Math:
Da Sprouts spent Monday and Tuesday reviewing for a check in they took on Wednesday.
Evershrooms studied circumference and area on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday they were given 5 tasks to further explore circles and reinforce their understanding.
Polar Bears had a lesson over the Pythagorean Theorem on Monday and practiced with a maze on Tuesday. Wednesday they learned how to determine if a triangle is a right triangle using the Pythagorean Theorem Converse.
Da Sprouts, half the Evershrooms, and Polar Bears spent Thursday making binary Valentines.
Mountain Lizards tackled factoring this week. First they factored out the greatest common factor from polynomials, then learned how to factor by grouping, and finally factored trinomials using the AC method.
ELA:
This week in A Midsummer Night’s Dream we decided to stand up! This made reading the play even more fun because, of course, students started changing their inflection and adding body language to their lines. In one scene, the fairies sing a lullaby to Queen Titania and ask all the little creatures of the forest to leave her alone while she sleeps. This was a perfect opportunity to incorporate some art–each student chose one creature from the text to illustrate, and we’ll create a whole class collage with their miniature drawings.
Our SEL intention this week has been I WILL RECOGNIZE NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIPS. Students made real world connections to the play in their journals by considering how this intention applied to the characters Demetrius and Helena. As we discussed our thinking, many students identified other negative relationships in the play. So much drama!
We wrapped up the week with a few rounds of high stakes BINGO (prizes included glittery shamrock stickers and Bandaids). This was a great way to review the characters and settings from the play AND sharpen our listening skills.
Theme:
Energy . . . You can get it by damming up a river
Energy . . . A windmill can make the breeze deliver
But even with milling and damming
Our needs are so much more demanding
For energy . . . We have to use some kind of fuel
“The Energy Blues”
Jack Shelton, Schoolhouse Rock, 1978
Our physics theme dove into the various forms of energy this week, defining each and analyzing how they affect the Earth and human lives. Students looked at the list of energy types and presented a simple demonstration of them in the classroom. Examples included turning on and off a lightswitch to demonstrate electrical energy, a spring to demonstrate elastic energy, and falling down to show the importance of gravitational energy.
Students were then challenged to build cat tail lattice structures. Using tongue depressors, students first built a base from which to connect the patterns at right angles. Each wooden stick was held together by elastic energy, storing its potential energy. When released the stick went flying in a chain reaction of kinetic energy. The exciting results can be seen in a video here.
We also spent time this week working on quarter projects, focusing on creating outlines for student research reports on their chosen physics principle.
Delta students demonstrate Elasticity with Potential and Kinetic energy through Cat Tail lattice structures in Theme class.
We got hands on this week. Our focus this week gave students time and space to work with various forms of energy.
Iceberg students play A Midsummer Night’s Dream BINGO. Bottom right: Icebergs read a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
