How Many Boxes Will Fill Our Classroom?

After MCAS testing was over, the class took on the challenge of trying to calculate the total number of Scholastic boxes that would fit in our classroom.  The students were grouped in fours and were given a box. One group was given a basketball. The only directions the students were given was to work together to think through the process and use the tools in the classroom and all that we have learned in math to help them with this task. They also needed to be able to show their thinking and calculations when they were finished.  Below are some pictures of the students working to solve the problem.

A head scratching challenge!

Will and Olivia measuring the length of the room.

Jack telling Karleigh she must be right!

Double checking your work is always a good idea!

One group had an extra challenge, a basketball!

This was a fun way to spend the rest of the morning after MCAS tests.  The students worked very hard to find an answer.  But it wasn't about finding the correct answer, but rather about thinking about a problem. 

James thinking about creative ways to measure.

New Happenings in 5B

Difficult word problem homework . Maybe
you remember helping your child with
this one?

We have all been working very hard on our latest math unit - Surface Area and Volume.  The students have trying their best and working very hard to understand new math concepts.  The photo to the left was one of the rather difficult math word problems the children had to work on for homework one night last week.  A couple of girls tackled the problem together and worked very hard until they got the correct answer. These problems are not easy, but they do show that with perseverance you can get the answer.

Katie, James, and Kate
sorting shapes on our class Venn
diagram. 

In an attempt to learn Geometry, the students have been making all kinds of shapes for the past month or so.  Once everyone put their shapes up on the Venn diagram it wasn't quite correct so Katie, James, and Kate volunteered to come in early one morning last week to fix it.  They took on the challenge of identifying the mistake and then reorganizing the class Venn diagram.  Stop outside our classroom if you are at school to see if you can identify how they sorted the shaped.

Our class Happy Meal from September.

I thought I would take a picture to show all of you what our class Happy Meal looks like as of the end of April, 2014 - NOT MUCH different than September!  The apples are more brown and a little bit softer, the nuggets and fries are as hard as rocks but that is it.  Other than that they look like they did they day I bought them back in September.  I don't know about you, but I won't be eating at McDonald's any time soon!

We have just finished up our
reading unit on Historical Fiction.  I thought it would be fun to write Spy Letters from the point of view of a character in the book we have just read.  To the left is an example of how the recipient of the spy letter would read the letter using the decoder.  To the right, you can see what looks like an ordinary letter but it really contains a secret message. The students used the decoder to write their letters.  It was more difficult than it sounds, but it was a lot of fun.  If you would like to read the secret letters, stop outside our classroom and read the bulletin board to read about all the secret messages.

Stop by our classroom to see all of these projects!  Your children work very hard.