Post date: Sep 11, 2011 10:6:28 AM
Hello there room 25 and finally room 26,
Another (partial) week has gone by and with it some good lessons, events, and stories. There are at least three major things that I want to get into this time (Reader Profile, Science Experiments, and Ropes Course), each of which could be an entire email unto itself, but in order to honor the namesake of these weekly newsletters, I'll leave the ropes course for a separate email and I'll try to keep my hyperbolic ramblings to a minimum this time.
In English, the major assignment of the week was the "Reader Profile" essay. On Tuesday morning I described the idea, gave some basic instructions to the students, read them a sample, and set them to work jotting down a few ideas. As with most assignments, there has been some class time provided for them to work independently as well as share ideas, but it is likely that some of the work will have to be done outside of class. Although the guidelines ask for 5 paragraphs, the overall length is much less important than the overall quality. A few of the students have really given wings to this assignment and done some great writing and insightful reflection. From their existing notes (in their comp book) they should have already written a draft either on paper or word processed. Perhaps you (parents) could ask to see how far your students have progressed in this series of tasks.
In English class this week the students also did their first (of many) "Daily Edits" exercise, spent a day on vocabulary, and read and discussed an interesting article on emerging problems of the Online Social Networking Culture.
Science Experiments: As a way to gain experience with the scientific method, the use of various measurement tools, and the details of good experimental design, the students will be choosing, designing, performing, analyzing, and publishing the results of a basic "informal" science experiment. Simply put, they are to think a topic of personal interest, ask a question about that topic in the form of "what is the effect of X on Y, and how can it be measured?", and then design the experiment itself along with data-collection methods. Last weekend, the students entered their ideas into an online form and then I gave feedback as quickly as possible. As the spreadsheet shows, the results are varied, impressive, and (for the most part) quite do-able. I'll post my comments for each student over the weekend and then ask them to create their procedures, materials lists, and methods of data collection. Since we'll be working on metric measurement and the use of various tools this week, the students should be able to take measurements quite well. Additionally, next week the students' will post their experiments on their new websites... I'm eager to see these projects unfold and hope that the students are excited.
Coming Up: Topics for this coming week will include some work at specific methods of peer editing, a group challenge activity, and (in science) the nature and uses of one of my favorite things... metrics and dimensional analysis.
Last thing... (I just can't help it) One highlight of the week was the team building of the ropes course and the optional night. They both drew me even closer to the wonderful people that make up DCS. Up in the beautiful and healthy redwood trees of Felton, I got to watch the kids challenge themselves, support each other, and deeply appreciate the experiences available to them.
Have fun and enjoy the lingering good weather.
Sincerely,
Chris Heumann