February 17, 2011

Today the students had fun building Roman domes with gumdrops and toothpicks. We'll test their strength next week. We also talked more about Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii and made some explosions of our own. In science the students worked at different learning centers to learn about the seasons.

Homework:

Planner signed due 2-18

Read 30 minutes

Social Studies: Work on your ancient Rome video questions. Remember that this "assignment" is actually an open book test due next Wednesday. Bring your progress note tomorrow if you forgot today. Make sure that all of your missing work is turned in tomorrow. (myth, comprehension). For those students who are redoing their map, remember that it's due sometime before next Friday. (Color the water carefully as instructed, label neatly, and color water only around the land- not around the edge of the map. Color the land neatly in one direction. Remember the little tricks that we've talked about and the common mistakes to watch out for and not repeat.)


Language Arts: "How To Handle A Bully" Essay Due: 2/28. We are finished working on the essay in class. Students will need to continue working on them at home to keep improving their scores. On February 28, I will record the scores.

Oral Poem Performance of "Don't Quit" Due: 2/15. Students will be graded, so remember to practice it "Loud, Slow, and Clear." Especially SLOW!!!

Because we took some time in writing class to record what the students are observing in their microbiology class experiment,I still have a few students who need to give their poems. We will finish up the poems next Tuesday.

"Causes of Good Grades" Due: 2/28. We will be working on this essay in class next week. After that, it will be the students' responsibility to keep working on their essay at home to bring up the scores.

Remember: If students are absent from my class, they need to makeup the missed class time working on their essays at home on myaccess.com, which is 40-45 minutes. Several students have been assuming that because I don't hand them a worksheet,
they don't have any makeup work. Their makeup work is on-line.

Reading: Today the extra credit was due, not much turned in...Oh well, students must have been happy with their grades. Stargazing vocab/spelling test was given today. Those vocabulary cards need to go in their science binder for continued use with Mrs. Coombs. Bring Stargazing reading packet to class on Tuesday. Comprehension test on Thursday, 2/24. Remember, book reports are due, typed only, on March 1st. No late work will be accepted because of report card deadlines.