We spent the first block reading, discussing our books, and perhaps playing a game of "Would You Rather," ...in case you wondered, I would rather eat worm spaghetti than slug hot dogs! The middle block, students spent scientifically investigating the best paper airplane, and constructing a sling shot for the planes. The final block, was spent playing Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (leadership, communication, strategy etc). I have to say, I really enjoyed our Snowday!
we may have read this blog in class yesterday as students organized their triple "w" day - witches, WARLOCKS, and wizzards - which i think should be put on hold until next wednesday ("w" day). anyway, this was our first class coordinated effort in controlling the elements! i would say we were successful! happy snow day everyone! (p.s. I don't teach witchcraft, i am not a witch...this was a fun sidebar...i am not going to turn your children into harry potter. Disclaimer: i accept no personal liability for the weather or any associated outcomes).
Michael N. SmithSchool Superintendent and PrincipalsPage.com Blogger
The Snow Day, always capitalized out of respect, is a complicated creature.
Everyone, except moms, loves them.
But they continue to be a mystery to the average citizen.
Why do they happen? Will we have one tomorrow? Why aren’t they always on Monday?
While I can’t answer these questions, I am here to help.
No one truly understands the Snow Day. Especially, the weather(wo)man.
But I do know the secret to getting a Snow Day.
No, it’s not being the Superintendent and having the ability to cancel school (although that is nice).
It’s 4 easy steps.
And lucky for you, I’m going to share my tried and true method for obtaining the always allusive Snow Day.
Keep in mind these steps must be completed in order.
And most importantly, they must be finished before your normal bedtime.
If you decide to stay up late, because you are convinced tomorrow will be a Snow Day... you have committed the ultimate sin in the eyes of the Snow Day Gods.
So, just follow these simple steps and enjoy your day off from school.
Step 1 - Put your pajamas on inside out (bonus points if your pajamas have feet).
Step 2 - Brush you teeth with the opposite hand (harder than it sounds).
Step 3 - Flush a minimum of six ice cubes down the toilet (cubes... not crushed ice... another common mistake).
Step 4 - Sleep with a spoon under your pillow (don’t ask me why, just do it).
If you follow these 4 steps, and it snows a lot, you have my personal guarantee you’ll wake up to a Snow Day.
You’re welcome.
WARNING: Do NOT overuse the Snow Day Ritual. It must only be used for good, not evil.
Today we continue our investigation into constructing triangles. For anyone who would like to continue practising at home, or who was away for today's lesson, they may want to view this short video to help them construct a triangle when given three specific side measurements (S.S.S.).
Today in math, we learned to construct triangles using a protractor and a ruler. We began constructing triangles with 2 given sides and a given angle between them (side, angle, side or S.A.S). We discovered that when given 2 sides and the angle between them, triangles are congruent.
We compared all our triangles to confirm that they were indeed congruent. Apart from human error, we proved it to be true.
Then we constructed triangles with 2 given angles and a given side length between them (angle, side, angle or A.S.A).
Once we completed our A.S.A triangle. We measured the third angle and the other two sides and compared our findings. All triangles were CONGRUENT!
We continued our investigation of triangles and congruence. I gave students three angle measurements (A.A.A). The all constructed a triangle with the given measurements. We began by drawing a base line. Then using our protractor, we measured one of the given angles at one end of the line. We drew a long line segment to create the angle. Afterwards, we measured a second given angle at the other end of the line, drawing another long line segment. Where the line segments crossed, the third angle was constructed on its own. Even if we had only been given two angle measurements, we would have been able to determine the third angle without measuring because we know the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is 180 degrees. Click on the below link for a quick view.
After constructing these triangles, we determined that since our side lengths were different, our triangles could not be congruent. We postulated that our triangles would all be similar, but we ran out of time to investigate this theory.
Tomorrow we will begin by proving or disproving this statement: When given three angle measurements, triangles are SIMILAR. TRUE OR FALSE?
MATH VOCABULARY: CONGRUENT VS SIMILAR
congruent
• having the same shape and the same size.
EXAMPLES:
similar
• having the same shape but not necessarily the same size.
I have been waiting for everyone to hand in their poems and t-shirt designs before posting this activity, but I can wait no longer. If your child's work is not included, as them about it. We have really been focusing on inclusiveness, spreading good karma and good energy, and respecting our fellow classmates. One of the activities we participated in was a role playing activity to help us gain insight and empathy from the perspective of the bully, the bullied and the bystander. The idea for this activity came from Runde's Room.
Students began by
brainstorming what are bully, a bullied, and a bystander.
Then they selected a slip of paper in my "Name Jar". The jar contains slips of paper with the words the BULLY, the BULLIED, or the BYSTANDER. Each student
haD to choose a slip of paper to examine the issue of bullying from one of
those three points of view.
The students then got into three role groups
to "talk it out". They discussed what their feelings
would be, reasons for their behaviour, actions, etc. By taking the
"role" of either the bully, the bullied, or the bystander, students felt more free to discuss their feelings.
Next, students wrote a poem
from their chosen perspective, using a simple "I Am"
template for the poem. Finally, they designed t-shirts that included a logo, catch phrase, images and words to transmit an anti- bullying message. Students have previous experience from designing anti-bullying buttons, early in February.
