It’s great to see all the smiling faces in the hall today!!! I am working on our APEX schedule and will be ready to hold classes this week. All students will need to bring a pencil to leave in their APEX folder.
We will be talking about the Olympics, so hopefully everyone is watching some of the events at home. What’s your favorite sport? Can you imagine working hard enough to become an Olympic athlete? Have you seen the Fuwa (Olympic mascots?) We’ll be looking at the symbolism used at the Olympic games to start our year.
See you very soon!!!
August 11, 2008
The third graders had the chance to win a million dollars by playing the APEX Millionaire game. Most of the students won $1000, but four students made it all the way to $32,0000! Congratulations to Grant, Sam R., Lila, and Grace! During the bridge auction, when the teams could spend their remaining bridge budgets on goods and services, the PAAT Builders Bridge team bid on the chance to pick their favorite APEX activity for their last class. They spent over $300,000 and chose to play Millionaire one more time. All the students who played won $32,000. Some of them came very close to the $1,000,000. Obviously, they’ve learned a lot since they were third graders! Good luck to all the fifth graders. Work hard next year in middle school–make all your Altruria teachers proud! Progress reports were sent home with all APEX students. They don’t have to be signed or returned.Have a great summer!! We’ll see you back in August!
May 22, 2008
Congratulations to M.A.N., the builders of the strongest 4th grade bridge. Their sturdy bridge held 31 pounds. M.A.N.JPG The strongest bridge built by any team held 36 pounds! Congratulations to IGO for a great bridge design and construction. IGO.JPG
May 18, 2008
The Fourth and Fifth Grade bridges are right on schedule. Most of the teams have started putting their bridges together, and one team has almost all of their bridge standing. The Zany Building Company has built all their bridge components and is now finishing their construction.
April 25, 2008
It was game time in all the APEX classes this week. The Third graders started playing “Who Wants to Be an APEX Millionaire?” Students had to answer Math, Science, English, and Social Studies questions that got progressively harder, but they had three lifelines to ask for help from their classmates. This week’s contestants were Sam R., McKenzie, Danielle, Kyle, and Emmanuel.
The Fourth and Fifth graders played the Math review game, “Beat the Brains.” Students worked Math problems quickly and accurately to win the coveted brain awards. Fourth graders could be the Mega Brain, Super Brain, or Ultra Brain, while the Fifth graders competed to be the Colossal Brain, Uber Brain, or Giga Brain. Students who were sitting in the brain chairs at the end of the game were Samuel, Nick M., Jeremy, Thomas, Casey, and Zane in Fourth grade and Fifth graders Bethany, Darian, Nick D., Alyssa, Evan, and Hannah.
The bridge constructions are coming along right on schedule.
Most of the teams are working on the first side of their bridge. Here’s a photo of the Kephenden Brothers’ bridge.
Another Fifth grade team, Bridges Built Best, has started putting their bridge together.
Check back for more bridge updates!
April 13, 2008
The third grade APEX students had their first visit to APEX class Friday. We talked a little about what APEX is all about and what they can expect. The students did a little writing to get ready for an upcoming computer project. Third grade class schedules:
Jones/Veglio: Mondays from 11:00 to 1:30, Tuesdays from 1:30 to 3:30
Haney/Haynes: Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:30, and Thursdays from 11:00 to 1:30
(due to some remaining IEP meetings, schedules for the week of March 24 will be shortened.)
Fourth and Fifth Grade News
By Brenna, Emily, and ALyssa
Hello and happy pi day. It’s pi day because it’s the 3rd month and 14th day, and pi equals 3.14. This week in APEX we are working on building model bridges. We also made a company name, slogan, logo, badges,and jingles for our companies. My friends Emily, Alyssa, and I are in a company called Dixie Girls Bridge Design. This is Brenna signing off, bye.
March 16, 2008
The Fourth and Fifth grade students have been waiting to start a unit on constructions. Finally, today we got started! The students explored new concepts and vocabulary at the Building Big website.
They were encouraged to look for different types of bridges and construction techniques (trusses for example) around town. We also talked about an exhibit at the Dixon Museum. It’s called “Building Books: The Art of David Macaulay,” and it’s the same artist/architect who was featured on the website we used in class this week. Learn more at the Dixon Museum website.
Click on the Hours and Admission link at the top for information about free admission times.
Watch the APEXBlog for updates on our construction projects. Hopefully, we’ll come in on time and under budget!
March 8, 2008
The fourth and fifth grade classes investigated a substance called Oobleck (in honor of the Dr. Seuss story.) The students worked in groups to write their observations. They tested the substance under many different conditions and found that sometimes it acted like a liquid, and sometimes it acted like a solid. Then the class got together to write laws that explained how Oobleck behaved.
Oobleck is considered a non-Newtonian fluid, named after Sir Isaac Newton. It is a liquid, but under certain circumstances, it acts like a solid.
The students were really curious to know how they could make their own Oobleck at home. They were told the “secret ingredients,” but a simple internet search (with a parent) will turn up instructions and even a cool You-Tube video that shows two scientists walking on a pool of Oobleck.
March 2, 2008
APEX Super Bowl of Math results:
Fourth Grade
Polar Bears 28
Googles 16
Hawks 13
Blue Jays 7
Fifth Grade
Rebels 21
Pink Panthers 15
(won in overtime)
72 Dolphins 15
Hot Tamales 13
February 8, 2008
from Jeremy, Nick, Samuel, and Matthew:
This week in APEX we played centers on Tuesday. The centers included vocabulary, computers, and games. Wednesday we played the APEX version of Jeopordy. The game had sports, government, and US and World News questions. On Wednesday we do science questions.
January 10, 2008
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