2/15

SCIENCE:

Today was full of watercolors and curve balls. Grace opened our day with prayer. After a few deep breaths, we reflected on what makes up the air breath. Some students were surprised to hear that it is primarily (78%) nitrogen, even though we don’t absorb the nitrogen by breathing. Only 21% of our homosphere is oxygen. We discussed the meaning of “homo” (same) and “hetero” (different) and reviewed the different layers of the heterosphere. After a short AumSum video to go a bit deeper into the role of nitrogen in our atmosphere, we created a pie chart using a paper plate as a model of the composition of the homosphere. We enjoyed a rare rain today, but that put us inside for our break. The students showed off their animal charade skills!

GEOGRAPHY:

After the flag salute, Grace read a clue card that led us to the Nile River, which served as a perfect intro to our Africa unit. We watched an intro video from Destination World to get a feel for the continent while I passed out our new African countries for our country project. We spent the rest of the time time painting its physical map using our watercolors again. A few students weren’t quite done labeling so I promised to post the picture on the slide show above. There was a car accident out on Foothill (just up the road outside our main window) during this hour. I don’t think any students saw the crash but we did see the victims (all seemed physically ok), a fallen tree, fire trucks, and policemen. Miah G. helped lead our class in a prayer for those involved.

IEW:

We snuck outside to run around for a quick break while the sun was shining and then headed back in to finish up IEW. We had a heart to heart when we got back to class about speaking out of turn. I reminded them of what we call “commercial breaks” and how they can be distracting for our fellow classmates even though I am certain there is no ill intent and most often the interruption is a question or positive contribution. It was a stern but friendly reminder to raise their hands and it was well received. They really improved for the remainder of the day and I could see the self control many were working very hard to practice. I selected Rhys and Jax to read their rough draft for “Busy Beavers” from last week as they served as fine examples! Sebastien, Danica, Ryan, and Avery read their rough draft of “Tasty Nest” that we turned in today. They all did a wonderful job. We are continuing in our practice of writing summaries. Each week we are using a new resource for the summary. These first three are used as rough drafts. I will give feedback and attach a checklist so the students can see more clearly what elements they are missing. However, there will be no official score. Next week we will read the resource “Army Ants” for our first final draft, which I will score and not give grammatical feedback on. The students worked in table teams today on their KWO for “Honeybees”. They will use this for their rough draft summary this week. You can encourage them to try using their outline orally to retell the information before trying to write the summary. Often this helps them make sure their outline works as well as come up with the words to truly make it their own. Bees are certainly fascinating insects! Those completing the homework drafts are growing SO MUCH...I am excited to read their new drafts!

*Note: Many students were missing a supply or two today. Please review the supply list with your student to help make sure they are prepared. THANK YOU!