Dear Parents,
We began our week using two scales to balance and weigh our tangram pieces. Children worked in pairs, adding and subtracting pieces to distribute weight. The next day we weighed small rubber vehicles. A few children realized excitedly that the scale was a simple machine: a lever!
In the big room we experimented with our big lever using different sized pieces for the fulcrum. We decided to use sandpaper to smooth our big lever to try and avoid splinters. We sanded and sanded so much that we had to sweep the sawdust twice. Someone told us this week that he read in his outer space book that we are made of stardust. Not sawdust!
While half the class played with scarves in gymnastics class, the rest of us used scissors to attempt cutting out shapes: squares, triangles, circles, diamonds, letters, and hearts. One person wanted to cut a heart for every member of her family, including the dog. We asked the children what simple machines were a part of our scissors. They identified a wedge, a lever, and a screw in the middle holding it all together.
We read In The Home, and learned about how a telephone, a cassette player, the faucet, the toilet, the oven, a vacuum, and a fridge work. We noticed that many of these machines have electrical currents in them. A few friends said they already know how the oven works: there is a clicking sound and then fire. Someone added, “And then It gets hot!”
On Thursday we added the letter H to our ABC wall. We sang two hammer songs and everyone got a turn to use a real hammer and nail. We asked what simple machine is a nail? And what simple machine is a hammer when it pulls out the nail? The class has been identifying simple machines in books and around the classroom. Someone asked: Is a ship a simple machine?
On Friday, Stepahnie and Ross came to tell us about their family sheep farm in Ireland. We saw a map of where Ireland is and photos of Homer on the farm with sheep. We got to touch real sheep wool. Someone shouted that wool can be used to make carpets and sweaters. The class bleated like sheep when asked what sound sheep make. Everyone made a picture of a sheep using cotton balls. Afterwards, we read Sheep On A Ship. At the end of the day, we herded the sheep to the yard to wait for parents and babysitters.
Have a wooly weekend,
Therese