Paper Airplane Project

We recently wrapped up our airplane project, listening to the findings of each of the groups. We discovered a lot about what factors make the airplanes fly farther.

What effect would paper clips have on the plane?

They discovered: One paper clip in the front seems to make a plane fly farther. Lots of paper clips all over the plane made it flip over and fall straight to the ground.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: Construction paper airplanes can go farther than sandpaper airplanes.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: If the plane is regular, it flies well. If you put toothpaste and glue on it and throw it gently, it will go much faster and farther.

Which designs fly the farthest?

 

 

They discovered: If the airplane has cuts in it, it seems to fly farther because the wings don't get damaged as much. If it has more cuts and folds, it will just fall to the ground.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: The sandpaper was heavier than the construction paper and copy paper so those two flew more smoothly and farther than the sandpaper. We think the weight caused a shorter flight.

Will a plane fly farther if we throw it up VS down?

 

They discovered: Throwing the paper down the stairs was better than throwing it up the stairs. When we threw it down, it flew all the way out to the parking lot.

Can different materials make the plane go farther?

They discovered: The sandpaper plane didn't fly very well. There was a tie between the copy paper and the construction paper, like the other group found.

In most cases, our predictions were incorrect. The airplanes didn't behave the way we expected. We found that the planes that fly the farthest:

• are made from lighter paper.
• have cuts in the design.
• have more weight in the front.
• have balanced, slightly heavier wings.

Here are a couple of websites and videos we looked at together that your child may want to check out again at home:
http://paperplane.org/
 

https://www.thepaperairplaneguy.com/site/



And a few others you may find interesting...
http://www.amazingpaperairplanes.com/
http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/planes.php 
http://www.origami-kids.com/

Time For Kids

This week I'll be sending home our first edition of Time For Kids, a weekly news magazine written especially for children in grades 3 and 4. I will ask the children to read it and complete a related assignment. If you have the time, I would love for you to read an article or two with your child and discuss it together. Exposure to the world outside of where they live and breathe every day is so great for your child and can provide many opportunities for interesting discussion.

TFK also offers a great website that your child may wish to visit from home. We will be talking about it in class so that they'll know how to access it.

School is in session!

I am excited to welcome you all to third grade! It's so much fun to work with so many familiar faces and to meet some new friends as well. We are off to a great start! I hope that this blog will be a useful tool for your family and that it will help you feel more a part of what we're doing at school.

You can "follow" this blog by clicking on the FOLLOW link on the right side of the page. (By the way, sometimes those boxes on the right take a couple of minutes to load... not sure why exactly but I'll keep working to improve things.)

Calling All Captain Underpants Fans!

Dav Pilkey, author of the Captain Underpants and Ricky Ricotta books, has a new book out TODAY! I found the following description of the book on Scholastic's blog: "In this new book, Harold Hutchins and George Beard create two kung-fu cavemen named Ook and Gluk who get sucked back in time to 500,001 BC in the area of present-day Cleveland, Ohio. They have to defeat evil Big Chief Goppernopper and his reckless future great grandson. But that's nothing a little kung-fu can't handle."



On the Captain Underpants website, you can find lots of fun and even educational activities including Professor Poopypants' Change-o-Chart 2000, where you can find out your silly name. Mine is Crusty Lizardchunks. :)

I also found some videos of Dav explaining how to create flip-o-ramas on YouTube. As always, access YouTube with caution!

Family Poetry Jam

Kids love poetry. LD OnLine published a great article about sharing poems at home as a family. One suggestion is: "Have each member of the family choose and practice a favorite poem to share with the family. Set aside a special time to celebrate poetry by having each person share their poem."

Read all about it and share some poems today!

Molly is back!

BIG thanks to Rhiannon for keeping an eye on the owl box! Molly is back in the box and is currently sitting on four eggs which she laid from July 6-14th. Here's the link in case you don't have it: http://www.ustream.tv/theowlbox#more

Parents beware - the chat windows are open to the public and aren't always appropriate. I haven't seen anything bad there but you never know. It is best to watch the owls full screen so that you can't even see the chats. Safety first! :)

Online Games and Apps That Promote Health

Our friends at Nourish Interactive are excited to be one of the finalists in a competition created by Michelle Obama and the USDA. You can help them win by going to the Apps for Healthy Kids Gallery of Games and voting! The contest ends August 14th. Register for the contest here.

There are LOTS of cool Apps and online games available to help you learn about health and practice what you've learned at school. Check out the list on:

Update

Hi everyone!
My apologies for not posting for the last couple of weeks. My laptop broke down right before I left for my trip to the East Coast. :( It's up and running again so I've been trying to get caught up after not having it for almost two weeks. I will be posting some new ideas for continued learning soon.
I hope that you are enjoying the summer and that you've been keeping your brain active too! I miss you all very much!
:)Ms. G

The fireworks in Washington, DC were fantastic!

Here I am with my sister and my nephews at the White House.

Continued Learning

Website of the Week:
National Geographic Kids
Some highlights from the site...
Photo Fill-ins - Kids can fill in thought balloons with silly or serious quotes. This can also be done with magazine photos or even photos taken during vacation. There's a great website that allows you to create photo film strips with speech bubbles using Flickr - Bubblr.
Cartoons - similar to Photo Fill-ins
Make a Kaleidoscope!
Watch some baby wood ducks hatch!
Make beads from old newspapers!


Activities:

1. Reading ~ Have you read a book recently that you really enjoyed? Read some book reviews written by children and then write your own! Share What You're Reading
2. Language ~ Look through old magazines and catalogs for images that grab your attention. Cut out a picture (be sure to ask if it's okay first!) and then glue it on a piece of paper. Write adjectives all around the picture that describe it - try to come up with at least 15 words. 
3. Mathematics ~ Next time you are out to eat, ask for a To Go Menu (you can also find these online for most restaurants.) Pretend you have only $7.00 for your meal - what would you choose? What if you got to choose food for your whole family but only had $20.00 to spend? Try different combinations. You can also practice your 'ballpark estimates' by rounding the amounts or practice using a calculator.
4. Writing ~ Keep a vacation journal. Write about how you spent your days and who you were with. Not much to tell? Make up a crazy entry like in the book we read, How I Spent My Summer Vacation.
5. Health ~ Make a graph of the healthy foods you eat this week. How many items did you eat in each of the food groups? Did you eat more veggies than 'extras'?
6. Science ~ Walk around your yard or neighborhood and collect 15 things you find along the way. Sort them into at least two categories and label them appropriately.

Hey kids!

If you choose to complete any of these activities, take a photo and email it to me! I'll post it on the blog for your classmates to see. :)

I hope you are enjoying your vacation so far. I can't believe it's already been a week! I have already read a great book, seen a few movies, spent time with my friends and am now getting ready for my trip to Washington, D.C.  I can't wait to see my sister and my nephews. What have you been up to?

Here's a silly picture I took of my friend's dog Gunner, beside the pool. :)

I miss you and hope that you are having some fun! Do something to exercise your brain and your body this week. My next post will be from Washington, D. C.!

Big Hugs,

:)Ms. G

Let the learning continue!

Hi Families,
Providing summer learning opportunities is an important way to prevent your child from experiencing "Summer Slide" - a common occurrence for children when they have 2-3 months off during the summer. This loss of learning time can lead to problems for students down the road. According to a USA Today article, "...a well-documented "summer slide" in academics that, by sixth grade, accounts for as much as 80% of the achievement gap, Allington and other researchers say. Researchers note that low-income students lose about three months of ground each summer to middle-class peers." 

Three Ways to Prevent Summer Slide from Scholastic's Parent and Child Magazine
Keeping Kids Off the Summer Slide from Reading Is Fundamental

Sadly, our lease prohibits us from having summer school at LdV this year but that doesn't mean the learning has to stop! I will be posting some suggestions for educational opportunities here on our blog all summer long. I will try to provide a variety of activities, both things kids can do online and things that can be done easily at home and in your neighborhood. If you have any suggestions for activities or your child would like to share what s/he's been up to, please email me! I'd love to put their work up on the blog as well! I'll have the first post up ASAP.

Hugs to you all,
:)Ms. G