May you have a happy and joy-filled time with friends and family.  See you on Monday, January 4th.

We made it!  Today was a day to celebrate the two weeks of vacation.  I allowed the class to play (not do the social studies project unless they really wanted to) on the Chrome Books or iPads.  

My awesome room moms (and lots of other parents) provided a breakfast first thing.  After that, I put in a movie until it was time for crafts (gingerbread houses).  We then did lunch, went outside for recess (badly needed), came in, and watched the Finding Nemo.  

The crafts involved constructing gingerbread houses and then making other things.  I have a slide show below.  Other pictures will be on the class Shutterfly page.

​Then, it was time for specials (science) while I cleaned up the debris.  Afterwards, it was send them on their way. 

While I have sent out thank you notes, I still want to thank everyone who brought in gifts for me!  It really, truly, means everything to me!  Thanks again and I hope everyone has a wonder break!  Take care and see you in January!

Today was the last normal day of the week, month, and year!  Tomorrow will be devoted to class celebrations, movies, free time, etc.  Today the brochure for the social studies project is due and as I mentioned before, students will finish the TEXT of it.  If they can insert an image, great!  If the template (or whatever) will not allow them to do it, then I won't count it against them.  

In science, this was our last day of the first part of the energy unit and I ended it with a demonstration of thermal expansion.  More on that below.

I then did a brief demonstration on thermal expansion using a ball and ring set.  There is a brass ring with a wooden handle and then a perfectly machined spherical counterpart.  At normal temperature, the sphere can pass through the ring with no resistance.  But, when heated by a flame it will expand and be impossible to fit through.  When submerged in water for even just a few seconds, it contracts back to its original size.

Uncanny resemblance? 

Afterwards, I gave them the opportunity for one last time to complete the brochures.  

Today we did a little science and then focused on the social studies.  I will have the same type of schedule tomorrow too.  As of now, what I really want the students to finish up on is the text part of the brochure.  

After the warm-up I did a brief demonstration on how light bulbs emit heat as well as light.  I used my trusty IR thermometer and took a temperature reading on a light bulb that was off. Then, I turned on the bulb for about three minutes, turned it back off, and measured its thermometer again.  The average starting temperature was around 72° while the average temperature after being on was about 194°.  

I also mentioned that in science there needs to be a way to accurately and consistently measure something and express it in numerical form.  Math is the language of science.

Today the students took the quiz on the first part of the energy unit in science.  As I predicted, I am happy to state that virtually all showed mastery!  Once more I am very impressed!  Keep up the awesome work and yes, the grades are posted.

Also, we continued working on the project after the quiz.  While the brochure is due Thursday and the students have been working very hard on it, I have decided that we will stop on Thursday.  What this means is that I will continue to allow class time, when I can, in January for students to keep working.  

I want to emphasize that students will not be penalized for anything that cannot be controlled.  We have had technical difficulties too numerous to list that had to be overcome. If the students are not finished on Thursday, they will NOT be penalized.  I hope that this will help alleviate some anxiety about the project.  

​Before the quiz I had them do a shorter version of the warm-up.

Tomorrow and Thursday will be normal days and we will not switch classed on Friday.