Post date: Sep 12, 2014 2:8:37 AM
Dear Room 25 Parents and Kids,
My family and I just got back from a great weekend in SF, during which we got to stay at a nice little vacation unit owned by Brenda Herrera, Nate's mom. If you ever want to take a little vacation near the marina, she has a fantastic spot for rent! It was silly to me to even think that I'd have a newsletter out by Friday night -- there is just way too much cool stuff to do in SF. So, this week's email is a late-Sunday edition.
Recap of the Week:
Science: Continuing on with the "forces and motion" theme, I tried to give the kids an even better understanding of and experience with just 3 words: speed, velocity, and acceleration. As I hope you noticed, the kids should have tested a basic "accelerometer" (weight on a string) and then created or designed/diagrammed some improvements to the device. Although I'm not sure if all the kids did the activity, those that did really had some excellent ideas and prototypes.
There were also a few pre-assignments called "probes" which are designed by the National Science Teachers Association. Each describes a scenario and offers a variety of interpretations or predictions. The kids have to decide which ones (or which combination) make the most sense to them, and then write some "claim, evidence, reasoning" statements that explain their assumptions and reasoning.
There were two other experiences that hopefully had an impact on the kids learning and enthusiasm for science. Alan did a great and thorough presentation on telecommunications technologies and demonstration of welding and splicing fiberoptic strands. Thomas brought in a weight and rope and the kids and I did some pendulum experiments with the intent of isolating the variable(s) that determine the "fun factor" involved in various types of swing sets on playgrounds.
Lastly, and least thrilling for the kids, was the session on taking notes with me in an attempt to understand, interpret, and restate the explanations and graphics contained in the 8th grade science textbook. Once the kids feel competent and confident at this process I will probably be starting a routine of textbook reading and assessments that will run concurrent and parallel to the in-class activities and discussions. I'll explain more of this at our first class meeting (Tuesday at 6:30, remember?)
Social Studies: The highlights of the week were probably the presentations and discussions created by Thomas Zscherpel and Philippe Levy on Germany and France. Although I was at a "shark tank" panel at The Tech during Philippe's session, I heard great things about it. The notes document that the kids and I are writing might give you an idea of the topics and impressions.
I figured out that one possible reason that the kids' current events articles have not focussed on international or political affairs very much is perhaps because of the complexity of the issues and the dominance of depressing/scary topics. To balance that off, I showed segments by John and Hank Green that explain that there is lots of good news out there and that some psychology is involved in our impression that there is only bad news going on these days. (their names link to their respective videos).
Also in social studies, our exploration of US geography continued with some lessons on viewing maps and answering questions. Native American cultures and environmental adaptations were also a topic of study as the kids participated in an "each one teach one" scenario and then made and took a student-created quiz. Much was learned in the process, and mostly about the personal and peer obligations that is involved in team learning and assessment.
English
In order to find out just were the class' overall reading interests lie as well as how prolific individual students are as readers I had the kids contribute to a Books We've Read spreadsheet that I started a few classes back. The results are encouraging and I'm eager to get going with class wide book reads as well as the book groups that will start in October.
To get an idea of the studens' writing level and style, I asked them to write a sample half- to full- page on any topic, including these quick-write topics. Due to typical time constraints less than half of the students finished that piece, so I'll collect them all on Monday and add them to my evening readings pile for next week. I really do enjoy hearing what the kids have to say and how they say it (usually).
Coming Up:
Tuesday night is our first class meeting and I'm looking forward to seeing you. You'll start in our room for 45 minutes, and then go to the other two 8th grade rooms for a half hour each. During that time, each of us will deal with class logistics as well as go over our plans and priorities for the year. One thing that we'll probably all talk about is the various trips for the year. The 8th grade team (Susan, Dan, and I) are excitedly working together on the basic preliminary plan for a 4-day 3-night trip to San Francisco and Sacramento. To me it is sort of a "DC in SF" theme, during which the kids will rotate between three days worth of regional and/or thematic activities in SF and then take Amtrack for a whole-group visit to the Capitol and other sites in downtown & old town Sacramento. The students will be heavily involved in almost every aspect of this trip and we are very hopeful that this will become the "signature" 8th grade trip for years to come. Our tentative budget is at about $350, and when added to the Age of Sail and American River Rafting trip, and other possible trip(s), the total cost of 8th grade overnights should stay under $800.
If you haven't already considered (and declined), please think about doing a parent demo/lesson/activity/presentation sometime before the end of the month. Take a look at this page on my site and let me know if I could add you to the schedule.
Message from Elizabeth Shepherd, daytime FT coordinator:
Our field trip to the Google International Science Fair is a Week from this Monday 9/22/14.
We will be leaving school at 8:45 and will return by noon. If you can drive it would be greatly appreciated.
Please contact me as soon as possible at lizy.shepherd@me.com if you can help out.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Calendar:
September 16: Room 25 Parent Meeting
September 22: Fall Portraits
September 22: Google Science Fair (field trip)
September 25: 8th Grade Graduation Committee meeting @ DCS
September 29: Selective start
September 30: Math Curriculum Night 8:00 for 8th grade
October 3: Room 25 to Ropes Course
October 15 or 22 (TBD next week): 8th Grade Parent Meeting #2
October 24: Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)
October 25: Fall Festival
October 27-31: Fall conferences
October 30: 8th Grade to "Sweeney Todd"
November 11: Veteran's Day (no school)
November 24-18: Thanksgiving Break
December 11-12: Room 25 to Balclutha, Age of Sail
December 22 - January 9: Winter Holiday
Sincerely,
Chris