Catal Huyuk

We have started reading about early communities. We learned about Catal Huyuk which was located in current day Turkey. We learned some great facts about it. Students were given two options of projects to show understanding of this topic. They could build a 3-D version of the homes/commmunities that they lived in or create a mural that would be found in one of the homes.

Here are Shradha, Kiyomi, and Josie working on their 3D model. They worked very well together and included great detail in their model.
Analiese and Payton are hard at work on their mural. They included several pictures of different elements of Catal Huyuk life.

Jack K and Tristan are working on adding a small mural inside their model.

These are all of the models put together. It looks like we have created our own Catal Huyuk village!

This is Serena and Maxine's mural. They drew the animals that the people hunted, the yellow in the back is the barley and wheat that they grew, and they drew the stone wall in the cave that this mural might be found on.

Fraction Sundaes

As we were working on fractions, we decided to make fraction sundaes! Students got to use their creativity by inventing some ice cream flavors. They also had to write down what fraction of their sundae was each flavor. They had a great time with them and did a great job!

This is Shradha's fraction sundae. Her hot fudge on strawberry looks extra delicious!

This is Serena's sundae. What an attention to detail, she even included a cherry on top of her sundae!

Letters about fractions

Our assignment on Friday was for students to write a letter to a second grader explaining if they think 1 and 1/3 is bigger than 1 and 1/4 or if 1 and 1/4 is bigger than 1 and 1/3. Look for key words that students included like numerator, denominator, and equivalent.
Here are 6 students letters that we found exceptional. Some required pictures of their letters to see their diagrams.

The first letter is Maxine's.
Dear 2nd grader,
Did you know that 1 and 1/3 ( 1 and 1 third) is bigger than 1 and 1/4 (1 and 1 fourth)? Well, it is. I don't know if you knwoo this, but it takes 4/4(four fourths) to make 1 whole and only 3 thirds to make 1 whole. Then, you add 1 whole to each. 2 whole is equivalent (e-qui-vol-int) to 1 whole. But 1/3 is still a little bit more than 1/4. That's why 1 and 1/3 is bigger than 1 and 1/4.
3rd grader,
Maxine

The second letter is Gabrielle's. You can see most of her letter, including her diagrams, in the photo below.

Dear second grader,
What is larger? 1 and 1/4 or 1 and 1/3. 1 and 1/3 is larger. You probly thought 1 and 1/4 was bigger because 4 is bigger than 3.This is why you are wrong. Look at 1/4. (See picture) Look at 1/3. (See picture) Now that you see it, 1/3 is obeously bigger. Now you know that the littler number on the bottom is bigger. You will never be fooled again!
Sincerly,
Gabrielle
The third letter is Jack K's. You can see the diagram that he refers to in his letter pictured below.

Dear second grader,
Do you think that 1 and 1/4 is bigger than 1 and 1/3? If so, I will explain why that is wrong. First, you need to know that the denominator (de-noin-a-tor) is the number on the bottom of the fraction. The numerator (num-er-a-tor) is the number at the top of the fraction. I will give you an example 1/4- 1 is the numerator, 4 is the denominator. Now I will explain how 1 and 1/3 is bigger than 1 and 1/4. Do you know how 1/2 is the biggest fraction? That means the lower the number the bigger the piece. Like this (See picture) Do you see the 1/3 part colored in was bigger than the 1/4 shaded in? That is how 1 and /3 is bigger than 1 and 1/4.
Sincerely,
Jack K.


The next letter is Serena's. You can see the diagram she refers to is pictured below.

Dear Second grader,
1 and 1/3 is bigger than 1 and 1/4. It is bigger because, well, it might sound weird but if you had 2 brownies and got 1 whole and cut the other into thirds, the 1/3 would look bigger than 1/4. (See example below.) See how thirds are bigger? Hope you learned alot.
Serena


The letter below belongs to Analiese. Please look at her diagrams that went along with her letter.
Dear Second grader,
1 and 1/3 is bigger than 1 and 1/4. I will show you. See would you like to have 1 and 1/3 or 1 and 1/4? I would like to have 1 and 1/3. Wouldn't you if they were brownies. Even though the bottom number for 1/4is bigger, that does not mean it is more. So if your brother or sister says I am getting 1/2 of a brownie and you are getting a 1/4, say no! Cause you get this much 1/4 and your brother or sister would get this much 1/2. OK
Sincerely,
Analiese



Here is Ian's letter.
Dear Second grader,
To tell you 1/3 is a bigger fraction because if you put a sideways line though 1/3 it is 2/6. If you put two lines down the squre it makes 2/8 = 1/4. The smaller the bottom number the bigger the fraction. So second graders 1/3 is indeed the bigger fraction.
Sincerely,
Ian

Graphing Genuises!

We have been working on data analysis and probability. For this activity students were given a chart of all the states in our country and the number of letters in the name. They were able to choose five states and make a graph of their choice from a bar graph, histogram, and pictograph. They were then asked to come up with 4 questions relating to their graph. The questions covered so many different concepts from range, median, mode, to addition, subtraction, and multi-step word problems. (Remember to enlarge the work below, click on the picture)

Maxine chose to do a pictograph using hearts. She asked questions about the range and the mode.
Trey chose to do a bar graph. His questions involved making number sentences to find out the answers.

Payton did a histogram. The histogram is different from a bar graph in one way. The bar graph has spaces in between the bars where a histogram has no spaces.

Nations Helping Nations

The last lesson in our Social Studies book was a world connection about Nations helping nations. We read the section and learned about the UN, Nelson Mandela and South Africa, ambassadors, and treaties. The class then made a collage of at least 7 topics that were covered in this specific lesson. They were so colorful and turned out great. The featured work below belongs to Maxine, Analiese, Jack D, and Hays.

Probable Passage in Math

As an introduction to our fractions unit, we did a Probable Passage activity. Students worked with their table mates to use the words given in the word bank to help determine what the book is about. They sorted the words into boxes labeled characters, setting, problem, solution, and unknown words. From that, they made a "gist statement" of what they thought the book would be about. After they filled in their charts and shared with the class, we revealed that it was a book called Fraction Action.
(I know the pictures are hard to see but if you click on them, they should enlarge so you can read them.)

Government

We have been studying about government in Social Studies. We have learned about local government, state government, and national government. All of these activities are featured on the walls of our room, stop by and see our great work!
Below are just a couple of activities that we have done during this unit.

We did this activity after we learned about the national government. Each table worked as a team to sort these phrases under the correct branch.

We did several activities with our first lesson on local government. The blue paper is a cover for a jigsaw activity that we did. Each table was responsible for teaching the class about a different component of the local government. The next day we worked on brochures to explain about all of the components of our local government.

This is the inside of Shradha and Anusha's pamphlet. It was chock full of information!

This was Josie and Kiyomi's brochure. They highlighted key words in yellow to make them stand out, just like our Social Studies book, what a great strategy!