As I mentioned yesterday, your interview sign-up letter is coming home today. I have tried to impress upon your students how important this piece of paper is, and hopefully they will communicate my instructions to you. They were:
- I do not need the white paper back.
- I do need the green paper back (it will help me help you!)
- Please return it by Friday, but the sooner the better!
Last reminder that students need their shorts & t-shirt for gym tomorrow, and for the rest of the week. Actually, the gymnastics unit has been such a success for students so far that it has been extended for another week. This is great, it means we will get 5 periods with the equipment instead of 3. Please mark your calendars that Area 24 students will need their special outfits next Wednesday and Thursday as well. Yay!
I also forgot to remind students that February Scholastic orders are due tomorrow (Thursday if you forget).
Today we started doing a bit of measuring using non-standard units (such as a paper clip, tooth pick, pencil, our feet). We learned two important things about measuring that you might want to review. First, that when we measure, we're really comparing one thing to another (is it heavier, longer, taller?). Second, the smaller the unit that we choose to measure with, the more we need. For example, when we measured the width of the board with Popsicle sticks, we only needed 6 and a half. When we measured in toothpicks, we needed 13. We needed even more paper clips! Similarly, the bigger the unit we use, the fewer we need. This is a big concept, and it really helps us to become good prediction-makers. You can practise measuring anything and everything at home using different units of measurement (use hands, spoons, Lego pieces etc.). Happy measuring!