Otters, April 6
⚗️ Invention Week with the Otters 🔩
Please send photos and videos of your child’s learning activities to Ms. Aja via email or via this Dropbox link. Files will be shared on our Otter blog.
Monday April 6
Project Time: Art: Decorate your sidewalk or hang art in your window to spread joy. See inspiration here. Egg template here. You can email me photos to add to our spread joy blog post.
Find two toys to play with. Fill out toy testing sheet. Be thinking about what makes a toy fun to play with.
Morning Letter: Morning letter
Check out Otter inventions and activities from last week on our blog.
Meditation or Movement: Hopscotch with Ms. Julie
Outdoor Choice: Play outside, have a dance party, or go for a walk with your family
Solve Bedtime Math clock problem.
Throughout the day ask your child to tell you what time it is.
Play Set the Clock app, Interactive Telling Time app.
Third Grade Challenge: Domino Keeper Multiplication
Writer’s Workshop: Fill out this toy brainstorming sheet or record your responses in your invention journal.
Lunch/Outdoor Choice:
Read Aloud/Doodling: Listen to free Audible audio book or Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
Content Explorations: Brainstorming Session- Live Zoom Meeting with Ms. Aja at 12:30 to talk about learning activities and objectives for the week. Be prepared to share some of your ideas about what type of toy you might want to invent this week.
Treasured Reading: Read a book of your choice, or explore Epic app to find new books. You can search for invention books or other books that interest you.
Tuesday April 7
Project Time: Read our poem for the week: Hooray for Inventions.
Meet an inventor: Mark Rober’s Rock Skip Robot
Watch a video and read about young inventor, Caine Monroy.
Build with Legos, Snap Circuits, Tinker Toys, blocks, dominoes, play dough or other interesting material.
Morning Letter: Morning letter
Word Work: Khan University video about contractions
List all the contractions you can think of.
Meditation or Movement: Ms. Julie’s Gratitude Meditation.
Outdoor Choice: Play outside, have a dance party, or go for a walk with your family
Numeracy: Write a schedule for your day including times. Use your schedule or our Otter daily schedule to show each time of day on this digital toy clock.
Play time app or Prodigy.
Third Grade Challenge:
Play Multiplication Bump game from last week
Writer’s Workshop:
Ms. Lillian has to move on to her next teaching placement.
Write a good-bye letter for Ms. Lillian. Include something you like about her and something you enjoyed learning from her. Sign your name and email a photo of your letter to Ms. Lillian.
Lunch/Outdoor Choice:
Read Aloud/Doodling: Listen to free Audible audio book or Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
Content Explorations: Use your toy brainstorming sheets and entries in your invention journal to draw a detailed plan of the toy you’ll invent this week. Gather the supplies you will need to create your toy.
Treasured Reading: Have You Thanked an Inventor Today read aloud by Ms. Aja
Wednesday April 8
Project Time: Watch some Rube Goldberg Invention Videos.
Intro to Rube Goldberg
First Rube Goldberg Machine
Rube Goldberg Camp
Six Rube Goldberg Machines
Landon’s Machine
Create your own Rube Goldberg contraption
Morning Letter: Morning letter
Word Work: YouTube video about contractions.
Choose a Word Work: Contractions activity to complete.
Meditation or Movement: Ms. Julie’s Rainbow Meditation
Outdoor Choice: Play outside, have a dance party, or go for a walk with your family
Numeracy: Watch How Many Fives Around the Clock song.
Model how to tell time to the five minutes using digital toy clock.
Complete 2-3 pages in telling time packet or play time app.
Third Grade Challenge:
Writer’s Workshop: Watch this mystery science video clip about inventions.
Invention Journal Prompt-
What kinds of inventions might we have when you are a grown-up? What types of new technologies can you imagine?
Lunch/Outdoor Choice:
Read Aloud/Doodling: Listen to free Audible audio book or Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
Content Explorations: Use your toy design plans to get started creating your new toy. Remember that engineering requires much trial and error. Don’t expect it to work exactly as you envision it the very first time. Keep trying!
Treasured Reading:
2nd Grade - Time Kids Magazine article Full Speed Ahead
K/1st Grade - Time Kids Magazine article From Slow to Fast
Thursday April 9
Project Time: Lego Inspired Drawings- Create a drawing using the shadow of a structure.
Try this lego math task.
Work on your own Rube Goldberg contraption
Morning Letter: Morning letter
Complete a Word Work: Contractions activity.
Meditation or Movement: How the Whale Got His Throat read aloud by Ms. Julie
Outdoor Choice: Play outside, have a dance party, or go for a walk with your family
Numeracy: Review how to tell time using digital toy clock.
Finish telling time packet or play one of the telling time apps.
Third Grade Challenge:
Real World Math
Invention Journal Prompt-
What challenges, mistakes, or failures have you experienced while designing your toy? How did you overcome those challenges?
Lunch/Outdoor Choice:
Read Aloud/Doodling: Listen to free Audible audio book or Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
Content Explorations: Continue building, testing, and modifying your toy. Be prepared to share your toy during our Zoom meeting tomorrow
Treasured Reading: A Wizard from the Start read aloud by Ms. Aja
Friday April 10
Project Time: Game Day! Play a favorite board game with a family member or Facetime a friend.
Learn to play 101 and out- It’s easy and fun. All you need is paper, pencil, and a die.
Work on your own Rube Goldberg contraption.
Morning Letter: Morning letter
Complete a Word Work: Contractions activity.
Meditation or Movement: Cosmic Kids Yoga
Outdoor Choice: Play outside, have a dance party, or go for a walk with your family
Numeracy: Everyone: What’s Going on Outside Your Window? Click on the link to watch the video explanation. Then gather data from outside your window. Create a visual representation of what you find.
Writer’s Workshop: Create an advertisement for your new toy invention. See this rubric for specifications.
Send a photo of your finished toy invention and your poster for Ms. Aja to post on the blog.
Lunch/Outdoor Choice:
Read Aloud/Doodling: Listen to free Audible audio book or Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
Content Explorations: Zoom Meeting with the class at 12:30 to share your new toy invention.
Treasured Reading: Buddy Reading- Read to a sibling, pet or stuffed animal. Be sure to pause at punctuation marks and read smoothly with good expression.