Happy Monday! We had a great week back and are ready for a busy second half of the school year!
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK:
MATH:
In math last week we began our Hands-On Equations algebra program. Students were super excited about learning “legal” moves each day. So far we have been introduced to our blue pawn (x) and number cubes. Students learned how to keep our scale balanced, and remove equal amounts of pawns from both sides of an equation. They were also taught to subract the smaller number value from the larger number value, leaving number cubes on only one side of the equation.
READING:
Our whole class novel study/response to literature unit on The Liberation of Gabriel King also began last week! Students are extremely enthusiastic about the story of Gabriel King and his best friend Frita Wilson. Already we’ve had many mature and higher-level discussions as we’ve explored the ideas of liberation, integration, and justification. Students examined point of view, idioms, and character perspectives. We even researched the Bicentennial to provide background knowledge on the setting of the story.
15 DAY CHALLENGE:
It was quite an exciting week as we began to share projects with the class! It is truly amazing to witness the excitement, creativity, and passion for this 15 Day Challenge! Last week we learned how to make dream catchers, and were taught both French and Polish. We also got to see 15 different cities located throughout the world, along with countries beginning with every letter of the alphabet from A-Z! We learned how much work it takes to create a comic strip, and the challenge involved in making duct tape art products. Even the arts were represented in our challenge....we saw a website created to display a student's amazing photography talents, and we also learned how to use different art styles to draw faces! What a week!
SCIENCE:
Human Body in Motion continued as our special LMC project began. Students worked with Mrs. Melamed and Ms. Mak to discover physical limitations some students might face as a result from a disease or disorder that require adaptations to make their learning environments more successful. We're all very excited to explore this topic more in depth, and design our own solutions!
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
MATH:
We will continue moving along in our Hands-On Equations algebra unit. Students will learn several new "legal moves" this week.
READING:
Our "Gabe King" novel study will continue this week. We will focus on elements of a story, character analysis, literary elements, and point of view.
15 DAY CHALLENGE:
We will finish sharing the remaining projects and then begin our second WEX unit of the year, Response to Fiction.
SCIENCE:
We're shifting gears this week (we'll still continue working on our Human Body in Motion LMC project) and are beginning to take a look at our next science unit, Earth in Space. Our focus this week will be on modeling Earth's shape, and Earth's gravity.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, 1/11....................................................................................................................Reading MAP Test (1;15pm)
Monday, 1/16............................................................................................................................No School (MLK,Jr. Day)
Monday, 1/23...........................................................................................................................No School (Institute Day)
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK:
MATH:
In math last week we began our Hands-On Equations algebra program. Students were super excited about learning “legal” moves each day. So far we have been introduced to our blue pawn (x) and number cubes. Students learned how to keep our scale balanced, and remove equal amounts of pawns from both sides of an equation. They were also taught to subract the smaller number value from the larger number value, leaving number cubes on only one side of the equation.
READING:
Our whole class novel study/response to literature unit on The Liberation of Gabriel King also began last week! Students are extremely enthusiastic about the story of Gabriel King and his best friend Frita Wilson. Already we’ve had many mature and higher-level discussions as we’ve explored the ideas of liberation, integration, and justification. Students examined point of view, idioms, and character perspectives. We even researched the Bicentennial to provide background knowledge on the setting of the story.
15 DAY CHALLENGE:
It was quite an exciting week as we began to share projects with the class! It is truly amazing to witness the excitement, creativity, and passion for this 15 Day Challenge! Last week we learned how to make dream catchers, and were taught both French and Polish. We also got to see 15 different cities located throughout the world, along with countries beginning with every letter of the alphabet from A-Z! We learned how much work it takes to create a comic strip, and the challenge involved in making duct tape art products. Even the arts were represented in our challenge....we saw a website created to display a student's amazing photography talents, and we also learned how to use different art styles to draw faces! What a week!
SCIENCE:
Human Body in Motion continued as our special LMC project began. Students worked with Mrs. Melamed and Ms. Mak to discover physical limitations some students might face as a result from a disease or disorder that require adaptations to make their learning environments more successful. We're all very excited to explore this topic more in depth, and design our own solutions!
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
MATH:
We will continue moving along in our Hands-On Equations algebra unit. Students will learn several new "legal moves" this week.
READING:
Our "Gabe King" novel study will continue this week. We will focus on elements of a story, character analysis, literary elements, and point of view.
15 DAY CHALLENGE:
We will finish sharing the remaining projects and then begin our second WEX unit of the year, Response to Fiction.
SCIENCE:
We're shifting gears this week (we'll still continue working on our Human Body in Motion LMC project) and are beginning to take a look at our next science unit, Earth in Space. Our focus this week will be on modeling Earth's shape, and Earth's gravity.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, 1/11....................................................................................................................Reading MAP Test (1;15pm)
Monday, 1/16............................................................................................................................No School (MLK,Jr. Day)
Monday, 1/23...........................................................................................................................No School (Institute Day)