Cheers to the always wonderful girls of Room 204!
After a very herky-jerky (I use the term lovingly) schedule last week, we're back in the saddle again. Here's what we're up to this week:
Language:
Reading: Literature circles begin this Friday. Normally, students will have seven days (Friday to Friday) to complete his/her role in their lit circle. For the kick-off week, we're starting tomorrow, so I'm going extra light on homework. Last year our entire class read The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. The circles were a huge success. Students not only enjoyed reading the book, but they got a great deal out of their assigned roles as well as their group members'. This year, I've differentiated the reading materials based on interest, as well as ability levels and willingness. Everyone seems happy with their choice.
* On Tuesday, teachers are meeting with our literacy coach to assess student responses to poetry as part of their summative evaluation. I chose a rich poem by Langston Hughes ("Ballad of the Fortune Teller") and students had to make some inferences about the character traits of the male subject based on clues from the text and their own ideas. Teachers will work together using rubrics to evaluate these responses. I'm feeling pretty good about the progress we've made in the area of inferencing this year. To be continued...
Writing: Students will continue to work on their editorials. I'm hoping to see the rough drafts taking shape by Friday.
Math: We are working on 3-D geometry and measurement. These two strands integrate well together. I'm keeping this unit as lively and hands-on as possible and there will likely be little to no Math homework over the next two-to-three weeks. Students will learn how to estimate and calculate volume. We will also experiment with water displacement and capacity. This week students will work in pairs to design and build a home that is not rectangular or square. The emphasis is on spherical 3-D shapes. Check out my last post on this blog to see some cool homes in Europe.
Science: Physical changes in matter.
Social Studies: We will be wrapping up Ancient Mexico this week with a take-home assignment that will be done in pairs and culminate in a seminar. I will be walking students through the task this week and the homework research will be assigned next Monday. We will be starting Ancient China next week.
Homework:
1. Literature Circles: Books and instructions will be distributed tomorrow. Students - please come to school this Friday prepared to discuss your chapter readings based on your particular job. Do not let your group down. Each week, everyone will have to rate their contribution, as well as their group members'. I will also be recording one group per week as a podcast to be uploaded onto the blog.
2. Science: Forces quiz this Friday. Tomorrow, we will go over the terminology and students will create a study sheet together. Students will be asked to define: force, energy, friction, buoyancy, magnetism, and gravity. They will have to give four examples for the four forces bolded.
We'll get back into spelling and grammar next week.
Thanks for reading and caring.
Have a great week!
E. Hawkins
Some of the brainy, hip kids in our class taught me how to make a slide show. Do check out the Track and Field Day photos on this page. If you go to the Room 204 Student Blog page, you'll see some of the merriment from last Friday. I still have many other photos from Diversity Day which I'll try to post later.
When looking for the song "Big in Japan" for the student blog, I stumbled upon this video by German electro-pop band Alphaville. If this isn't the ultimate eighties video, I don't know what is. Spiky hair-gelled singer - check. Band looking like they're performing on a bed of steaming rice - check. Unexpected explosion that sends band members rocketing into the air - check. Half-male, half-female people in fancy dress attire and roller skates - check.
