Perfect Passwords

This last week we had a digital citizenship lesson on how to create safe and usable passwords.  As a class we had a great discussion about things we can include in a password and things we really shouldn't include.  Our discussion also consisted of why we should create passwords that are both strong and safe.  Take a look at what we were able to come up with concerning creating passwords.

We also took a look at a website called dinopass.com that creates strong and safe passwords for kids.  As we were given different passwords from dinopass we discussed why they would be valid passwords.

I had a wonderful lunch on Wednesday afternoon with two of our class members who spent some Class Dojo points.  Here are the happy guys!  Good job and keep up the great work!

This week in math we started our unit on fractions.  We did a group project as if we were working in a sandwich shop and had to come up with different ways to cut the sandwiches if it were for more than one person.  This was a bit of a challenge, but the groups were able to see how to cut things into equal parts and that the more parts you have (or our denominator in the fraction) means a smaller portion of the whole.  The students first drew out how the sandwiches would be cut and then we had a competition with cutting some construction paper as our sandwiches.  

Congratulations to our winning "sandwich makers"!

To finish off the week we had a combination of math and art and created Fraction Fish.  The class was given different fractions of circles including whole, halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and eighths.  They had to use the different fraction templates to cut out shapes that they could form into fish.  They turned out really well and the class seemed to be more appreciative of fractions when they realized they didn't want all of their fish to be one giant circle!

I look forward to this next week as we wrap up our unit on fractions as there will be some very exciting events to help the students learn more about fractions and what they represent!

Combinations of Fun!

The last two weeks in the classroom seem to have flown by.  It has been such a busy time that I didn't have a chance to post last week to the blog.  Although, it worked itself out since this week was a shorter school week.
Last week we continued our learning unit on erosion in science.  In our original exploration we found how erosion can happen to the land, mostly through wind and rain.  Taking this further, the students were asked to find a way to prevent the erosion.  Once again the students were given a cup full of sand to build their sand tower.  They were also given some random objects: a coffee filter, some string, 10 Popsicle sticks, and a piece of foil.  Some students opted to use the cup that their sand was in initially, as well.  Each group had 15 minutes to create a structure that would prevent water erosion.  As a class and among the five different groups, there were 5 very different structures that I am happy to say were ALL able to withstand the water erosion.  What would you be able to create using only those resources to prevent water erosion?  Check out what the students were able to come up with in their teams.  This was such a fun way to explore erosion... thanks to https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/claims-evidence-science-lesson-achieve

 
 
 

Here are the very wet and messy, but still standing results.

And to follow that, I always love to show great examples of teamwork and cooperation.  Can't you just see their minds working?

 

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Our STEAM Friday event today was also very exciting!  As part of the STEAM fund the classroom was given for the 2015-2016 school year, we were able to obtain a BreakoutEdu box.  This is a wonderful box of discovery, puzzling, logic, and cooperation.  This was the first time we used our Breakout box, so I will give a little bit of a background on the idea.  Students work together to reach a common goal of solving puzzles and figuring out clues to unlock the locked boxes throughout the classroom.  Our story today was called "Breakout of the Wolf's Den" based on "The Three Little Pigs."  The students had a great time with this and had to solve clues for 5 different locks.  They only had 45 minutes for every single group to get all 5 clues....and they made it with 2 minutes to spare.  There was a bit of a mad rush towards the end where finished groups were helping other groups as quickly as they could.  Take a look at what the students had to solve.

Here is where we stopped the timer.... just in time!

The class was certainly using their brains to breakout of this situation.  Look at all the learning in action! (I absolutely love STEAM Fridays!)

 

And here is the big reward...............................................................

The class enjoying the green part of their reward afterwards!

The students were asking me when we would do another Breakout.  It will probably be a couple of weeks before I get another one together, but I am happy to see the students enjoyed it and that it all worked out the way I expected it to.  Here's to trying new things!  Happy Friday!