I am so, so sorry that I did not remeber to take pictures until the 3rd presentation. I think I was so excited about Isaiah's root beer floats that I forgot. The presentations have been great so far! Make sure to practice a bit at home and have a lot to say! :)
Today the students finished working on their papers in class (they are due on Wednesday!) and were able to ask questions and have their peers and myself read their papers and give feedback. We also talked a bit more about the format of the presentations and students signed up/were assigned dates to present. Our first presentations will be on Wednesday! If you'd like for me to read your paper before class on Wednesday, you need to email it to be before 8pm on TUESDAY. I will have time to read papers and give feedback between 12-1pm and then again starting after 7pm. :)
Homework: FINISH your paper :) ALL papers are due at the start of class on Wednesday. If you'd like to use your paper for your presentation, please make sure to bring a second copy. ALSO please bring your information sheet with the rubric on it. I will use that rubric to grade your paper and presentation with. We started class by grading the brainstorming diagrams and further discussing the structure of the paper. Students wrote a rough draft of their fist paragraph making sure to include ALL the background information needed to fully understand the experiment and outcomes. They then shared their introductory paragraph with the people at their table to give them feedback.
Homework: Work on your paper! Your first and second paragraph should be finished by Wednesday. We will work on writing the third and fourth paragraphs in class on Monday. The paper is DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26th. You should also be ready to present your experiment that day as well. On Monday the 24th, we will draw names to see when people will be presenting. EVERYONE'S paper will be collected on the 26th :) Format of the paper: (refer to the rubric for more details on the paper) Topic by: NAME 1st Paragraph: The topic of my experiment is _________________. In order to understand the experiment better, you must know some background information. __________________________________________. Transition sentence explaining what your experiment will be about. 2nd Paragraph: To complete the experiment, follow the steps below. 1. Gather the following materials: ______ 2. 3. etc. 3rd Paragraph: If the experiment is successful, the outcome should be _____________. This is because _______ (go into a lot of detail!) 4th Paragraph: In conclusion: ________________________________ (this paragraph could just be a couple sentences). You do not need to copy my sentences word for word but you can if you find it helpful. If you choose to write your own, make sure they convey the same ideas. Students were given their test back and then chose their topic to base their end of the year project on. Afterwords, we talked about brainstorming and students were shown a brainstorming diagram that they were then to replicate for their assigned topic. They were asked to reread the section/lesson in their book related to their topic and write the main ideas AND describe them. They will use this diagram when writing their first paragraph (which they will do in class on Wednesday).
Homework: Finish the brainstorming diagram (This is for credit so bring it to class on Wednesday!) AND decide on what experiment you will be doing. Make sure the experiment CLOSELY relates to your topic! I would recommend either searching the internet OR coming up with your own idea, just make sure it works :) Students were given time to study a bit and were then given their test which they all completed with ample time left over. After telling the students what grade they got on their test and collecting missing work, I passed out a sheet explaining what they will be doing for the next couple of weeks. We talked through the assignment briefly (we will go over the requirements more on Monday) and I informed them of their homework.
Homework: Choose your top 5 topics form the sign up sheet side of the form. Bring your book with you to class on Monday!!! If you lost your sheet or if you were absent, please click on the link below for the information needed. sign_up_list_experiment.docx We started class off by going outside to make a compass out of a push-pin, a bit of Styrofoam, a bowl, a magnet and water. And it worked, for the most part :) We were also able to talk about some factors that would affect the accuracy of the compass we made. We then moved on to our review by playing Will The Winners Lose? and our Flashcard game. OUR TEST WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY! As always, if you feel your student would benefit from taking the test at home instead of in class, please email me and I can send you the test for your student to complete on Tuesday and bring to class completed on Wednesday.
Homework: STUDY, STUDY, STUDY! I am not requiring students to write review paragraphs for each lesson in the unit but I do think it would be extremely helpful for students to go through each lesson and review the main ideas as well as think through the activities we've done in class to support each lesson. Today we learned about Earth's own magnetic field. We expanded the book reading with an additional reading. We did the review it at the end of lesson 30 (our last book lesson!) and then played our flashcard terms review game which was a great review of all the information we've learned over the unit.
Homework: STUDY for your test on WEDNESDAY!! We make a compass in class on Monday and then play our review games to prepare for the test but you need to be memorizing your flashcard terms and reviewing the key concepts from both the chapters read AND the activities that we've done in class. We started class by grading the homework and going over the Review it as a class. I then reviewed the lesson for those who had not read the lesson. Our main focus today was on temporary magnets, specifically electromagnets. One of our students made a large electromagnet at home and was kind enough to bring it to class and show everyone how it worked! Students were then given materials to make their own small electromagnet. Below you will find a link to how that electromagnet is made. http://education.jlab.org/qa/electromagnet.html Homework: One more lesson (which we will read in class tomorrow) before your LAST book test!!!! Make sure you are reviewing at home by memorizing your flashcard terms AND reviewing the lessons from this unit. Today we went over electricity and electric current by watching a short Bill Nye video and filling out a worksheet that went along with the reading and video. We then reviewed the matter. We moved on to talking about magnets and their relation to electricity and then read lesson 29 in class.
If you were absent or if you want to watch the video again, here it is! Please note that the video is on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gixkpsrxk4Y Homework: For those who were absent (a lot of students!) READ lesson 29 AT HOME and complete the Review it and vocabulary flashcards. For those who were in class, make sure your review it and flashcards are complete. We started off class by reviewing the static electric activities from the stations we did on Wednesday. We talked through how what we did related to our reading from lesson 28 (Electricity). We then moved on to the next lesson (Electric Currents) and we read it as a class and stopped at various points to summarize what we read. Students then completed the Review It and the vocabulary flashcards. We ended class by doing the lesson's activity to see how much time and energy having electricity saves us!
Homework: Review your vocabulary flashcards! :) Today we focused on electricity (mostly static electricity) with four stations of activities. Students were placed in groups of 5 and rotated through the stations throughout the hour. If you're interested in seeing the stations, I will provide a link below.
Homework: Finish up anything you need to on your stations paper. BRING it to class on Monday to get credit for it!!! static_electricity_stations.docx I will update with what we did in class tomorrow. I just wanted to share that the only homework assignment is to review the vocabulary. If your student joined late and had not read the chapter on Atoms (one of the first chapters in the book) it may help if they were to look over that chapter as I will be referencing that information often this unit.
Update: On Monday, we went over the test and I gave homework points to students who brought their test corrections back (if your student didn't do that, make sure they do so they can get credit!). We then looked over our very last unit on electricity and magnetism. We read the first lesson in that unit and students completed the review it and created flashcards for the vocabulary words from the lesson. I apologize for the late post. I didn't have a computer so I attempted posting with my phone and it did not work.
Homework: Make test corrections. You MUST include the PAGE NUMBER in which you found the correct answer on. It doesn't count if you simply write the correct answer without a page number :) We had a special treat today! A student brought his guitar to class and while he was playing, students paid attention to the different pitches of the notes he played and the intensity of the sound. The kids had a great time with it and seemed to really grasp the concepts of pitch and sound intensity. Students then read their chapter summaries to the people at their table and we then played "Will the Winners Lose?" while going over the test topics. Finally, students were given their homework assignment (crossword puzzle) and had 5 minutes to get started on it.
Homework: Finish your crossword puzzle and study for the test which you will take in class on Wednesday! If you feel that your student would do better taking the test at home on Tuesday instead of in class on Wednesday, please email me and I will send you the test and instructions. Yesterday we reviewed sound and read the lesson on Music. Students worked on the flashcards and review it on their own and then we played a flashcard review game to help review the concepts learned this unit. Students then were told what missing assignments they had and were given directions to a new homework assignment.
Homework: Yes, we have homework! :) Write summaries over the 4 lessons we have read since your last test (x-rays through music). The summaries need to be in your own words and about 5 sentences long. You may type or hand write. This is due on Monday. Our test over this material will be in class on Wednesday. **Update** If you would like to bring an instrument of yours to class that would be WONDERFUL! I am wanting to have ONE string instrument, ONE brass, ONE woodwind and ONE percussion instrument. To make sure we don't have any repeats, please comment on this post and say which type of instrument you will be bringing. I only need one from each classification group so if you see that someone is already bringing a string instrument, then you do not need to bring one too. :) Today we did two activities related to sound. Before doing these activities, students wrote down their predictions and after the activity, students wrote their observations and conclusions.
Our first activity showed how sound comes from vibrations. We put a lug nut inside a balloon, inflated the balloon and then swirled it around and observed the sound it made. We did the same thing with a penny and a dime and then compared the noises and items to see why the sounds would be so different. Our last activity "showed" sound waves. We put plastic wrap tightly around the top of a bowl and placed uncooked rice on the plastic wrap. We then placed a metal pan next to the bowl (but not touching it) and we hit the pan with a metal spoon. The sound waves caused by the vibrations of the pan moved through the air and made the rice jump/move! Homework: Start reviewing the chapters on x-rays, heat and sound. We will read one more lesson in class (Music) and then have our next test on the Wednesday right before Spring Break. We started class by going over the homework and talking about the three ways that heat moves. We then reviewed the 2 laws of thermodynamics that we previously learned. I then took the students outside to enjoy the beautiful February weather while we read the next lesson in our book, SOUND! While outside, students took turns reading the chapter out loud and we paused to discuss what was read after each paragraph. We then went back inside and students did the review it and filled out their vocabulary words. We added an additional vocabulary word, DECIBEL, so instead of 4 vocabulary flashcards, they made 5. We then went over everything as a class before the hour was over.
Homework: Review your vocabulary! |
I will be updating this site regularly with what we did in class as well as any projects or assignments. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
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