Our Reading Marathon in Pictures

Be sure to check out Michael and Elliot's story about what happened during our Reading Marathon last Wednesday. Here are some pictures so you can see the excitement for yourself!

About the Reading Marathon (By Michael and Elliot)

We waited all through science and our pictures for the one thing...the  funnest thing in the school year so far...we waited for instructions from Katie. We waited for Katie to call us table by table to change into our pj's for an awesome reading period that was 90 minutes long. Once everyone was done Katie said:

''The reading Marathon will begin in 30 seconds.'' The class couldn't wait! Everyone started reading their book while waiting for the food. There were bagels with cream cheese or butter, oranges,bananas, grapes and red delious apples. Katie called us table by table to get our delious food. The foods scent drifted into the classroom and bounced of the cold, smooth walls of the class. Everyone started eating and eating their food while reading because they couldn't take their eyes of their book. It was as if the were hypnotized to read their book. Their eyes went over and over the lines of their book. We saw many kinds of books like Bone, Star Wars, World of Warcraft and Warriors...there were also magazines. The only reason kids would get up was to get a drink or more food. Nor girl nor boy took their eyes of their book. Their eyes were stuck on their page. 

50 minutes left. Their eyes streamed against the page like lightning. the clock turned and turned. "Tick tock tick tock," went the clock. Soon all the oranges and bagels were gone. 30 minutes left then 20 then 10 then 5. The clock went ''TING''. There was no time left!

''YAWN,'' went the class. Katie called us table by table to change into our normal clothes. We packed up our blankets and stuffed animals, sleeping bags and pillows. We sat on the rug to talk about our next challenge for the next Reading marathon. The best thing in the whole school. Well.................................right now.

Math Problem By Ellis

There are 136 people at a mansion for a family reunion. Each person gets to eat five crackers. How many crackers were there in all? Post the answer below.

Making Your Own Podcast!

So, you're ready to make your podcast? Here are some step-by-step directions to help you get started.

1) Practice reading your piece aloud to several different partners. Make sure you're reading with expression and meaning.
2) Double-click on Garage Band to open it (It should be a small guitar icon in your toolbar. If it is not there, you will need to go into Applications to find it. I can help you with that.)
3) On the screen that says "New Project," click "Podcast," and then click "Choose."
4) On the next screen, save your podcast as your first name (Ex. "Katie") and for where choose "Desktop." Don't change any of the other settings!
5) Garage Band will open!
6) Click on either "Male Voice" or "Female Voice" on the left side of the screen. It does not matter which you click on.
6) Now you are ready to record. Click the red circle to STOP the recording. Talk clearly into the computer.
7) Click on the red button again to STOP recording when you are finished.
8) To play your podcast back, bring the thin red line all the way to the start of the podcast. Click the play arrow or press the space bar. Your podcast will play back to you!
9) If you like your podcast, go to File and select Save!

If you need inspiration, you can always listen to Ray Martinez's podcast! Make sure you click the small play arrow to start the podcast.

Buzz

In our class we've been working on a game called Buzz.

In this game instead of counting by 2s, 5s, and 3s, we counted by what's called a prime number. A prime number is a number is a number were you can only multiply it by one and its own number (such as 7, 5, or 3).

The way you play this game is you count by 1s and when ever you get to the chosen prime number or one of its factors you say buzz. For example, if the prime number was 7, you could say: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, buzz, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, buzz, etc. 

If you chose to do this game a little more difficultly you can count by more than 1 prime number (your limit is 3 numbers). This time if you get to any of the factors of your numbers you can say buzz for the first, fizz for the second, and jazz for the third.

To know when the game ends 1 person either says the number instead of saying buzz or if somebody says buzz at the wrong time.

Special thanks to Sam's dad (John) for teaching us this game.

This entry is written by Mayu and Andrew!

(Update: 11/1/10: Here is a picture from our morning with John!)

The Game of Leftovers

This week, we've been playing "The Game of Leftovers" in class. It's a great way to practice division and think about the relationship between multiplication and division.

Try out the game at home. You will need:

• 15 counters, tiles, pennies, small objects, etc. 
• 6 plates, pieces of paper, post-it notes, index cards, etc. 
• 1 die or 1 spinner with 6 spaces or the numbers 1-6 cut up and put in a container
• A piece of paper to record your results on 

Player One begins by rolling the die. Put out the number of plates that you roll (ex. 5 plates) and then divide the counters evenly between the plates (ex. 3 tiles per plate). Record the division number sentence (ex. 15/5 = 3 tiles). If there are any leftovers (remainders) that cannot be divided evenly between the plates put out, you get to keep them!

Continue taking turns until there are no counters left! The player who collected the most leftovers (the most counters) is the winner! 

Push your thinking deeper as you play. Are there any numbers that are difficult to get out of, numbers that you get stuck in for a long time? What makes those numbers difficult to roll out of? Are there any numbers for which it is easy to get leftovers? Why? 

Iroquois Values, Beliefs and Traditions

We synthesized all of our learning about the Iroquois by considering what we know about the values, beliefs and traditions of the Iroquois. We came up with so many ideas, both from our whole class lessons and from the books we've been exploring with our partners.  Thank you Jane, Ellis and Leela for designing these beautiful charts! Click on any of the pictures to see the charts enlarged. 

 

Historians, do you have any thoughts about the values, beliefs and traditions of the Iroquois that you haven't shared yet? Post them here!