Math:
The Marionettes started their unit on equations this week working on solving one-step equations using inverse operations. The Saplings tackled volume. The Vroomshrooms began graphing quadratics.
ELA:
We welcomed Q4 with the ever-exciting unveiling of our new novels! 6th graders unwrapped The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm, while the 7th and 8th graders unwrapped The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. Both these books tie right in to our theme of Organisms and Their Environments.
Students learned to use bookmarks for jotting down quick notes and page numbers to use as references for future reading responses: plot events, vocabulary, imagery, etc.
For the remainder of our short week back, students learned about figurative language, but we now call this category its fancy name: rhetorical devices. They learned the names and definitions of analogy, symbolism, and allusion among others. They solidified their knowledge by working with partners to match examples to their correct rhetorical devices, then practiced even more with a carousel activity where they walked around the room identifying more examples.
Theme:
A short but productive start to our final Theme for the school year, as students dove into the subject of Ecology, investigating organisms in their environments. We started the week with a simulated event pitting students to find their way out of the Canadian wilderness by ranking items of survival. This allowed students to begin thinking about how characteristics determine order, much like how living things are categorized
We also defined the basics terminology of Ecology, focusing on organisms, environments, and habitats. Students created information posters for the wall, and developed their own spiral notes. We concluded with created habitats for various organisms. Students also began the process of choosing their Theme Project topics. Information for the project is attached to the Google Classroom.
Top left: Over Spring Break, Saplings and Zoomshrooms created one-pager posters to display what they learned in their books about the Romanov Family. Top right: Saplings match examples of rhetorical devices to their correct terms. Above, Marionettes cut out examples of rhetorical devices to use in a matching activity.
Saplings and Zoomshrooms increase their knowledge of rhetorical devices by using notes to identify examples of each.
At top, students use context clues and prior knowledge to rescue themselves from the Canadian wilderness in a simulated environmental survival exercise. Above, Vroomshrooms create spiral notes about Habitats, Organisms, and Environments to kick off our new Theme.
At top, students enjoyed the warmer weather during recess time. Above, Saplings work on a non-verbal communication exercise during Flex time.
