At-Home Challenges - MEASUREMENT and SIMPLE MACHINES

Friday, January 14, 2011

Weekend At-Home Challenges                                                              

Recently the RiverRun students have been learning about measurement.  Their exploration of length and volume provide many opportunities for home-based activities which reinforce their in-class work.  We’ve also been learning about simple machines and how helpful they are.

In order to facilitate the opportunity for your child to continue learning more about measurement and/or simple machines with you at home and to share with you what they’ve been working on in school, I am providing you with suggestions for At-Home Challenges you and your child may like to work on this weekend.

Feel free to choose one or more of the following, if you like:

• Let your child use a tape measure or ruler to check out the length of things around home (their bed, the table, the television, etc.); ask them if they’d like to record their findings or make comparisons.
• Explore volume by filling a short, wide-mouthed glass with liquid (juice, water, milk, etc.) and then pouring the liquid into a taller, narrower-mouthed glass to see how much fits.  Which glass did they think held more originally? Which actually does? Discuss how the same volume of liquid can look different depending on the container it is placed in.
• Bring an icicle inside and place it in a bowl or pan to melt.  Family members can make guesses about how long it might take to fully melt and how much water they will end up with.  Either periodically or once at the end, the water can be poured into a measuring cup to determine the volume of water from the icicle.  Whose guess was closest?
• Look around your home for examples of simple machines at work.  (For example: Your can opener is a lever. The cap to the peanut butter is a screw.  The zipper on your jacket is a wedge.  The stairs are an incline plane.  The rolling pin is an axle and a wheel. Your window blinds use pulleys.)  See how many you can find overall or see which room of the house has the most of one kind or another.

I hope you enjoy exploration of measurement and simple machines with your child this weekend.   

Nancy Adis

At-Home Challenges - Data Comparisons & Graphing

Friday, November 19, 2010

Weekend At-Home Challenges                                                             

Recently the RiverRun students have been learning about making observations in their environment and visually depicting the information they’ve gathered in a bar graph. We’ve discussed the use of effective titling to explain what information the graph is depicting.  In the coming weeks we will continue to work with bar graphs and also will start working with pie charts and line graphs.  

In order to facilitate the opportunity for your child to continue learning more about graphs with you at home and to share with you what they’ve been working on in school, I am providing you with suggestions for At-Home Challenges you and your child may like to work on this weekend.

Feel free to choose one or more of the following, if you like:

• Mention things you notice in your home environment and point out comparisons you make. (i.e. I noticed there are five boxes of tissues left but only one roll of toilet paper, we’ll have to put toilet paper on the list for the store.)  Ask your child if they would like to show you how they can make a simple bar graph with that information.
• Ask your child to investigate on their own and gather data for a comparison.  (i.e. Count how many forks, spoons, and knifes we have in the drawer.  Is it the same number, which is more or less?  What are the colors of our coats? How many blue, green or black coats?) Suggest that they use the data they collected to make comparisons in a graph.
• Point out any graphs you come across in the newspaper or a magazine or book and explain to your child what the graph is depicting and/or what you learned from the graph.
• After a family meal, take a vote to learn how many people liked each menu item.  Work with your child to make a graph showing the outcome. (i.e. 3 of us liked the ham, 2 liked the peas, and all 6 liked the ice cream!)

 I hope you enjoy exploration of data collection and graphing with your child this weekend.   

Nancy Adis

At-Home Challenges - MAPS

Friday, October 1, 2010

Recently the RiverRun students have been learning about maps.  We've been discussing the different parts of a map (key, scale, compass rose, etc.) and practicing use of maps.

In order to facilitate the opportunity for your child to continue learning more about maps with you at home and to share with you what they've been working on in school, I am providing you with suggestions for At-Home Challenges you and your child may like to work on this weekend.

Feel free to choose one or more of the following, if you like:

• Make a map of your neighborhood/street and label your home and your favorite store or a friend's house
• Look at a map of New York State and point out cities/towns you've visited.  Which one is farthest from your home?
• Use the compass rose to determine one place that is north of your house, one place that is south, one that is east, and one that is west.  Which direction is RiverRun from your home?
• If you are on your way to an outing (or an errand), pull out a map and look up the route you will take.  Discuss the directions you will follow (e.g. north on Balltown Road, turning right at the stop sign and heading east on Maple Lane. . .) and try to trace your finger along the route.

I hope you enjoy map exploration with your child this weekend.

Nancy Adis

At-Home Challenges - BIRDS

As you may know, the RiverRun students are currently working on Student Interest Projects about birds. 

In order to facilitate the opportunity for your child to continue learning about birds with you at home and to share with you what they’ve been working on in school, I am providing you with suggestions for At-Home Challenges you and your child may like to work on this weekend.

Feel free to choose one or more of the following, if you like:

• Spend 15 minutes observing a bird feeder and count the number of birds that visit.  (Write down the number and list the kinds of birds, if you know them.)
• Read a book about birds.
• Write a poem about a bird.
• Make a craft project depicting a bird. (Use clay, felt, construction paper, or whatever you like – be creative!)
• Learn to fingerspell the name of your bird using ASL.
• Make a homemade bird feeder and tell the class how you did it.
• Find a sign of birds in nature and bring it in to show the class.

I hope you enjoy bird exploration with your child this weekend.  Nancy Adis