Math:
The Marionettes worked through a scavenger hunt, a review, and pumpkin coloring review all to build up to their check-in this week. They did a great job reviewing integer operations. Expect check-ins in their binders next week.
The Saplings learned about percent change at the beginning of the week. They completed an activity that calculated the percent change of the prices of household items in the 70s compared to the 10s. Wednesday and Thursday they complete their unit reviews.
The Vroomshrooms had lessons over finding parallel and perpendicular lines and linear regression. After each lesson they worked on a review booklet to prepare them for their check-in Monday.
ELA:
We started our week by finishing up the “Twilight Zone” introduction we began last week. Students continued working together to change the dark and ominous (their words!) mood of Rod Serling’s iconic passage by changing the words using an online dictionary. They also learned that looking at a list of synonyms is a handy way to find a definition and it can help with finding just the right connotation. It is a thrill to watch them discover new words and build their vocabulary! Tuesday we shared and appreciated each classes’ version and officially learned what a parody is. To reinforce the concept, we watched the video of Weird Al Yankovic’s “Eat It” (a parody of the Michael Jackson song “Beat It”). The Marionettes wrote The Garbage Zone while the Saplings wrote The IKEA Zone, and the Vroomshrooms wrote The Shrek Zone. Those will be posted for your enjoyment and awe during POP next month.
Later on Tuesday we built anticipation for our next story, “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury, by participating in a sticker poll. Students walked around the room reading statements they had to agree or disagree with and cast their opinion with dot stickers. Afterward we read the story and circled back to those statements–still agree or disagree? Next students performed a very thorough analysis of the story; the Marionettes and Saplings worked with partners, but the Vroomshrooms flew solo.
For the rest of the week everyone used text evidence from the story to complete a plot map, identify the problem/resolution, and determine the theme, the narrator’s point of view, how the setting affected the plot, and what the main character learned. They also distinguished the elements of science fiction and short story. To accomplish all this, they used the notes in their binder as resources. This served double duty–proving answers and honing study skills. Since the Vroomshrooms finished that analysis a little sooner, they jumped into reading and discussing their next story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. What a great week of appreciating literature and building neural pathways!
Theme:
It was life in the Atomic Age for the Delta students this week as our look at Chemistry took us to the smallest particles in existence. The week began with some basic information about the atom and its structure. Students learned just how small the atom is, and how much space it takes. They were amazed to learn that the distance between the electron cloud and its nucleus is the same length as 5 football fields, but we still can’t see them!
On Tuesday, students got a chance to EAT an atom! Students were assigned a specific atom to research, giving its basic information as weight, atomic number, and the number of particles contained. They also investigate the factors that led to its isolation or prediction, its common uses today, and one COOL fact about the atom. They turned their efforts then to build a Bohr model of the atom, named for the Dutch chemist who proposed a familiar structure of the atom. Using skittles, they showed the structure of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, and the electrons whizzing around it in the electron cloud. The session ended with eating the particles!
To end the week, students learned about the periodic table. They seemed overwhelmed at the complexity of the chart that categorizes all the known elements, both natural and man-made. But through some games, and activities, they began to see the table much clearer. A visit from Dr. Carl Kessel, grandfather of Delta student Sam, helped give them even more insight!
Our 2024 Science Fair will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 20th, from 9:15am to 10:15am. We hope to see everyone out to see the projects students have put together!
Sapling students work together to unlock the secrets behind the assigned atoms in our modeling lab.
Saplings use notes from their binders to analyze “All Summer in a Day.”
One of the Vroomshrooms responds to our sticker poll.
A Sapling hangs the pancakes we made in SEL Flex time (how to flip negative self talk into something positive).
Marionettes build a conspiracy theory-esque display about The Westing Game with character posters they made at the end of Q1.
At top, Vroomshroom students work on modeling examples of atoms using skittles in our weekly lab. Above, work continues on Vroomshroom videos on the State of Matter.
Marionettes work together to categorize examples of various molecules. The descriptions for the Scavenger hunt activity asked students to apply their understanding of the Periodic Table,
