Fun with Makey Makey

Last Friday during our iSteam time, we experimented with Makey Makey. Makey Makey is a creative way to interact with your computer. It turns everyday objects into a touchpad and combines them with the internet. Basically, any object can become a replacement for your keyboard or mouse. Here we are using fruit and vegetables to make music!

Invasive Species

Here we are reading about and discussing invasive species. We learned about what happened when five different species arrived, survived, and thrived in an environment that wasn't their original home habitat. Our reading took us from New England, to the Great Lakes, to the deserts of the western United States, and even as far away as Australia (Who ever knew a camel could be an invasive species!).

SBAC Testing

A reminder to families that our class will begin taking the SBAC tests next week. We are planning on testing Monday and Tuesday next week and Tuesday and Thursday the following week. Fridays will be make up days. Most of these days will be double sessions with testing in both the morning and the afternoon. The students are allowed to bring sugarless gum or mints on the testing days.  Each student will need a pair of earbuds. I have some here at school, however they are not as comfortable as some others out there.
This is a lot of testing!  Please try to make sure your child get a lot of sleep in the next week few weeks. A good breakfast can also be very helpful to fuel them through the morning!
There will be no homework on testing days.

Grab-It Gauge in Math

Last week in math we tested our reaction time with a 'grab-it' gauge. We collected the data, plotted it, and then found out that our class's average reaction time is 0.17 second. That's pretty quick! We then talked about why this information could be important to know. In which professions does reaction time matter? Great math conversations!