Today we continued to look at our materials: straw, bricks, cloth, and paper.  They were divided into groups and given different challenges.  They had to determine which materials would be the most effective for their task.  Then we looked at their ideas as a whole class and shared their thinking. 

Today for our STEM unit we got to pretend we were material engineers and look at properties of objects. We then looked at how if we changed materials how the new properties would affect the way the object worked. For example we talked about the properties of a spoon and we discussed what would be different if the spoon was made of paper, rock, or glass. We also talked about how some properties are important to how an object works and some are just for looks. For example we looked at a quilt. The weight of the material is important to if the blanket will keep you warm but the color is not. Here are the anchor charts of the class' thinking.

Then we continued with our jobs as material engineers. To we took 3 materials (brick, paper, and straw) and brainstormed their properties. Then we decided if they would be a good material to keep you warm based on their properties and had to defend our thinking with proof. Here is our work.

Today is our STEM lesson we analyzed materials that could possible be used to create walls here is an example of our thinking. We also brainstormed properties of a successful wall. 

Then we read the rest of the story Yi Min's Great Wall 

We also discussed the design process they used in book and filled in the engineering design process form to show the steps they went through.

Today we started working on our new STEM unit. Yi Min's Great Wall. We talked about what is a material engineer.  We read the story which is about a girl and a boy trying to build a wall to protect their garden at school. They used the design process to create mortar mixtures that held their wall together.

Today we had an Aluminum Foil Boat Building Challenge.  Their challenge was to build the strongest boat they could make using one sheet of aluminum foil?  Congratulations to 2 groups.

Today in science we completed our rock videos.  The scholars worked so hard on this project.  project
They were so creative with their songs and their videos.  I can't wait for you to see them. 
videos

Tomorrow is a big day for our rock star project.  We will be recording our dance sequence and our song so we can start making our rock videos.  Please help your student practice their song tonight so they are ready to sing with their group tomorrow.  Also some of the groups are wanting to wear certain outfits.  So if your student comes home with a request for clothing tomorrow that is why. 

Hello parents!
GCISD is gathering information about the instructional impact of technology in our schools via the Bright Bytes Clarity Survey. Our teachers and students are being provided opportunities to give feedback through surveys designed especially for them and they will be administered at school. We would also like to invite parents to take the Bright Bytes parent survey by using the following link:www.Bbyt.es/7M9WP
We truly value your feedback and appreciate you taking the time to participate in this important 5 minute survey.

Making Connections through Summer Enrichment
Brochure Cover Design Contest

GCISD students in grades K - 8 are invited to create artwork illustrating the fun learning opportunities available through GCISD’s Summer Enrichment Program. This year’s theme is “Making Connections through Summer Enrichment”. The winning artwork will serve as the cover design for the GCISD Summer Enrichment brochure, which is distributed throughout the district and on the website and provides information about registration and summer learning opportunities for elementary and middle school students. The student who creates the winning entry will be recognized in the printed brochure and during a regular meeting of the GCISD Board of Trustees.

Art must be original and can be hand-drawn, painted, computer-designed or in any other medium. Judges will be looking for a design that is creative, appropriate, and uses the “Making Connections through Summer Enrichment” theme. Art work must be on size 8 ½ x 11 paper and submitted in color, but be able to be reproduced in black and white. Our contest opens January 13, 2014, and the deadline for submitting the art is Friday, February 7, 2014. Students may submit contest entries at their school office or Anne Ricci at Cannon Elementary.

Snowmen at night

Distance learning

Building challenge

We will be using skype to visit a 2^nd grade classroom in Michigan. 

Both classrooms will be reading the book snowmen at night.  The students in both classrooms will create snowmen doing something at night.  They wrote 3 sentences giving clues to the other class about what their snowman is doing.  

Check out some of their work.  

 

Hi, 

I wanted to send a reminder about the district's Health and Wellness Expo on Saturday at CTMS.  If we have a large turnout of Cannon families, we might be awarded a cash incentive for our campus!  I've provided the link below for more information.

http://www.gcisd-k12.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=2&PageType=17&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceID=4085&EventDateID=72664

Sorry for the lapse since the last blog.  We have been busy doing our middle of the year reading and writing assessments.  Most of the students will be coming home with an information sheet today that will let you know how they did and how they have grown as readers and writers so far this year.  Please take a moment to celebrate their great achievements with them!!!!!

We have started our rock project.  Check out the project on the class wiki. project  Here is a picture of the rock washing experiment that one of the groups was working on today.