Gingerbread Zambonis

Image from here.

What happens when we're gearing up for winter break and learning about hockey at the same time?  You make Gingerbread Zambonis!

Someone had shared this link on Twitter.  I immediately told Mrs. Racosky (my co-teacher,) that I wanted to do this and we figured out a way to make it happen!  

By the way, Mrs. Racosky is the BEST!!!!!  She did a test run over a week ago and made me this:

After receiving that, I was even MORE excited about this project!

We did some shopping - okay, a LOT of shopping - and set everything up this morning!

Mrs. Racosky spent a large chunk of the morning filling pastry bags!  (You rock!!!!!!)  Each student had a foil pan, a cup full of candies, a bag of graham crackers, and a pastry bag.

 

We started off the morning by watching a short video clip of Zambonis from Discovery Education.  

Then we talked about what they had learned from the video.  They also discussed the shapes found on the Zambonis.  

Afterwards, each student received a piece of grid paper.  They drew their Zamboni and decided how they were going to decorate it.

Once everyone was done, Mrs. Racosky showed the students how to use the pastry bags.  Then they went to town!  

It was messy, challenging, and oh so much fun!

 

I want you to see all sides of their Zambonis so I took some video.  You can check it out here!

Of course, I made one too!

77 is Oshie's number!

 

The students had a blast!

Tomorrow we will look at how much candy each student used and do some math work with those numbers (addition, subtraction, greater than / less than!)

Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! :-)

~Stacey~

Force, Motion, and Hockey

 

Image from here. 

Force and motion: That is what started it all last year.  I had used hockey as an example when explaining something and the students were HOOKED after that!

Since I actually had time to prepare this year, I brainstormed ideas with my co-teacher and came up with an awesome lesson!

We started off by learning about force and motion.  We made a list of important things to remember.  Some of those things were:

• Motion means moving or movement.
• Slope is higher at one end and lower at the other.
• A force is a push or pull.
• The type of motion produced depends on the size and shape of an object, the direction and strength of the force, and the surface it moves over.

We also started talking about how we use forces in hockey.  There is a ramp in the hallway outside of my classroom.  What a perfect place to have some fun! 

I created 5 questions which went in the students hockey journals.
1.  Predict what will happen when you hit the puck UP the ramp? How much force do you think you'll need and why?
2.  Was your prediction correct?  What actually happened when you hit the puck UP the ramp?  How much force did you need?
3.  Predict what will happen when you hit the puck DOWN the ramp? How much force do you think you'll need and why?
4.  Was your prediction correct?  What actually happened when you hit the puck DOWN the ramp?  How much force did you need?
5.  Was it easier to hit the puck UP the ramp or DOWN the ramp?  Why?

We used our sense of sight and sense of touch to observe and describe the ramp, a hockey puck, and a hockey stick.  The students told me their thoughts and I wrote them down:

 Yes, I like making smiley faces when I have two o's next to each other!

Then the students made predictions in their hockey journals about what would happen when they hit the puck up and down the ramp.  They also had to write about how much force they thought they would need and why.

"I predict that the puck will hit the wall.  I will hit it hard because I don't want it to hit the wall."

Finally, they were able to hit the puck up and down the ramp.  They took notes on a sticky note in their journals to help them remember later on when they did their follow up writing:

 

The video is blurry on purpose.  

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Image from here. 

Today, I combined my class with the fourth graders and started reading them this great book called Cool Scripts: How to Stage Your Very Own Show. I had my students bring up their hockey journals and everyone was taking notes while I was reading!  We didn't finish the book today, but that's okay! :-)

I just love how everything is coming along so far and I'm excited for what's ahead!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

~Stacey~