First Week Back in the New Year

Hello there,

Happy holidays and a happy, happy New Year! This week has been a more relaxed week though we've accomplished a lot. Here is what we've been up to:

In Writing, we have been working to come up with thesis statements and three reasons to prove them. Ms. Swaim is writing about how "Dogs make their owners better people." Other people are writing about family members and other topics they feel strongly about.

In Reading, we have been doing research for our Biography Projects. We chose important people and are learning about their lives so that we can create projects. Some of the projects are really cool. We can make google presentations about our person and we can even make a fake Facebook Page for them. We are starting to use computers next week. Some of the people we're studying are Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Elizabeth Blackwell, Nelson Mandela, Taylor Swift, and many more.

In Math, we started a new unit of problem-solving. We work in partnerships to solve tricky math problems around vending machines. We made posters to explain our thinking and presented them at a "Math Congress." Next week, we are solving another cool problem about an amusement park.

In Science we started a new unit called, "Earth Beneath Our Feet." We explored earth's materials and tried to identify them by observing them carefully. Here is a picture of us observing:

In other news, we have started a Fourthlandian Economy. We have designed money and we have applied for new jobs that we are going to be paid for next week. Some of the new jobs include: Peace Officer (the MOST wanted job, to help students resolve problems), Bankers (to pay us), and the Landlord (to collect our rent).

We also had a special visitor today, Mr. Swaim (Ms. Swaim's dad). He told us an Ananzi story and another story about bees called "Woe is Me Bones." We really, really want him to come back to tell more stories.

Your bloggers,
Shira & Samantha (and Ms. Swaim)