Each week there are students in charge of a current event. I have sent home a reminder with these students but I will also list them here.
Monday - Claire
Tuesday - Christina
Wednesday - Lucas
Thursday - Michael
Friday - day 2, no current event
Here are some student friendly sites for Current Events.
Good News Daily
Science News for Kids
Time for Kids
I was very proud of the class last week during Stanford Testing. They all worked to best of their abilities and I am sure this will pay off in the end. You can expect to get the results in about 8 weeks.We have just about completed the two major
events from 1861 in our unit on Civil War and will move to 1862 about mid-week. Journals/portfolios now have some things in them and there are many more going in this week. Both sides marched very well during our two days of practice - something I am sure they will remember for a long time to come.In our reading this week we will start reading both non-fiction and fiction books related to the Civil War. In the span of the next month I am hoping and planning on students completing two of these while in class. Our focus is still on learning to monitor our comprehension, look for cause and effect and also be able to summarize when completed. There are lessons on this coming up, and we will have some blog entries during this time.
We have completed our non-fiction presentations and I was amazed. It was simply outstanding to see all the different topics and methods of presenting. Some of the pictures in today's blog post are from from these presentations. I really tried to show students that in doing a presentation it is how you present not only the topic, but yourself that is important. Also, what graphics you want to help your presentation, should be bold and easy to see. Most of them accomplished this with style and panache.We will complete our math unit this week and move on to the next one titled Coordinates, Area, Volume and Capacity. I have attached the family letter to the email I have sent home reminding you about this blog post.
Wednesday is Track and Field day at Aberdeen if
the weather holds out. Students who are not on the lunch program need to bring their own lunch for this day and it should be portable as we need to carry everything to Aberdeen where we will have lunch. I would also suggest snacks, water, warm clothes and even a hat for this day. It is a free dress day for the students but as I have reminded them often, it is always easier to take off extra clothes if you get too hot than not have clothes to add if you get too cold.Friday is our annual Chinese New Year assembly hosted by the Chinese department and the PFO. Not sure what all is planned, but I know it will be entertaining and worthwhile as it has been every year. The year of the Tiger is almost upon us and with it some interesting dramatics I am sure. Students may want to dress Chinese for this day.
Homework returns to normal this week and I have already sent it home on Friday. I would like to remind everyone that students should be reading each night for 20-30 minutes as well. This is something that is really important and not always followed.
Math Olympiad is Tuesday and this is the fourth test. The final, fifth test will be next month.
As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Regards,
Harold Daw
