Have a Math Moment? Share It With the Murch Mathemazine
 This spring, I have been working with Murch students to create Mathemazine, a math magazine. We would like your help. The Spring 2010 issue of Mathemazine will include the responses of Murch families to a math-related question.
Please read the question below and help our budding mathematicians by sharing your stories:
Considering that the need for mathematical calculations spring from our daily life situations, tell our readers about a moment in your family that you and possibly other family members or friends needed to use math to solve a situation or problem.
Kindly forward your math stories to Math Specialist
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
-- Donna Robinson
Fifth Graders Study Holocaust and “Build” a Wall of the Righteous
 
This year in social studies and reading we studied the Holocaust during our World War II unit. We learned about how the U.S. didn’t join the war until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. We also learned about how Hitler disliked the Jews and many other groups of people who didn’t look like “a perfect German”—that is with blond hair and blue eyes. The people in the groups Hitler did not like were often punished.
People who Hitler disliked were sent to concentration camps or ghettos. To have an idea of what these places were like and the injustices done to people who were sent there, we watched parts of the movie “The Devil’s Arithmetic.” We also went to the Holocaust Museum and looked at the exhibit about a boy named Daniel who was a Jewish boy who experienced the terrible events that occurred during the Holocaust. As we went through the exhibit, many of our classmates commented on how Daniel’s life before Hitler and the war was just like our lives: a nice house, a good school, playing soccer and other games with his friends. But once Hitler’s hatred against Jews starting spreading, Daniel’s good life became a nightmare.
To explore more of the Holocaust topics we were split into groups to read historical fiction books about the Holocaust. The three books that people read were, Behind the Bedroom Wall, Number the Stars, and Jacob’s Rescue. Each was an interesting book and all were told from very different, but important, perspectives. When we shared our books with others in our homerooms who had read different books, we learned even more about the events and tragedies of the Holocaust.
In one of our groups, students were able to see a movie called “Paperclips,” about a small school in the U.S. where most of the students didn’t even know about the Holocaust. Once they began to learn about it, the students at the school began a project to honor the millions of people who had died. The students collected paperclips with the goal of collecting 6 million paperclips for all the Jews who died during the Holocaust.
Our final project, for all 5th graders, was to pick an individual or a group who had tried to help Jews escape from or survive the Holocaust. Each student picked an individual, a group, or a community that risked their own safety and lives to help Jews living in the countries the Nazis occupied. We used the Internet and books to research our Holocaust hero or heroine and answered questions about our person. We then created a name plate for our person.
Together, the fifth grade used these name plates to create a Wall of the Righteous, in the front hall of Murch. Please be sure to visit our wall and see the ordinary people in Germany and Denmark and Poland and Holland and other European countries who stepped out of their lives and did unordinary and amazing things to support the Jews during these horrible years.
This unit taught us many important lessons that we will carry with us through life.
-- Rachel Geltman & Allie Schwalb, 5th grade
How Many Inches?
   
Using a ruler can be so much fun, especially when you are competing boys against girls. During this lesson in Ms. Stewart’s pre-k class, we estimated the length in inches of three objects: the domino; the curve; and five Unifix cubes (stuck together). After estimating the length, we used rulers to find the actual length. Ms. Jordan, the recess aide, was captain of the girls’ team and instructional aide Mrs. Coleman coached the boys.
-- Jeanice B. Stewart, pre-k teacher
Rock On!
To mark the transition from studying rocks to studying plants, Ms. Bickart's kindergarten class planted a rock garden. >> Read more at GreenScene
Performing the Works of Poets and Playwrights
 On April 9, the children and parents of Mrs. Mathur's fourth grade gathered to celebrate National Poetry Month. The children featured poets like Langston Hughes and Eloise Greenfield by reciting and enacting their poems. Each student also shared at least one original poem from a personal anthology. It was a treat to listen to the different poetic forms ranging from rhymed to free verse, including limericks, haikus, narrative, and lyrical poetry. As a bonus treat, several adults also shared their favorite poems. It was a very enjoyable Poetry Party, organized by student committees who took care of everything from invitations and decorations to food.
Then on May 24, students performed plays for an audience of the other two fourth grade classes. This was a culmination of their study of drama as a literary genre. The students read fantasy novels and then, using their knowledge of the structural elements of a play, wrote scenes for a dramatic presentation of the stories. After reading their novels in groups, the children worked diligently to write scripts for scenes they chose to perform. They put their acting talents in action and did a fantastic job of performing each of the novels. The three novels featured were The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl, The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery.
--Asha Mathur, 4th grade teacher
Fourth Graders Adopt Trees – and Plant One of Their Own
Mrs. Mathur's fourth graders have been working on a project with neighborhood trees. Each student adopted a tree in his or her neighborhood and observed it for several months: taking pictures and notes, making leaf and bark rubbings, and using their tree as an inspiration for reading and writing. >> Read more at GreenScene
Their Lives So Far
 My second graders have begun writing their autobiographies. We were learning the difference between a biography and an autobiography. I’m reading NBA star Carmelo Anthony’s autobiography and students noticed all the things you can include or do in this genre, including real photos, true things, non-fiction, talk about things that you love, hobbies, early life, and (last but not least) school life.
--Gina Stephens, 2nd grade teacher
Quail Cam
Ok, we don’t exactly have a live-action camera on the quail hatchlings in Mr. Welsh’s classroom, but this frequently updated album is the next best thing. Keep checking these pictures of the little cheepers (yes, that’s what young quail are really called) see how fast they grow. Mr. Welsh will bring the quails to Homestead Farm -- where we picked our pumpkins -- once they are grown.
-- Erna Marcus, instructional aide
Poets Toolbox
This month Ms. Friedman’s class is having a poetry unit in reading. In our “Poets Toolbox” we learned about such things as onomatopoeia, personification, alliteration, and repetition. This week in our homework we have to choose a poem, practice reading it aloud, and answer some questions about it. On Friday, we will read our poems aloud to the class.
-- Adelaide Kaiser, 3rd grade
Fourth Graders Explore Their Roots for Heritage Day
 On March 19, Ms. Martell-Stevenson’s fourth-grade class celebrated Heritage Day. Each kid asked their parents to tell them a little about what place they were originally from and then made presentation. Kids did poems, pictures, and music. Some just told a little bit about were they were from. Each kid wore a costume from the place they chose and brought in a food from that place. After all the presentations, everyone got to eat all the different foods. Many people tried many different foods, and some didn’t. And everyone learned a little bit more about Ms. M-S’s students. Also, they learned about some places that they didn’t even know existed!
-- Leonie Aksyonov, fourth grade
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E-I-E-I-O!
 This week we transitioned from zoo animals to farm animals. We began by singing a song about our favorite farmer, Old MacDonald, who had a number of different animals on his farm. We made a list of the animals on the farm. Then we worked in pairs to come up with words that describe farms. Farms can grow fruits, vegetables, flowers, or raise animals. Some farms do more than one thing! We matched up farm animal babies to their mothers and created a predictive sentence chart. We are using the idea of farms to address the concept of buying and selling. We will be reading Ox-Cart Man next week and making bread and butter. You can begin talking about where your food comes from.
-- Sarah Bogan
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Classroom Dispatches Archive
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