jackson and his sister had to avoid elephants on their way to school." -K
- "Jackson had to dig a big hole in the sand to get water." -H
- "Samuel was in a wheelchair and his younger brothers had to push him all the way to school." -R
- "All of the kids had to walk for hours to get to school." -T
- "I am surprised Carlito was allowed to ride his horse to school!" -D
- "Samuel cried because his legs hurt and there wasn't a proper wheelchair for him." -G
- "Zahria carried a hen all the way because she wanted to sell it for money and food at the market." -N

We watched a video of how children in Colombia get to school. Next week, we are going to work as engineers and think of a solution to this problem.

 We hope you will comment on our blog. Have a great weekend!

Love Room 13

Our New Inquiry

Welcome back everyone!

We had an amazing winter break and now we are back working hard at school! Here are some things we did this week.

First, we continued working on our instructional writing. We started with our rough copy. Then, we edited our work by ourselves and with a partner. Next, we wrote our good copy with the changes and corrections we made. We used a target rubric to asses our work. Finally, we used the laptops and the program called "Comic Life 3." We used this program to type our work and add pictures.

Second, we started new math groups! We are now learning about patterns!

Lastly, we began our inquiry, "How do children around the world get to school?" Take a look at these pictures to see how some children get to school! Isn't it shocking?! Here is the link to the website we investigated. https://www.boredpanda.com/dangerous-journey-to-school/ We collected data about how students and staff get to CJFS. We learned that most people use cars. Other ways are bikes, buses, trains, walking, taxi, daycare van and scooters.

Next week, we are looking forward to an artist working with our class! Also, please see the yellow note that went home today about raising chicks in our classroom.

Have a fabulous day!

Room 13