Last month, as we finished up our unit on poetry, Mr. Hodgson decided to do something a bit different this year. Normally, we collected poems from students, photocopy them and hand them out to students as a way to become published poets.
This year, we went a step further. All students had the opportunity to donate one of their original poems for a book project. Mr. Hodgson took all of the donated poems and then used a self-publishing site called Lulu to create a real book of poems that you can now purchase from Lulu directly. The cost is about $10 per book, including shipping. But you can download a PDF copy of the book for free.
We’ve been working hard at creating Digital Picture Books for the past two or three weeks. These books all have a math theme to them and we will be sharing them with younger students in the next week or two during our library time periods. (Thanks, Mrs. Mari!)
(Technical note: You need to have Microsoft Powerpoint in order to view these books. They are all in “show mode” at this point. If you do not have Powerpoint, you can download the Powerpoint Viewer software from Microsoft by clicking here. If you need the book in another format, please let Mr. Hodgson know and he will do his best to provide you with a version.)
You can download a digital copy of the picture books by clicking on the title:
Mallory Bagwell visited the Norris School the other day to give a presentation in the morning around communication (that had us all laughing hard) and then he worked with students in grades 4 through 6 on constructing GeoDomes, which are geometrically-designed structures used in architecture and math. A GeoDome uses the power of triangles and other shapes for strength and versatility.
The sixth grade worked in three groups to build their own GeoDomes in the gymnasium.
This was a nice real-world application of math and science, with hands-on work.
For more information about GeoDomes, you can visit these sites:
We were very fortunate to have Mr. Nielson (Greg’s dad) come on in and share his experiences as the co-creator of a published comic called Rocketboy. Mr. Nielson showed us some storyboards and shared with us the process he goes through to collaborate on a comic, which has been published in Nick Magazine (in 3D, even).
Mr. Nielson’s work with the four classes is helping our young writers in planning and creating their own Digital Math Picture books, now underway.
Thanks again, Mr. Nielson! And thanks to Mrs. Mari for planning the event.
In Math class, you are working on tallying up your stats for Quidditch. In order to do so, you will need to download the Excel Worksheet file from this blog. It’s easy.
First, click on this link (or the picture of the golden snitch) and then click on the download button.
This will move the worksheet to your desktop
Make sure you rename your file (otherwise, the person after you may overwrite your data with their own data)
In class, we worked on writing and performing Poems for Two Voices, in which two people read the same poem. The poems are designed for voices to weave in and out on a topic, and our young poets did a fantastic job.
Writing from some of our students is being featured on a new online journal of young people’s writing (which is being spearheaded by a friend of Mr. H) which seeks to create a place for young writers to get published.
The site is called SPACE and the second edition features:
And haiku podcasts from two classes (Mr. H and Mr. C’s homerooms)
As the journal continues to develop, we hope to have more of our writers getting published. If you have something you would like to have published, please let Mr. H know and he can work with you.
As we move deeper into poetry, we worked on writing Haikus on Friday. A Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that is a 5-7-5 format (based on syllables) and traditional Haikus focus on nature. We wrote two haikus: one traditional and one non-traditional.
As we explore Figurative Language techniques, we are learning more ways that the writer can engage the reader in exciting ways. One interesting technique is known as Alliteration and the classic tongue twister is a great example of alliteration (the repeating starting sound for a series of words).
In class, we worked on our own tongue twisters and some students shared their words through a podcast.
Here are four tongue twisters that Mr. Hodgson created for all four teachers.
Mr. Hodgson hopes he has happy students here and in the hallways. However, he’s helping hippos to hop, too, so he’s holding up helium balloons in his hands for help.
Mr. Chamberlin is chomping on chewy chestnuts, although the children and chimps choose chocolate cheese-puffs instead.
Mrs. Rice is really a rock star, riding in her race car on roads that rarely run ragged, so remember to record her rags-to-riches story in reruns.
Mr. Meunier merely mentions the moment when his motorcycle went meandering for miles and miles when marbles start to fall from his mouth, making him mumble.
