Post date: Nov 20, 2010 5:4:19 AM
Good Evening Families.
Fourteen(ish) weeks together and much to show for it! There is good work being done in room 25 and I'm very proud of the kids for their efforts and accomplishments. This week was no exception to the "all is good" rule and here is a summary of where we've been and where we're going:
English Activities for the Week
Hunger Games Facebook page:. I finished scoring these today and am so impressed by how well the kids used the Facebook interface to show how well they have understood the characters, plot, and messages of the book. I have some scanned samples, and if you are interested I can send them to you.
"Best of" vocabulary words usage: Since the beginning of the year the students have found, written, and defined many excellent words. This week, they did an assignment that showed just how well they understood the proper use of the words and the best context in which they should be used.
Planning for the Hunger Games essay: in order to strengthen their pre-writing skills I had the students fill in a graphic organizer and submit their topic/theme to an online spreadsheet for comments and sharing. As always, most of their thoughts are insightful and appropriately challenging. Over the next nine days they should be writing their first drafts.
Excellent book club discussions: This month's book was not a light nor passive read -- it evoked a range of responses and created a great deal of good discussion. Particular thanks go to the book club parents who rose to the challenge of facilitating their group's deep understanding of and diverse reactions to the book.
Choosing December books: The students used GoogleModerator to make book suggestions, give summaries, and collect 'votes' about the books for next month. The top 10(ish) books were perused today during class and students made their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices. The results are on the reading page of my website -- almost everyone got their first choice.
Science Activities for the Week
"Track" on Pressure: I had the students do an online activity that involved browsing various pre-chosen websites and answering questions about each. I'll be building many more of these activities for various topics for the rest of the year because they utilize the immense resources of the web in a (relatively) controlled environment.
Altitude-Pressure Diagram: The science textbook had a good diagram of the relationship between air pressure and altitude, so I had the students display their understanding of the concepts in a three-column diagram with their own annotations and explanations.
Building Boats: After watching a video on buoyancy, the students built boats out of clay, floated them, and then piled them up with pennies to (and beyond) the sinking threshold. After repeated re-design and reconstruction, the kids gained a working knowledge and understanding of the concepts of flotation.
Device Design: One of the "quickies" of the week was to do an on-paper design of a device that could measure the amount of force needed to submerge a floating object and see if another person could "figure it out". This was a big challenge for them and may have elicited an appreciation for those who are in the research and design fields.
Lessons Learned and Other Notes
Two weeks ago the students wrote position papers about ballot propositions. The products came out quite differently than I had intended. Instead of writing an argument supporting one side of an argument and yet grounded in fact, the students (more often than not) reiterated the rhetoric that already surrounds political issues and permeated the air waves. My goals were higher than their preparation and pre-existing skills. I'll approach persuasive essays again soon, but with more background and scaffolding beforehand.
That bridge... finally, there is time to build this thing that I've described before. I love doing construction projects, especially with a few students and/or parents. I'd like to build a bridge that could be used for a variety of things around middle school alley -- perhaps as a border along the native plant garden outside my room. Until then, it will provide a sitting spot under the tree near the ball shack, by the beautiful new grass. If any of you are interested in helping one afternon next week, please let me know.
This last item is just a check to see who read all the way down to this point... a reality check for me, I suppose. How 'bout you click reply and say hi.
Have a great time with friends, food, and family.
Chris Heumann