Vermont Energy Education Programs

Laura from VEEP spent the day with us on Thursday!  In our VEEP workshop we reviewed what we knew about energy and how we can use steam, water, wind and sunlight to produce energy!  We witnessed the power of steam as it produced 10 volts of electricity!  We saw how height has an impact on the amounts of volts produced in a hydropower set up!  We spent time sorting energy sources and talking about the similarities and differences, but also about the cost, efficiency, environmental impact, and sustainability of these sources.  Finally, we got to experiment and play!  We used mini solar panels and mini wind turbines to produce energy.  We tested variables that could increase or decrease the amount of energy produced.  With the solar panels we mostly experimented with distance between the light and the panel.  With the mini turbines we tested blade angles, number of blades, and wind speed.  Hopefully, through these experiments and through the discussions your children are thinking about energy, how it is produced, how to lower our consumption and what sources they should be supporting so that our environment can stay healthy! 

5th Grade Read-a-Thon and Hour of Code Week

Our cozy Read-a-Thon was a huge success!  So much reading and sharing of books went on this afternoon!  Thanks for supporting this positive behavior celebration!

We spent a hour a day this week coding!  We had an amazing guest speaker on Wednesday!  She told us how she became interested in coding and how it led her to study physics and computer science through college, her masters degree and her doctorate!  She supported us as we teamed up to do an coding activity!  I wonder who in this classroom will be studying computer science in college in a few years!

First few pages of our books with our Book Buddies!

Another successful Book Buddies!  We added 2 or 3 pages tour books!  The illustrations are detailed and beautiful!  The text is so interesting!  Way to 5th grade mentors!  Tomorrow we will connect with other 1st Graders and teach them how to code!  Hour of Code 2017!

So much learning during this last week of November!

Don't forget to put in your order for Shelburne Bay Bread Company Bread!  We sold all our loaves today!  The Cinnamon Raisin is so yummy toasted with butter!  New Hidden Cheese flavor, too! Thanks for all your donations and your support!  We are so grateful to you, our students and to BOB for taking on this business!

This week with our Book Buddies we designed the covers to our non-fiction books!  They are amazing!  Super team work and mentoring modeled by our 5th Graders!  We will publish and celebrate these books before the Winter Break!  I'll have our students post them to See Saw!  They will go home with our 1st Grade Buddies!

Becky's River Trail gave us a lot of math to do this week.! Together in partnerships we had to find fractions of the whole number 30!  Once we found these fractions (1/2, 1/5, 1/6, etc), we had to mark locations along the math that would be found at these points.  There were inner tube rentals, rest rooms, picnic areas, shuttle bus stops and camping sites.  The team work was phenomenal, the math was accurate and precise, and the creativity was beautiful!  Check out the process and the products below!

In Science and Social Studies we have jumped int World Geography!  Mrs. Crowther is getting students ready to embark on a trip around the globe, continent to continent.  Reading non fiction, taking notes, taking map quizzes and writing short thoughtful responses!  In science we are figuring out how much fresh water is in the world and looking at pollution and the tragic endangerment of the ocean due to plastics!  We are writing and supporting our scientific claims and opinions.  We are using math to analyze our data!  Look in your child's homework folder for this month's share theme!

  

Here are some photos from our Cat Coin Kick Off a few weeks ago!  So far our team has gone above and beyond to be Safe, Responsible and Respectful!  On 11/17 we delivered handwritten thank you notes to the many adults around our school building that support us in our learning every day!  It was such a fun way to celebrate our positivity and to show gratitude!  Our next team celebration is around the corner!  We plan to do a Cozy Read In!  One hour of blankets and pillows and our favorite books:)