Post date: Nov 06, 2016 3:20:18 AM
Dear Room 25 Families,
This week went well, even with the alterations to most mornings' schedules (Buddy Time, Room 29 in SF, Anne Frank Exhibits). Although in the average day we had just a bit more than an hour of homeroom time, we were able to get quite a bit done and in a brisk but fairly relaxed pace & atmosphere. Here is a quick recap:
Social Studies:
-Thanks to Tara for sending me a link to a great resource regarding the elections, I was able to show the Electoral Dysfunction video and have good class discussions about voting access in America's history as well as help the us understand the electoral college system! I had hoped to get them into doing some research into the local propositions and the various groups supporting/refuting them, but we didn't get to it.
-The current events process is routine now and I'm impressed by some of each day's on-screen presentations and discussions. Less than half of the kids are doing the paperwork part (link), but at least the daily conversations are well done.
-In the history curriculum schedule we are dealing with the rising conflicts between the colonists and the British government. The kids did some reading about that subject one night and we had a great review discussion the next day. I continue to be impressed by the engagement of the core group of a dozen or so kids, as well as the apparent understanding by the rest.
English
-On Monday I finally carved out time for the kids to do their Fall writing benchmark. The 8th grade teachers will be scoring those using the middle school writing rubric and I'll be asking the writing coaches to target specific areas of need. This coming week we will do the SRI reading inventory and the scores for both of these growth-indicators will show up on the progress reports.
-Another weekly routine that is well entrenched is the vocabulary slides, presentations, quizlet (online study program), and quizzes. The third set of words were great, as were the kids' explanations of them. I used a slightly harder but better quiz format this time and the results are very telling -- kids that attend to each other's presentations and study a bit each night, prove their achievement each Friday.
-The final accomplishment of the week was the beginning phases of a "collaborative story" wherein a group of 4 kids create a single story together, with each person taking on a different job (plot, descriptions, dialog, and mechanics/images). This writing project was greeted with better-than-usual enthusiasm and each group got to work quickly and passionately. I've done this project before but it has never been undertaken with as much enthusiasm!
Science
-This unit on forces and motion has lost some momentum (ha) has not been forgotten. The kids have had to read about Newton's laws of motion, come up with demonstrations and/or videos that show them in action. Starting this coming week, we'll get into fluids, pressure, and buoyancy.
-The Fall science experiments have concluded for quite a few kids and some have done their class presentations -- Rianna risked being the first to do that and did a great job! In the next few weeks the rest of the kids should be doing the same.
Upcoming Trips
-Angel Island: November 17-18 -- check in with Bonnie Malouf about this trip and Gina Behl if you might be willing to chaperone.
-Innovation Challenge at SJSU -- Dan is in charge of this one, but I'm not giving you much notice on this driver request, so we might just take VTA instead!
-Exploratorium: December 6 -- this page has info (from last year) and let Laura Rogers if you can drive.
-SF: February 13-16 -- we'll need one mom and one dad to chaperone and one parent to drive luggage each way.
Calendar:
November 8 & 15 (Tuesdays): Anne Frank Exhibit community night 6 PM
November 11 (Friday): Veteran's Day (no school)
November 15 (Tuesday): Innovation Challenge at SJSU
November 17 & 18: Room 25 to Angel Island -- see message from Gina
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break
December 3: Star Party
December 6: 8th Grade to The Exploratorium
December 16: Early dismissal & break starts
December 16 to January 8: Winter break
January 16 (Monday): No School, MLK day
January 25 (Wednesday): 8th Grade Panoramic Photo
February 3 (Friday): Last day of first semester selectives
February 20-24: No School