Week 3 Update.


3rd Grade

To begin our Mr. Bear Mystery unit, third Grade visited the scene of a mystery this week.  Before heading off to the scene, we discussed a variety of terms related to mysteries:  mystery, crime, suspect, and evidence were just a few.  We also talked about the thinking skills that detectives need to use to solve crimes or mysteries.  Here's a list.  We'll be using all of these thinking skills and more as we work to solve our mystery.

•Observing

•Comparing & Contrasting

•Fact & Opinion

•Sequencing

•Cause and Effect

•Summarizing

•Inferring

•Analyzing



4th Grade
4th graders spent a good portion of the week brainstorming buildings that would be in Polyhedrville.  They first spent time on their own listing ideas, and then they came together as a whole class to do so. (Here's a sample from one of the classes.) 

In the upcoming week, they'll narrow their search to a manageable number so they can go through the subsequent steps to narrow their list to the top 30 buildings. 

The next step will be to create a criteria by which we judge each of the buildings on our list to determine if it would deserve to be on the top 30 list.  After that, we'll give each building a score, and find out how they all stack up against each other.

5th Grade
CAVEAT EMPTOR!   That's the cry that can be heard from the far reaches of the 5th Grade SAGE empire these days!  Well, that might be a little dramatic, but it is our motto as we've been evaluating magazine ads as a mini-unit leading up to our paper towel unit. We spent a few class periods examining some of the techniques admakers use to create their tempting messages - one student described it as a trap that they set to entice you into buying their products.  Over the next several weeks, we'll be scientifically investigating one specific product - paper towels - to see if we can create a good set of investigations to really determine which product is the best value.  It is our goal to help the buyers out there be more thoughtful consumers.

By the way, keep your eyes peeled for CAVEAT EMPTOR MAN.  He may be coming to a theater - or maybe just a  computer screen - near you in the upcoming weeks.  (That is, if the 5th graders  at Creekside have their way . . .)  You can check out some fun ads below.