Life is a Mystery….
And we are unraveling this puzzle from all angles! Oh sorry, a pun, yes, we are studying angles in math too.
In Literacy our lessons have introduced students to think like a detective and look for clues. We have been analyzing crime scene scenarios and reading short mystery stories for ideas to write our own mystery stories. Students have been writing a story about poor Humpty Dumpty who was pushed off the wall. The detective scours for clues in Nursery Rhyme Land and catches the culprit. Each story has a clever twist or surprise.
In math we are finishing up chapter 6, which includes learning the “partial quotient” method for long division and measurement of angles.
We studied polygons and learned how to draw diagonals in regular polygons to understand the relationship between the number of sides of a polygon and the sum of its interior angles. It is a great study of looking for patterns and relationships in math and making rules to state a pattern.
Each student read a non-fiction book about an unexplained mystery and made an artistic book cover and list of facts for his/her topic. Strange things exist and being on the look out for these occurrences is important detective work.
In connection with this theme of unexplained mysteries, we visited the stone “beehive” caves with ecologist/naturalist, Tom Wessels. Mystery solved--- he has us pretty well convinced these structures (monolithic chambers) were Native American solstice chambers built long before the settlers came from Europe. He fascinated us by describing the Native custom of watching the sunrise for the solstice in order to celebrate the “feast of the dreams” which was a time Abenaki people could contact their ancestral spirits. The site is impressive and intentionally designed for a purpose NOT for a pig (you had to be there). Everyone did a great job writing about this experience yesterday.
Dates to remember:
Thurs. 2/9 Library Birthday Party 12:50
Mon. 2/20- No School President’s Day
Feb.- Our month to collect donations for the Putney Food Shelf
