Monday PE | Tuesday Fernhill O&A Merlins PM | Wednesday -5th grade science test ART | Thursday Soccer? Geek Out | Friday ART |
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Students will have math homework, reading and spelling this week. In lieu of goals, kids are to show their family their Geek Out Passion Project.
Geek Out--for the remainder of the year, our Geek Out time will focus on kids pursuing a passion project. The theory is the world needs people who are passionate! Some ideas will be hard to support in the classroom, and I will readily admit is hard to fully support 27 different projects as it is. So, I'd like families to see how they could support their student--if it seems necessary.
Science Testing--5th Grade Only Testing season is starting to gear up. Fifth graders will take their science test on Wednesday of this week. Parents, you can encourage your student to get a good night's rest, eat a healthy breakfast and reassure them to just give the test their best! Breathe if you panic use common sense if a question stumps ya!
Highlights of the week were seeing the crew of Merlins design and build their solar ovens. It was such a fun experience and we teachers stepped back and realized we weren’t doing anything—kids were conversing, planning, negotiating, building, modifying without our guidance or support. After they were built, kids had a chance to test it out and watch how warm the thermometer got. Most groups made little tweaks, but next week they’ll either get to make a s’more or quesadilla!
Ask what makes some starts appear brighter than others?
Talk about the 4 principles to maximize sunlight for solar oven design?
Extend the learning to watching stars over the course of one night.
Literacy
This week for literacy sure felt different than the others. Monday we took some time to design a cover for our fantasy. We are wrapping up Tuck by examining the theme and other important quotes and passages. Our next mini project that we’ve just started is writing an informational and then argumentative paper on if we should have Daylight Saving Time. Currently, there is a bill in the Oregon legislation to keep our time on DST.
Ask what was your favorite passage from the book you read?
Talk about the impacts of DST.
As a family write a letter to the Oregon legislation about your families thoughts on DST.
6th Grade Math
This week we have moved into rates and the first two lessons have kids practice the important skill of turning fractions into decimals and vice versa. As long as you remember a fraction is just a division problem, it can be a simple process!
Ask what is 7/9 as a decimal? How about 0.32 as a fraction, simplified?
Talk about how repeating decimals are notated.
Extend the learning to see how we convert between decimals and fractions in our everyday lives.
5th Grade Math
After a busy week of testing, we started a short unit on geometric figures. Specifically, what properties can you use to identify and describe polygons? I love exploring this visual concept after an intense few months of division! This week, students will be taking on a creative project to show me their understanding: they may choose between composing an original quadrilateral-themed song (example), or designing a blueprint of a dream classroom using quadrilaterals. We'll have 2-3 days of class time to work on it, but it will be due on Friday!
Ask, which project did you choose and why?
Talk about tricks to remember the quadrilateral names. (Hint: can you remember all 6 shapes?)
Extend the learning by playing a game of quadrilateral guess-who. Pick a shape, and ask yes-or-no questions to guess! Do you have 2 sets of parallel sides? Any right angles or congruent sides?