Thursday, October 30, 2014

Snap Circuits

WKCE makes it a long week for our fourth graders. To help ease the pressure, we decided to use the Snap Circuit kits to build circuits. This summer I was energy certified meaning I took three college courses in energy to be recognized by the state of Wisconsin. I got a grant to purchase some energy kits and so we got to use them. It was fun and educational! Check out the students explaining what they learned about energy and circuits...



The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Kindergartners are working on force and motion. Along with that, we are learning directions. Last week, we went on a bear hunt, determined where the bear was in our room by using direction words like on...next to...near...under. This week, we continued to learn about directions by reading the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Watch the video to see the story in action.

After reading the story, we build bridges as a team of billy goats. As we worked together, we had to be kind, share ideas, and not act like a troll. When they engineered their bridges, they got puppets to retell the story. Check out these amazing bridges...




                 Check out the video...

4th Grade WKCE Boot Camp

Our 4th graders are taking the WKCE tests this week and one section is science. Here is a great practice site to study up on science concepts that our 4th graders have learned and haven't covered yet...

5th Grade STAAR practice...for our WKCE 4th Graders

This is a great site that allows you to read a question, pick an answer...then they give you the answer with the key words highlighted in red! Nice!

Be a science star!

Mrs. Heinrich

This Week In Science...

This week in science, we are starting the new week off on Thursday. That means all of my new lessons fall at the end of the week. Let's see what we can do...

Kinders- I can build a bridge for the three billy goats and explain how the goats go over using motion words.
First graders- I can learn tell the features that make birds... birds and research different bird breeds using a research book.

Vocabulary: vertebrate=an animal of a large group distinguished by the possession of a backbone 

Second graders- I can identify the three main types of clouds, know that clouds are made of water, and know that wind moves clouds in the sky.

Three types of clouds vocabulary link: Clouds and definitions link


Third graders- I can use property words and observation skills to detect calcite in rocks. I can identify basalt, limestone, marble, calcite and sandstone. I can observe bubbles when calcite is present.
Fourth graders- I can create a closed circuit using a schematic drawing and snap kits with a team. I can identify the components of my circuit. I can create a schematic drawing of the circuit my team built.

How do we separate rocks vocabulary:
evaporation= to convert into a gaseous state or vapors

What is Evaporation? Link

Fifth graders- I can continue to construct catapult/flipper systems to test the variable of height and length. I can use my observations to work as a team to figure out the perfect distance and height of our variable to scale the walls of our neighboring castles.

What is a variable? Vocabulary:
A Variable Powerpoint to Help Explain...

Be a Science Star!

Mrs. Heinrich


Monday, October 6, 2014

I Wonder Corner In the Library: Inquiry Based Learning With Encore

I Wonder Corner
This year, we have a few new ENCORE or specialists in our building. I love our new librarian, music teacher, EBD teacher, and of course I already loved our PE and art teachers. We make a great team. This year, with our new librarian we are working on incorporating each of our special areas and tying it into the library through inquiry based learning. I took a summer class based on this way of teaching science and due to the fact that we use FOSS I have been trying to twist our questions to fit this model. This week, in the library corner we are focusing on seeds and sunflowers. We just harvested them from our school garden. Take a look at how the art teacher and librarian have helped make this corner wonderful!
Books, pictures, artists, and I wonders...