4th and 5th graders, please take note:

Bridge Vocabulary Assignment (creating a quiz or a crossword puzzle) will be due on November 29th (4th graders) and on December 1st (5th graders).  The requirements and the rubric were discussed in class this week.  This assignment will be completed at home; please remember that all work must be the student's work!

We are discovering many interesting facts about bridges.  Students participated in a bridge simulation, involving five communities who had to rely on other communities' resources in order to survive, in addition to dealing with taxes and natural disasters.  The simulation included a hurricane in which the bridges were wiped out (a timely connection to real life, Hurricane Irene).  Students partnered with another to design and build the first of several bridges we will build this year.

Parents:  please ask your child to name the three main types of bridges and the application of each.  Ask your child to describe the bridge he/she constructed out of pasta and clay; how much weight could the bridge withstand?  Why did it fail?  Have him/her tell you about some of the reasons bridges fail and what safeguards are put into place to prevent them from failing.  Connections:  Your child was asked to count the number of bridge crossings he/she makes in one day and to ask you how many you make.  They should be able to tell you the national average bridge crossings made each day per person.

 

  2nd graders have been busy writing a mystery short story, prompted by the fascinating, black/white illustrations of Harris Burdick.  In Target, we utilize graphic organizers and the 6 plus 1 writing program which is taught in all GM classrooms.  We have high expectations in all writing areas and I'm looking forward to reading the students' final short stories!

Students learned about the fingerprinting process and "took" their own fingerprints.  Using a magnifying glass, students examined their prints and described what they saw.  They were then shown enlarged fingerprints showing the types of fingerprint patterns and the "official" terms for each.

Parents:  please ask them to describe the Harris Burdick illustrations and to explain how these mysterious illustrations were found.  Ask your child to describe the three main types of patterns found in fingerprints, according to the Standard Fingerprinting Classification System.     Connections:  Have your child tell you about pentominoes, and have him/her discover shapes, in and around home, similar to the twelve different pentomino shapes.