Stimulating Science Simulations

I am going to admit something today.  I never wanted to learn to play chess.  Then a colleague got all excited about the idea that we could both teach a chess unit and get our students together at the end for a real life game of human chess like the wizard chess game in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone".  I caved in and now I'm learning chess.  Surprisingly, I am really enjoying it.  Not surprisingly, the kids love it.  Here is a quick peek into our classroom today.   Today was the first day that I had them calling out and writing down their moves.  Before we could do that, I thought it would be a good idea to label our life size chess board and practice calling out some moves on it.  I was being formally observed today because this year is my license renewal year.  I'm pretty sure my lesson was a big hit with the administration too.

The 3rd grade AIG students have just begun a math/science integrated unit thematically centered around gardening.  Our first activity was to determine the perimeter and area of each raised bed in the garden.  We measured the length and width on the outside of the beds to find perimeter and measured the inside edges to find area.  

My 3rd grade students have learned to use latitude and longitude cartesian points for graphing.   If you want to view their work and cannot go to our International Night then download the Aurasma app and follow kaiserkids.  Then use your device and the aurasma app to see the finished product. Disclaimer: We do not claim that the animals can really be found in these locations, although they are African Animals.

What does the desk blotter of an engineer look like?   According to my 5th grade students, it would look something like this...