Sarah's Tongue-Twister Haiku

I love you so much


From your super-cool sister


Try this three times fast!

Courtney's Haiku

Super duper cool


Never gets into schooling


Always gets to rule

Acrostic Haiku - By Sarah

D ad, wait don't sit down!

O h no you sat down on it!

G ee, that's got to hurt!

5th Grade Newbery Voicethread Project (under construction)

The kids have been working on putting together a Voicethread presentation to celebrate the Newbery books they read over Thanksgiving break. Each student was responsible for reading a different Newbery Award winner and doing some research on the author. In addition, kids were instructed to keep a log of powerful language (similes and metaphors) that helped "paint a picture" in their minds as they read. Using this figurative language as inspiration, the kids are now working on creating an illustration that represents a chosen simile or metaphor.

To view the project under construction, click here. Check back often, as the presentation will continue to be updated as more kids complete their pages.

Tessellations All Around Us!

Tiled Hex Tessellation, folded by Danilo
Originally uploaded by EricGjerde.

In math class last week we explored tessellations. A tessellation is an arrangement of repeated, closed shapes that cover a surface so no shapes overlap and no gaps exist between shapes (we even wrote a song about it - ask your child to sing it to you!).

For homework, the kids were asked to look for 'real-world' examples of tessellating patterns. Here are a few they came up with:

kitchen cabinets/kitchen windows
wood floors/tile floors
pattern on tablecloth
chess board
herringbone sweater
screen door
piano keys
pattern on couch
calendar
patio tile pattern
grillwork on fireplace
pattern on blanket

Nice work, 5th graders! Next week we'll be doing a cool project where you will learn how to make interesting pieces of art using tessellations of ordinary (regular) polygons. For a sneak peek, check out this link on M.C. Escher - http://www.mcescher.com