Two Voice Poems

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, by Paul Fleischman, won the Newbery Medal in 1989. We have spent the last two days performing poems from this clever book and writing our own two voice poems. In addition to writing these poems to capture the different points of view between European Explorers and the native people they encountered during their expeditions and the voices of characters in The Inquisitor's Tale, the girls also wrote two voice poems featuring bickering siblings, condiments, Hamilton characters, and annoyed pets, to name a few. It has been such a fun project, and we've loved watching the girls' creativity and excitement throughout the project.

Newbery Luncheon featuring Adam Gidwitz

In preparation for our Newbery Luncheon, we read The Inquisitor's Tale, by Adam Gidwitz. On the day of the celebration, Mr. Gidwitz joined the fifth-graders to discuss the characters and plot of the book, and to answer the girls' questions about the book, the Middle Ages, and the writing process. After meeting with the girls, Mr. Gidwitz joined parents and students at the luncheon, keeping us all entertained with his hilarious stories and amazing insight. This is a day we won't soon forget, and we couldn't be more thrilled with the effort and energy that the girls put into preparing for this special day.

A New Tool in the Science Room!

Hello From the Science Center,

  5th Grade is studying the main parts of a plant cell. After much research, they are now working on their models. These models are being made on shrinking plastic film, so the final product with be a smaller and thicker piece of plastic. Each student is including a drawing, label, and description for each cell part. There has been a lot of creativity involved and some great attention to detail.
It's been great to see the students apply their research to their creations.
Take a look at some of the projects so far.

 
   Chloroplasts are of course, always green. A common refrain has been, "I want to make the vacuole blue, because it
holds water." Solid reasoning future scientists!

    Take a look at our new microscope. This beauty allows the students to view plant cells in real time right in front of them. It is a bit hard to share in a photo, but this microscope allowed our 5th graders to take a look at the cells of a water plant we have been growing in the science room. The students could point out the cell walls and the chloroplasts. Since we can mirror the laptop screen on the projector, everyone can share in the views.

All the Best,
Noah Robinson

Fear Mask

Fear Mask

The purpose of fear mask project was to provide students an opportunity to prepare
themselves for the fifth-grade performance in the spring. As the story for the spring performance
presents the concept of fear, students explored their personal fear through their artwork.
Students analyzed their fears and researched how they could express their fear through their
mask.

In order to experience fear of uncertainty and discomfort, the students drew a blind
contour self-portrait. Through this exercise, students were able to realize that certain fears can
begin from self-consciousness or judgemental mindset. Then, they read about how artists’ fears
or weaknesses can become characteristics or strengths in their artwork. Students also studied
the functions and purposes of various masks such as a disguise or representation of one’s
identity. Based on their researches and understandings of fear and mask art, students
expressed their fear through forms, textures, shapes, colors, and repetitions. Students also
chose unknown materials and techniques for their masks to reflect their experiences of
overcoming fear through the art-making process. This mask making unit requires students’
risk-taking behaviors, inquiry, and problem-solving skills which correlate with the process
of overcoming a fear.

Pin Box 3000

Using what they had learned about gaming elements and design in Game Star Mechanic, students are now starting the work on their group PinBoxes - a cardboard pinball machine.  Each group has drawn a design draft for the theme of their PinBox and are busy putting together the components (flippers and launcher). 

Science- Testing the effect of varied substrate on plant growth.

Hello From Science!

       5th Grade has started a new project, asking how plant growth will be affected by the substrate the plant are growing in. Paired with a partner, students set up 2 control and 2 experimental conditions. The control groups are simple, plants set carefully in standard potting soil. Each group was required to set up one of their experimental conditions with a mixture of sand and vermiculite to test growth in a soil free environment. The other experiment was up to them. We now have a wide variety of budding plants to monitor for the coming weeks. A highlight is the group who set a plant floating on water using some quite ingenious use of paper towels. Students will be caring for and monitoring these experiments each day in science. We'll see how they do!

Character Analysis at the End of a Novel

After reading The House with the Chicken Legs, by Sophie Anderson, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi, the girls were asked to create a visual representation of all of the ways that the protagonist in the story evolved throughout the book. In addition to drawing the main character and showing the ways that she changed, the girls also had to support their creation with quotes from the book. We were amazed by the creativity and enthusiasm that they put into this assignment!