Wildlife Experience Visit

 

Wildlife Experience Visit

Its body is covered in short yet sharp quills and is often mistaken for a larger rodent that has larger quills. This animal can be found in the dry savannahs of Africa. Can you guess what animal came to our classroom today? 

A hedgehog! 

It may be difficult to identify this little hedgehog, since he is almost completely curled up into a ball.  

This hedgehog, Tucker, uses his quills to protect himself in his habitat. However, the way in which he uses his quills are part of some of his behavioral adaptation. 
Isn't he adorably adorable?

But that's not all. We also had the opportunity to meet a local bird. This bird is even part of Calabasas' city symbol. 

You have most certainly seen the red tail hawk soaring above you. The Wildlife Experience rescued this bird from Northern California and has had her for about 15 years!

We learned many interesting facts about both animals as well as many other birds. 

Please write a comment about either animal that is a least 3 sentences long. Choose a behavioral or physical adaptation you thought was most interesting and tell your classmates how this adaptation helps it survive! 

You must have at least 2 compound sentences. 

I wonder what animals we will see tomorrow! 

Meet Dash!

Meet Dash

We had the wonderful opportunity to code a robot! Yes, an actual robot! His name is Dash. 

 

Each group of students worked collaboratively to design a plan of what they wanted Dash to do. Some groups wanted Dash to dance, complete an obstacle course, or draw a picture. Robots do not possess the same brain power we do, so they must receive detailed instructions to complete the simplest task.

After deciding on a plan each team worked together to write lines of code to program Dash. He had a very busy day. 

Watch a video of one of our groups who coded a familiar dance. 

Did you have and extraordinary time coding a robot? What do you think makes coding an educational experience? Please write 3 to 5 sentences describing what you and your team had Dash do and what important lesson or skill you may have learned or practiced. Make sure you write at least 2 compound sentences! If you don't remember how to write a compound sentence check out this blog post. 

Telling Time

Telling Time Terrifically

Time is an important real life skill we all need to learn! Even though we may have digital watches, finding start time, elapsed time or end time is something we use everyday! 

 

We often need to decide what time we need to leave for school or soccer practice. Sometimes we need to tell our mom or dad what time to pick us up after a play date. Mrs. Broussard might even ask us how much time we spent on our homework or practicing our multiplication facts. 

When we are asked to find the "start time" we usually have to count back. Finding the end time means we count forward. Elapsed time means the amount of time in between the beginning and end of something. 

In class we wrote riddles to each other via a google doc. We listed some information and had our friends find either start time, elapsed time, or end time. 

Some strategies we used to help solve problems are time lines, clocks or mental math. 

Write a short story problem asking a friend to find either start time, elapsed time, or end time. Be sure to write your clues and question clearly! When responding to a friend tell us what strategy you used!

Spring Break

How's Your Spring Break?

I hope you are all having an entertaining vacation. I have been savoring every second of it. Some of the things I did included celebrating a holiday called Passover with my family. We ate scrumptious food and spent hours conversing about many different topics.

I have also been pretty busy watching these guys...

Four Boxers is very time consuming. Since they enjoy chewing my shoes, I have had to be very careful to not leave them unattended!

 

 What have you been doing over your vacation? Did you celebrate any holidays? Have you had a chance to see any of your friends over the break?

Write 3 to 5 sentences telling us about your vacation. How many high vocabulary words can you use?

Perfect Polygons

Perfect Polygons

Geometry is a fascinating area in math. Many people wonder how learning about shapes and lines help us be better mathematicians. 

Maybe after today's lesson you may have an answer. 

Today we talked about polygons. 

We compared and contrasted the features of polygons and non polygons and created educreation videos to help us classify shapes around the room. Watch some below. 

 

 

We also created videos to help us understand what shapes are NOT polygons.  

 

 

 

Write three to four sentences answering the following:

How do you think learning about shapes helps you be better at math? Why do you think learning about geometry is important? How do you use it in your life? 

Dependent Clause

The Laws of a Clause 

Since we are such excellent writers, we have been practicing creating compound sentences. Usually compound sentences have two parts, an independent and dependent clause. 

Independent clause : has a subject and verb and can be a complete sentence. It can stand alone, or is independent.

Dependent clause : Is not a complete thought and depends on the independent clause to "earn" or be part of a complete sentence. 

 You will have to follow certain laws when you use these clauses. Click on the link below the BrainpopJr. picture to watch Moby explain one of the important laws. 

 
Brainpopjr. Clauses

When writing a compound sentence, you will most likely use a conjunction. Here is a list of some great conjunctions.   

 

Please write a comment using a compound sentence. Ask a friend to identify the independent clause, dependent clause and the conjunction. As a challenge try starting your sentence with a dependent clause.

Compound Sentences

Simple to Complex with Badger Claws

Writer's use many different techniques to improve their writing. We have been working hard at two different strategies. One thing writer's do is use extensive vocabulary. Using high or strong vocabulary words add detail and can draw your reader's into your writing. 

Today, we brainstormed a few words to describe how Badger Claws must have been feeling and some character traits. Here is an example.

 Badger claws was feeling melancholic. He missed his dad. 

This sentence is a great example of using vocabulary. However, it is also an example of a simple sentence.

What is a simple sentence you ask? 

Badger Claws was feeling melancholic.

Badger Claws is the subject and was feeling melancholic is the predicate.

Another way a writer can improve their writing is by changing simple sentences into complex sentences. These sentences elaborate on ideas by answering where? why? what? when? or how?

Here is an example.

Badger Claws felt melancholic when the memory of his father came to him. 

Not only am I combining two shorter sentences, but I am elaborating by adding why and when he felt melancholic.

Writers can also enhance their writing by making simple sentences into complex sentences by adding a conjunction.

Badger claws was feeling melancholic when the memory of his father came to him.

Badger claws was feeling melancholic is the independent clause. That simply means it is a complete sentence. 

 Badger claws was feeling melancholic when the memory of his father came to him.

when the memory of his father came to him is not a complete sentence. It is considered a dependent clause because it "depends" on the independent clause to be a complete sentence.

What conjunction did I use in the sentence? 

 Badger claws was feeling melancholic when the memory of his father came to him.

Some other conjunctions writers use are:
because, since, if, so, although, and, but, when, unless, even though,  and after.


Find two simple sentences in chapter 1-4 of Badger Claws. Copy them into your comment. Then, enhance the sentences by adding vocabulary or making a complex sentence. Be sure to use a conjunction. Look at the examples for help.