Connaught School's Grade 3/4 Classroom Blog

Spaghetti Tower Marshmallow Challenge In science students have been learning about the 4 main types of bridges, beam, arch, truss, and suspension bridges. We began with our own building spaghetti tower marshmallow challenge, this was a team building activity that encouraged students to use their design mindset and team work skills! Students were challenged with attempting to build the tallest possible tower that could support a marshmallow.  Each group was given  s paghetti, tape, string  and 18 minutes to complete the task!   Students please share what was difficult about this challenge? What shapes did you discover were the strongest? What might you do differently next time? In math students have been using a variety of strategies to aid in our understanding of multiplication. We have been learning the following strategies: array  equal groups repeated addition  number lines  Students please share how we use each strategy to solve multiplication problem

Growth Mindset in Learning Everyday, in Grade 3/4, students take risks in their learning.  This is integral to growth mindset and building up resilience muscles.  Students have worked hard on self talk strategies such as,  "I can be brave and strong," and "It's okay to make mistakes because that is how I can learn."Through our building centers, literacy centers, math learning and entry into our study of Four Countries, students practice their self regulation, self - talk, citizenship and personal development.  

Bridge Challenge! This week in Ms. Sarah's class, we have been building bridges! We began by learning about the 4 main types of bridges: beam, truss, arch, and suspension bridges. We then learned about strong shapes (triangles) and what materials bridges can be made out of. We also looked at some famous bridges from around the world! Using their understanding of bridges, students built bridges using popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and plasticine (some groups requested additional supplies). The bridge had to span a river with a width of 30cm! We learned that it is very difficult to build a bridge using spaghetti and marshmallows! In the future, we are hoping to build a bridge strong enough and wide enough to drive a school robot across! Here's a look at our bridges: Reflection: - What type of bridge did your group build? - What worked well for your group? - What didn't work well for your group? - What would your group do differently if presented with