Robert Munsch...

This week in Math, we started 3 digit subtraction. We have been practicing using a variety of strategies including the open number line (counting forwards and backwards), base ten blocks and stacking numbers.

We also learned a new 3 digit subtraction game, called "Slam Dunk". 

In Language Arts, we have continued our Tunisian animal research project. The students are working very hard to find information and make jot notes.

We have also been practicing our Spell-a-thon words.

3FT enjoying quiet Read to Self time...

We have finished learning about Tunisian culture. Students wrote a "pop quiz" using their lapbooks to answer questions.

We now have a Tunisian stamp in our passport! We will soon be flying to our next destination, Ukraine.

We received our fourth challenge by tree mail.

What a success! We haven't been on the island for very long but have already found a bit of food and now we have some shelter. We do have one problem though! The rain has started to come down quickly and it is beginning to make small puddles around our sleeping area. We are also worried that with the amount of rain falling, the river not far from us may begin to flood. We need to raise the area where we are going to sleep so that it is not on the ground. We head back to the plane and grab another large piece of tin for the floor of our shelter. It won't be the softest place to sleep but at least we will be out of the puddles and safe if the river floods. We drag the tin back to our shelter and start thinking about how we are going to raise it above the ground. Jason decides that we should use some tree stumps near by to hold up the floor. Which design will hold the most weight? Should we use one larger pillar in the center or four smaller pillars in each of the corners of our tin floor?

Our conclusion...four pillars hold more mass than one.

Tree mail...challenge number 5!

Thanks to your great work, we no longer have to sleep on the hard ground...in the monsoon! Now that the shelter is done, we need to furnish our living quarters.  Every house needs a table. We will need to return to the plane to find something we can use for a table top. For the base of the table, we will need to create a pillar that will support the table top and additional weight. The difficulty will be choosing which shape of pillar to use.  We will test pillar shapes which are triangular, cylindrical or rectangular.  We will conduct a fair test to discover which pillar shape can hold the most weight.

Our conclusion...a cylindrical pillar is the strongest because it does not have any corners and the weight is distributed evenly.

The school enjoyed a Robert Munsch performance on Friday afternoon. The kids were engaged and there were a lot of laughs.

Congratulations to our new Student of the Week!