February, Happy Valentine Day!

The hands-on curriculum in the fifth grade is very engaging, interesting, and challenging. The students are all having a great time working together to accomplish their goals.

Our class recently had Lion Dancers come through the classroom on Chinese New Years, and we all joyfully shared in the good-luck celebration. The class will be meeting with their kinder buddies to exchange Valentines and share their latest projects.

The class has constructed a variety of simple machines to demonstrate their understanding of motion and force. In science we are studying energy, motion, and force, and how simple machines can help us overcome different forces in our world. It is very satisfying to see students using visual thinking, problem solving, and critical thinking to overcome obstacles. They are relating what they have learned in math to everyday problem solving experiences. Understanding geometry, fractions, and algebra are of more importance to them as they ask more challenging scientific questions.

The students have begun the first steps of their Invention Convention Project, identifying problems in their lives or in the community and looking for ways to correct those problems. They all have great ideas, and they are very excited to share them. The Invention Convention Project will be our main project for the second semester, and I would like parents to be involved as much as they can be. This is the time to explore with your children. Let them take the lead and provide them with support -- great thing will happen.