Global Mystery Skype Challenge

Last week our 5th graders had their very first Global Mystery Skype Challenge. The objective of the call was to ask yes/no questions about location (i.e. directions, latitude, longitude, Equator, etc.) to determine where our partner class is. If the class answered yes to one of our questions, we were able to ask a follow- up question. But if they answered no, then our turn was up and we had to answer their questions. Although the rules are simple, the task itself was a lot more difficult than we expected!

To help us narrow down our partner class' location, we had assigned Skype jobs throughout the call. Here are some examples of our jobs:

1. Greeters & Inquirers- These students were responsible for greeting our class and asking our questions.
2. Map Keepers- These students had atlases and Google Maps available to narrow down the location based on clues.
3. Question Keepers- These students kept careful track of the questions asked and reported these to the Inquirers.
4. Logical Reasoners- These students were responsible for listening to the clues given and putting the pieces together to determine the exact location. They worked with the Question Keepers to construct questions.
5. Runners- These students were messengers who shared clues, questions, or tips between the Map Keepers and the Logical Reasoners. They also were responsible for giving the Inquirers our class' questions.

One of our Map Keepers hard at work. 

We worked as a team! 

Overall, this was perhaps one of the toughest Skype calls we ever had! We were thrilled when we guessed that our partner class was in Ontario, Canada! However, we got stuck trying to determine the exact city they were in. Although we were in the correct area, we figured out that we were too far south. Our friends did an awesome job of guessing where we were in the end. Since this call took longer than expected, we only got a few minutes to ask questions about ourselves. We hope that we can reconnect with our friends in Canada and thank them for taking the challenge with us!

Chatting with our new friends! 

Freckle Juice, Recipes, and More!

This semester our 2nd graders have been busy reading the novel, Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. We have also been working on some fun projects along the way. Have a look at some ways we have brought our story to life.

1. Recipe Fun 
In the story, the main character Andrew comes across a strange recipe that he thinks will give him what he really wants: Freckles! After making our own silly recipes we also made some yummy recipes of our own in class. Some our recipes included peanut butter squares, chocolate milk, ants on a log, and apples with caramel.  Have a look at us preparing our tasty creations below.

We are busy making our apples with caramel! 

Our apples look yummy! 

2. Life Size Character Posters

We thought the characters in Freckle Juice were hilarious! And since we just couldn't get enough of them, we had to create some posters to bring them to life! For this project, we explored different character traits such as thoughts, feelings, actions, dialogue, and physical descriptions. But the challenge was to justify and find examples of these traits in our novel. Have a look at our masterpieces!

 

Spanish Fun!

Recently we came across a post written by Mrs. Yollis' class in Los Angeles, California. They talked about a story they read that included Spanish words. This was a perfect opportunity to share our learning with them. Check out this song about the weather that we learned in our Spanish class with our teacher, Señora Sullivan.

El Tiempo

Hace buen tiempo, hace calor, hace fresco, hace sol
Hace mal tiempo, hace frio, esta nublado, hace viento, esta nevando,
esta lloviendo, hay tormenta, hay graniza

El Tiempo
Buen Tiempo
Mal Tiempo

La temperatura es muy caliente, hace muy buen tiempo.
La temperatura es muy fria hace muy mal tiempo
Hace sol y hace calor, hace muy buen tiemop
Hace frio y hace viento, hace muy mal tiempo

Buen Tiempo
Mal Tiempo
Buen Tiempo
Mal Tiempo

Que tiempo hace hoy?
Hace_______________ Hace_________________
Esta ________________ Esta________________

The Weather

There is good weather, It's hot, It's cool, Its sunny.
There is bad Weather, It's cold, cloudy, windy, snowing, raining,
storming, hailing.

The Weather.
Good Weather.
Bad Weather.

The temperature is hot, its good weather.
The temperature is cold, its bad weather.
The temperature is hot, its good weather.
The temperature is cold and its windy, it's bad weather.

Good Weather
Bad Weather
Good Weather
Bad Weather

What is the weather today?