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Click here for the February 2009 school calendar.
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February 2009
News from the 3-4 Class
In the 3-4 class, we are learning about community building. We’ve discussed various strategies on how to make new friends including: how to use a question as a starting point to a conversation, how to sustain a conversation after the initial question is asked and the proper body language to use when conversing with others. The students have been practicing this work during lunch by “mixing it up.”  During lunch, the class has been divided into 3 groups with each group sitting at their own table. The students then share their successes and challenges with the entire group.
We are having a blast learning about electricity! We started our unit learning about simple circuits such as series circuits and parallel circuits. The most interesting part was learning about atoms and the flow of electrons. In our next scientific lab, we will be testing a variety of items to find out if they are conductors or resistors. We will then be experimenting with thick and thin wires to learn more about resistance. Bigger is not always better. As a culmination to our unit, the students will each be creating their own quiz boards that will be wired to light up when the  correct answer is chosen. We can’t wait for our Electricity Game Show Day!
The students have been busy generating ideas for their entries into the Invention Convention 2009 sponsored by the Schenectady Museum. The students have determined some sort of problem they would like to solve, or have figured out how to make life easier in some way. Some of our brilliant ideas include transparent windshield wiper blades, a vending machine for renting books, and a sibling spy mobile. They have each created a scientific problem statement and a paragraph describing the solution to the problem. Good luck to our inventors!
Have a great month –
Jennifer and Lara
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