Monday Regular school day. Luggage & medication drop-off - 3:20-5:30. | Tuesday Depart for ODS @ 9:00 Bring your daypack! | Wednesday Learning and fun at Camp Magruder! | Thursday Learning and fun at Camp Magruder! | Friday Return between 1-2 Be on the lookout for school emails regarding our timing. |
- Friday, October 11th - NO SCHOOL - Inservice day.
- Thursday October 17th-18th. Conferences.
Follow this link to volunteer with us.
- 10/8 - Fernhill Wetlands tour
- 10/15 - Fernhill Wetlands research (high need!)
Homework this week: Get packed!
For those students who are heading to ODS Tuesday, your homework is to relax and get a good night's sleep before we leave. Below is a copy of a recommended packing list. Notice what goes into the main luggage and what should stay in a daypack for the bus ride. Remember to stay tuned to emails Friday around noon - we'll send an ETA as soon as we leave camp. Students will be tired and glad to see you!
Science
Our highlight last week was a visit to Sungold Farms, where students put into practice some of the ideas we had talked about in class, such as growing crops, pest management and soil health. Back in class, we learned that sustainability doesn't just mean that a system takes care of the planet; it has three pillars: environmental, social and economical.
Ask, what does it take to grow delicious farm-fresh food? What keeps those food crops from succeeding?
Another project we'll be working on this year, and introducing on Monday is called "Geek Out Hour." This is one block weekly where students select a topic they are interested in and get to investigate and create something to share their learning. This fall, they will be engineers, prototyping and refining a solution to a problem of their choice.
Ask if your student has any ideas about problems they could solve using engineering.
Talk about why it is important to learn more about the problem before starting to create a plan or prototype.
Literacy
As poets, the Merlins explored tricks of the trade, like refrain and alliteration. We talked about slant rhymes and wordplay in an impromptu study of some of the poems in Shel Silverstein's Falling Up. You may have helped your child with the 'Where I'm From Poem' on Google Classroom. This was an assignment that quite a few Merlins expressed frustration with during our reflection at the end of last week, but despite the challenges, I think that we were all able to give some insight into who we were by sharing a bit about where we are from. This will be the first in a rich collection of poems that comprise a Poetry Anthology by the end of fall. In "Love that Dog," we learned more about Jack as he wrote about his neighborhood emulating a poem called Street Music.
Ask, what is "fire-writing?" What is challenging or fun about it? Tell me about something you wrote this week.
Math
This week, fifth graders got more comfortable with volume through a puzzle about baseballs and the Multiple Game. Meanwhile, sixth graders continued to rebuild confidence in decimal work by rounding, stacking, sorting, and adding/subtracting them.
Ask: what is the difference between volume and surface area?
Ask: what are the steps of subtracting one decimal from another?