This week the 3/4s found out if they could outrun a dinosaur! We compared our leg lengths to dinosaur leg lengths to make the race fair. We measured yarn to learn how long their strides were, and we used rulers to establish that many of us have a leg length of approximately 30 inches. The dinos we competed against were: Velociraptor, Sanjuansaurus, Deinonychus, and Coelophysis. We had great fun in the gym and Lisa joined in, too! Ask your student what dinosaur they competed against and how they did!

In math, we introduced bar models, and our Vassar student was impressed that means that we are working with variables! Ask your student what they remember! These are challenging concepts and we will continue to work with these ideas. It’s important to have patience with new math concepts, please encourage your children to have a growth mindset. 

In writing we are working on balloons over Broadway essays, these involve writing a thesis statement, three supporting details and a conclusion. We learned all about the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade and the making of the balloons.  Most of us are working on our rough drafts. Ask your student who Tony Sarg and John Piper are! Stay tuned for the final copies! 

In social studies, we learned all about the Clovis people, who were the first indigenous people in the Americas. We know they existed because they left behind tools! We speculated about the tools that archaelogists of the future might discover about us. Ask your student about these and about the large mammals that walked these lands when the Clovis people arrived! 

In reading, we continue to read about Ivan, the silverback gorilla, and his friends, Bob, Stella and Julia. We also watched a short clip of an actual silverback gorilla in action. We deduced that he may be the only gorilla at the Big Top mall, but he is not lonely. More on Ivan’s adventures soon! 

In SEL we read about the adventures of Basho, a poet living in the 16th century in Japan, he traveled and wrote Haikus about his observations. We tried some haikus of our own! Please note that our haikus about human rights, from last week, will be on display at the FDR visitor center on December 10th! https://www.nps.gov/hofr/learn/news/human-rights-day-expo-to-take-place-at-roosevelt-sites.htm