Contractions

This morning in science we talked about how and why people and animals talk. We brainstormed different sounds humans make. Some of our ideas included:
- talking
- yelling
- whispering
- burping
- clapping
- sneezing
- coughing

We learned that in humans, air travels from the lungs through the trachea (windpipe) and up to the larynx which houses our vocal cords. Our vocal cords vibrate which then allows us to talk. Depending on whether we are making a high or low sound, our vocal cords will either be short or stretch out to change the vibrations. When we lose our voice, it is because our vocal cords are swollen and cannot vibrate.

We also talked about how animals can make sounds using their vocal cords as well as other parts of their body. We discussed two very important reasons why people and animals make sounds:
1) to communicate
2) to help them survive

We had a few students bring in items to share that showed their family culture. These are the items we saw and talked about:
- wooden shoes from Holland
- a messenger bag from WWII
- family coat of arms from England
- a picture of the family cabin
- a stuffed animal sheep from Scotland
- a Chinese red envelope
- a recipe

Please try and bring in something that represents your family culture. It can be a photograph, story, recipe, song, item etc
If you have any questions please let Ms. Binks know. Items that were shared today were sent home!

In Daily 5 today we started a new concept: contractions. We learned that contractions are types of words where there were originally two words that got pushed together. While they were getting pushed some letters flew away and were replaced with an apostrophe. We learned that the first word always stays intact. Here are some examples of contractions:
she is = she's
I am = I'm
you are = you're
they are = they're
I would = I'd
can not = can't

We had a review today in addition. Ms. Binks wrote 9 different addition questions and we had to choose 3 that were "just right" and 1 that was a challenge. We then had to solve 2 word problems and explain our thinking about if a problem Ms. Binks solved was correct. We will start to review subtraction tomorrow.

Reminders:
- Fun lunch is Thursday
- School dance is Thursday
- Black and orange day is Monday