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Math Rope Trick Workshop

By Jonah the Fifth Grader:

We the fifth graders, recently had a math workshop done by Ken, a Brown PhD Candidate. We learned about different ways to get from one to negative one. Ken showed this visually by having four of us at a time hold two ropes parallel to each other. Then we twisted the rope into a knot, and we untangled it without undoing what we did or just using our hands at the middle of the rope. The main objective was to untangle the ropes using an algorithm.

We learned all about negative reciprocals and how they work. We used fractions, negatives, and positives. I think that we all had a lot of fun doing this workshop and learned from it. We learned that when the knots are untangled the starting  number is zero. When it is tangled we had to try to get back to zero. Twisting the ropes once increases the number by one, and rotating the ropes changes the number to its negative reciprocal. We learned that the algorithm we used was the only one in the world that has currently been discovered. Overall this workshop was extremely well done.

Trying to figure it out
Trying to figure it out
"I wish we could do math like this all day!"
“I wish we could do math like this all day!”

STEAM Workshop: Circuitry

By Tamar the Fifth Grader:

In our circuitry workshop on Monday morning, we did two things.  First, we made a little colored light go on.  We did this by first creasing a small piece of paper, and placed a piece of copper tape ( a thin strip of copper that is sticky on one side) on both sides of the crease and put a battery on one side, and the light on the other end, so that when the paper was folded along the crease, the battery touched both of the pieces of copper tape, and turned the light on.  It sounds simple, but it is very hard to make the copper tape meet in the right way to the battery and the light.  The second part was a sort of free tinker time.  We were told to make some sort of lamp or something like that, and those were the only major guidelines.  Some of the things made were a heat lamp, a flashlight, and a few other variations on those basic subjects.  I made a little light-up tube that lit up when you pressed it in a certain place.  I learned that even the simplest of circuits can be very hard to make.

4th & 5th Graders in the Design Lab
4th & 5th Graders in the Design Lab
It works!
It works!

 

Tomer’s Post about Making Matza

This week [end of March, early April] each class at JCDS got to experience the basics in making kosher matza for Passover.  The challenge was, to mix water and flour together to make dough, kneed it, roll it out into a very thin sheet, and then bake it, taking 18 minutes or less to do so.  This was done in the parking lot outside on tables.  Each class came out one at a time, kids spreading out around the tables and doing all the things needed to make tasty and kosher matza.  We baked the matza in an oven made of bricks the fifth graders made.  Even though we didn’t use flour that was kosher for Passover, everyone felt very accomplished after making their own matza. This was truly an intriguing and informative activity.

 

Loading the bricks up to bring down
Loading the bricks up to bring down
Preparing to lay them out
Preparing to lay them out
Mixing the mortar
Mixing the mortar
Design in action
Design in action
Voila!
Voila!
Ready to be used
Ready to be used
Making matza on our brick oven!
Making matza on our brick oven!
What an accomplishment!
What an accomplishment!

 

Teaching about the Holocaust with Picture Books

“In order to understand who we are, our children need an authentic exploration of our past, including the Holocaust.” Emuna Braverman  bit.ly/1PQtBpw  Our library has a very good collection of Holocaust picture books as well as novels. One of our favorite books is The Butterfly written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco, an outstanding children’s author. This beautifully illustrated book relates an actual Polacco family Holocaust story.

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Some other outstanding books in our collection are:

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One More Border: The True Story of One Family’s Escape from War-Torn Europe is another true family story complete with photos of passports, family members , newspaper items and maps. The Kaplan family successfully escaped Europe and lives in Canada.

Review this excellent list of children’s Holocaust book by the United states Holocaust Memorial Museum for more selections.  bit.ly/1FN5zU5

 

 

 

 

 

Tamar’s Post about our Rube Goldberg Machine

This week in Design Lab, we finished building our Rube Goldberg machine!  A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine that is started by a human doing something, which sets off a chain reaction, which ends in a simple task being completed, like pouring a cup of water or dropping a block.  Our’s was started by someone sling-shooting a marble, which sets off dominoes, which lifts a pulley, which sets a marble rolling on a track, which sets off more dominoes, which set off another marble, which sets off a pulley, which starts a cart rolling, which knocks down a weighted cup, which knocks down colorful towers, and also pulls a ruler, which sets off dominoes, which starts a marble rolling, which sets off a mousetrap, which causes marbles to fall into a bag, which falls, and reveals a sign that says “JCDSRI Rocks!” and is splatter painted and signed by the whole school.  As that happens, someone off to the side pulls a string, which activates a confetti launcher that we made.  Sadly, but not unexpectedly, when we tried it out it didn’t work. So we just set it off manually when it didn’t work.  Both Lashon groups worked together, even though we were working on it separately.  It took about two months to complete because we only have Design Lab for 50 minutes a week. So altogether it was worked on for an hour and 40 minutes a week.  I think that it was a great way to work together and make all of our ideas work, and I think that everyone worked hard together and had fun.

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Jodd’s Post about our Field Trip to Boston

On Tuesday, March 17th we went to Boston. In class we’ve been learning about the Revolutionary Period, and Boston was a place with a lot of action. We learned about Faneuil Hall and got to go in as well.  Faneuil Hall was amazing. All the pictures and the architecture were beautiful.

Outside Faneuil Hall
Outside Faneuil Hall
Inside Faneuil Hall- we were so lucky to have the space all to ourselves!
Inside Faneuil Hall- we were so lucky to have the space all to ourselves!

Then we went to the spot where the Boston Massacre happened. We learned about the history of the Boston Massacre. Some patriots were throwing stones at British troops, but the British officers fired on the crowd. Only five died of the hundreds there, but that angered the patriots a lot. Then we went to the Old South Meeting House. There, we reenacted the debate that started the Boston Tea Party.

Inside Old South Meeting House
Inside Old South Meeting House

There were two sides, the patriots and the loyalists. The loyalists thought that Boston should buy the tea in the harbor. The patriots wanted to send the tea back to England, but they had a secret plan B. In the debate there were more patriots than loyalists, so they won. They asked the captain to go back to England but he refused. So the patriots secret went into play. That night, many patriots dressed up as Indians to conceal themselves. They went on to the Dartmouth, Eleanor and Beaver and started to dump the tea into water. They worked as quietly as they could and after they were done, cleaned all three ships. They wanted to show England that they were willing to fight for independence, but that they were civil and mature. After the debate, we looked around the exhibits and saw many cool things. They even had the tea leaves from that very night. Then, for lunch we went to Milk Street Cafe. We all had something good for lunch, from sushi to salad. To finish it off, we all had dessert. It was the best lunch on a field trip.

At Milk Street Cafe
At Milk Street Cafe
At Milk Street Cafe
At Milk Street Cafe

Our field trip to Boston was Stupendous!

At Boston Harbor, where the Tea Party took place
At Boston Harbor, where the Tea Party took place

Tea Tasting

We engaged our senses of taste and smell when we tasted a few different types of tea.  After all our talk about the tea tax, it seemed logical to have a better understanding of tea.

Students enjoyed the experience of sipping  English Breakfast Tea.
Students enjoyed the experience of sipping English Breakfast Tea.

We marked locations on our world map where tea is grown.  Students wondered what a tea tree looks like.

We read this primary source text and discussed what political statement was being made.
We read this primary source text and discussed what political statements were being made here.

We then kicked off our percentages unit in math by figuring out which percentage of the class preferred which tea.  A student asked, “It’s like if we already know decimals and fractions, then aren’t percents are really the same thing?”  (Yes, exactly!  Math is beautiful like that.)

Deep Inside a Text

Fifth graders are finding many creative ways to interact with  our class novel, an art history mystery, which fosters a deeper understanding of this text and its big ideas.
Fifth graders are finding many creative ways to interact and engage with our class novel, an art history mystery, that foster a deeper understanding of this text and its big ideas.
As the characters uncover bizarre coincidences, we're thinking carefully about coincidences from our own lives.  The protagonists wonder about art, and so do we.
As the characters uncover bizarre coincidences, we’re thinking carefully about coincidences from our own lives. The protagonists wonder about art, and so in turn do we.
Students brought in items from home that they each think of as art.  This sparked a fascinating discussion as to what is the nature of art.
Students brought in items from home that they each think of as art. This sparked a fascinating discussion as to what is the nature of art.

 

Students explained why they brought in the items they did.  From a shofar to a broken vase to a glass blown animal, we had many different artifacts to study.
Students explained why they brought in the items they did. From a shofar to a broken vase to a glass blown animal, we had many different artifacts to study.
We wanted to study this question (What is art?) more, so off we went to the RISD Museum.  Talking has great worth, but students wanted to see as much art as possible to shed greater light on their questions and thoughts about what art can communicate to us.
We wanted to study this question (What is art?) more, so off we went to the RISD Museum. Talking has great worth, but students wanted to see as much art as possible to shed greater light on their questions and thoughts about what art can communicate to us.
We observed, we questioned, we discussed, we wandered, and we had a joyful learning experience.  What is the artist trying to communicate to us?  What can we learn about the values and cultural norms of this time period based on its art?  Students drove the learning and the movement around the museum.
We observed, we questioned, we discussed, we wandered, and we had a joyful learning experience. What is the artist trying to communicate to us? What can we learn about the values and cultural norms of this time period based on its art? Was this green line supposed to be there?  Students drove the learning and the movement around the museum.
In the contemporary art wing, this exhibit was accompanied by music.
In the contemporary art wing, this exhibit was accompanied by music.
Students marveled over the art work.  Fifth graders raised many thoughtful questions, such as: Why are their nudes in art?  Are all portraits of real people?  Did only the very wealthy have portraits taken of them?  When can we come back to the museum?
Students marveled over the art work. Fifth graders raised many thoughtful questions, such as: Why are there nudes in art? Are all portraits of real people who once lived? Did only the very wealthy have portraits taken of them? When can we come back to the RISD museum?
We ended our visit with some quiet reflection.  What had we learned about art?
We ended our visit with some quiet reflection, in this apropos spot. What had we learned about art?
After the museum, one student proclaimed, "I'm left with more questions than answers!"  (Good!!!)  The class decided they wanted more data, namely the thoughts and opinions of those in their community.  They created this and hung it in our school lobby to gather responses.
After the museum, one student proclaimed, “I’m left with more questions than answers!” (Good!!!) The class decided they wanted more data, namely the thoughts and opinions of those in their community. They created this and hung it in our school lobby to gather responses to further their understanding.
Meanwhile, we've begun passing around Lo!, a bizarre book that a character in the novel picks up and puzzles over.
Meanwhile, we’ve begun passing around Lo!, a bizarre book that a character in the novel picks up and puzzles over.  Students take it home, read a passage, share a summary and a reflection.  Lo! is filled with newspaper clippings that seem like anomalies (i.e. showers of frogs).  Who was Charles Fort?  How many more coincidences will we discover between Lo! and Chasing Vermeer?
Our spelling words this week came from the text, and the assignment- to write something that seemed like it might be an entry in Lo!- led to some very creative writing!
Our spelling words this week came from the text, and the assignment- to write something that seemed like it might be an entry in Lo!- led to some very creative writing!

Here’s an example, by Jonah:

The luminous bear fell from the sky.

There was an innumerable amount of frogs falling from the sky.

The beautiful periwinkles grew until their tips touched the clouds.

The incompetent teacher said to spell “it” “phyl.”

He was disoriented at the sight of the crocodiles coming down in swarms.

Students began charting their clues from the noevl
Students began charting their clues from the novel
We continue to puzzle over art.  Yesterday the class learned about the life of the great artist Vermeer.
We continue to puzzle over art. Yesterday the class learned about the life of the great artist Vermeer.
A main character, Calder, uses pentominoes to help guide him in life.  The class has been the first class ever to figure out how to arrange the set of 12 shapes- each made up on 5 units- into a rectangle.  They worked joyfully & collaboratively!  And they're very proud of themselves!
A main character, Calder, uses pentominoes to help guide him in life. The class has been the first class ever to figure out how to arrange the set of 12 shapes- each made up on 5 units- into a rectangle. They worked joyfully & collaboratively! And they’re very proud of themselves!
Here, students each struck a pose to demonstrate which aspects of the book they're thinking about.  Their explanations were thoughtful and their poses were most creative.  Reading is thinking, and these 5th graders have been interacting deeply with our class novel.
Here, students each struck a pose to demonstrate which aspects of the book they’re thinking about. Their explanations were thoughtful, and their poses were most creative. Reading is thinking, and these 5th graders have been interacting deeply with our class novel.

What is Art? by Jonah

On Tuesday we went to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum and thought about the question: What is art? We still haven’t come up with a definite answer, but so far what we’ve come up with is that it has something to do with difference and with design. We also thought that art could be anything, but isn’t everything.  Before our field trip and discussions I thought that everything was art, but now I am not really sure. I kind of think that everything that has anything to do with design is art.

The reason that we are discussing this is because in the book we are reading,Chasing Vermeer, the teacher (Ms.Hussey) teaches by giving crazy assignments. I think that they work in teaching the kids, but only after a long period of time. We have been doing some of the assignments: like for a day in the book they communicate without writing or talking, so we did this for a period. I thought that it was a good learning experience. Another assignment was to write an unforgettable letter, so we are also doing that.

 

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Abby’s Post about Reaching out

I learned a very important lesson this week. It is one of those lessons that teaches you something that is not math or reading.

This week I learned that peace is something that makes others, and me, stronger. I learned this as I was making a card for the Islamic School of Rhode Island. Mr. Tilove had just told us about the hateful graffiti that had been written on the Islamic school. When he told us, my friends and I looked at each other with amazed and scared eyes.  As we mouthed to each other, “Oh my God,”  I realized that many people are not seeing that these kids at this school are just learning, and they are not doing any thing wrong. Our school is passionate about learning, and so is theirs.

They are strong. We gave them our wishes of  peace to boost their energy.  We are standing with them. We are their friends. Best wishes to the Islamic school of Rhode Island. Stay strong.