New Lesson Plans and Homework Log is up!

Go to the site and click on the homework log section and lesson plan section links to view what is coming up next week.

The Week of 12-3 to 12-7-2012

Thank you to all of you who have allowed your children to participate with the online tutoring!  So far, it has been a great success and the kids are benefiting from the extra time learning about the things we are covering in class.  We will have another session next week at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, December 6th.  Look for a link on the class web site to get your child to this class.  There is also a link on the class web site under the Wiz IQ section that tells you how to join in a class and sign up for Wiz IQ.  Friday, November 30th, was the due date for the field trip permission slips.  I was told by some of the students of the difficulties they are having getting these in by the 30th.  No problem, if you were not able to get these in to me by the 30th, but please get these in to me by Monday, December 3rd.  All Ellis Island and World Foods Celebration Forms are due to me by Friday, December 7th.  The more people we have involved in these activities, the better the experience for our kids.  This week started our vision screening tests.  Only two of my students were selected for this, but if you would like your child's vision screened, you can e-mail me and I can send your child down to the testing location.  Progress reports should be out on Monday.  If you turned in a bunch of missing work but it did not show on the progress report, be patient, chances are good that it did not get turned in before the reports were printed.  This should show up the following week.  If it does not, please contact me to check to see if your child got the assignment in.  In order to get late work or missing work, please sign your child's progress report and have it returned to me.  I do this to ensure that you have seen the progress report and are expecting missing work.  Be sure to turn in any November Book It sheets on Monday!  New December sheets will be given out on Monday, December 3rd.  Have an excellent weekend, and how 'bout those Irish!

Reading News
We finished our making connections unit, and have started visualization.  Here, students will use their mind's eye to create a picture of what is being described in the book.

Writing News
We have just finished our personal narratives, and turned them in via e-mail.  I will correct these and e-mail back to your child the grade and the mistakes that need to be fixed.  We will be studying grammar the next two weeks and doing some daily journals. 

Math News
We learned how to subtract, add, and multiply positive and negative integers.  Next week, we will be learning how to divide positive and negative integers, and then we will have a test on Wednesday, December 5th. 

S. Studies News
We have been studying the United States the past few weeks.  This past week we looked the government structure, or economy and economic system, and the contributions other cultures have had on our own.  Look for a review test on Monday, December 3rd, and a test on Tuesday, December 4th.

Science News
This week we looked at the layers of the Earth's interior, the convection layers in the mantle, and Wegener's Continental Drift Theory.  Next week we will look at Plate Tectonics and map them out, we will study the Mid Atlantic Ridge and Sea Floor Spreading, and some of the effects of these on our crust. 

Big Updates

There will be no spelling or vocabulary test this week; a new list will come out Friday.  No reading log until Friday, which will be the start date for next week's log.  Learn the Process projects due by Friday.  For the rubric and project details, click on the link on the right hand side of the web site.  (You have to scroll down to get to them)  Field Trip slips and money due by Friday, November 30th, and volunteer and food forms for the December events (Ellis Island and World Foods Day) are due by Friday, December 7th.  Contact me if you have any questions.  Progress reports came out on Tuesday, November 27th.  Please sign these and make requests for any work.  All late work turned in as of yesterday were put in the grade books.

New Lesson Plans and More Info!

The lesson plans for this week and next are now available on the web site, as well as this week's homework log.  Reminder, there is no spelling or vocabulary test this week, but there is still a reading log that is due Monday, November 26.  A second reminder, field trip money and permission slips are due soon, and please return the Ellis Island and World Foods and Culture Celebration notes back as soon as you can if you are interested in participating.

Metamorphic Rock Simulation!

Pictures by Ryan E.

To simulate how metamorphic rock is created by both pressure and heat, we built metamorphic rock sandwiches!  Each layer and ingredient of this three stacked sandwich was a layer of sediment.  Students had peanut butter and jelly, gummy worm and chocolate chip, and marshmallow layers on three slices of bread.  Once they created this on a paper plate, they placed another paper plate on top of it, put the whole thing in a gallon sized ziplock bag, and added some pressure to the sandwich.  After smashing, folding and crumpling the plates and sandwich in a bag, we then heated the metamorphic sandwich in a microwave.  The result was an entirely new sandwich that looked nothing like it did before, much like metamorphic rock comes from a previous rock type, but goes through an entire change after being heated and pressurized.

Igneous Rock Model

Igneous rock forms when molten sediment and minerals cool either on land from lava flows, or under ground as magma seeps into cracks in sedimentary rock.  In our demonstration, the water dissolving the Borax powder is like the sediment being melted and mixed into magma below the Earth's surface.  We inserted a pipe cleaner into the liquid to act as a crack in the sedimentary rock where the magma will cool.  On the pipe cleaner, crystals will form like the magma would form as it cools.  We added food coloring to the water in hopes the crystals will come out in different colors.  Pictures by McKenzy L.

Sedimentary Rock Experiment

The final product!

I forgot to take pictures of this one, but I can use photos from last year to show what we did.  The students learned that Sedimentary Rocks are created by four processes.  First there is erosion, where the sediment is carried to a new place.  Then deposition, when the water or wind deposits the sediment in its new location creating a sediment layer.  As more layers of sediment builds on older layers, they create enormous pressure on the lower older layers which is a process called compaction.  As water seeps into these layers, it mixes with minerals already blended in the sediment.  This mineral water cements the sediment together forming rock when the water evaporates in the final process called cementing.  Students created a layer of sand and cement and placed it in the bottom of their cups (Erosion and Deposition).  Then they created a pea stone and cement layer that they pressed down on the sand layer (Erosion, Depostion, and Compaction).  They then, added water to these layers and final layer of plaster to act as the top layer of sediment.  A little more water was added to the plaster to finish it off and they set it aside to dry (Cementing).

New Lesson Plans Are Up!

The new lesson plans are up and the new homework log will be available later this weekend.  Remember, report cards and new progress reports will go out on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

Mr. Scott

The Week of 11-12-2012

Hi, and believe it or not, we have finished the first week of the 2nd marking period!  New progress reports will come home on Monday!  Look for a print out of the current scores and any missing work.  I have received three permission slips back with two of them offering to chaperone for the canoe trip in the spring.  Thanks to those who got this in already, the due date is November 30th.  If you did not get a conference note from me yet, please call me and let me know or e-mail me of this fact.  For those who cannot make the times available, I will call you to do the conference at another time or over the phone.  Report cards come home on Monday!  Please look them over and let me know of any questions you have at conference time.  Also, please sign the envelopes and return them to me for future report cards.  There will be a survey given to parents, please take time fill this out and return them to me at conferences.  I look forward to seeing many of you again next week, and others for the first time.  Coming up on December 20th, we will be having the students go through an Ellis Island Simulation and we need volunteers to help work as customs agents, interviewers, nurses/ physicians, etc.  Students will go through all of the areas early immigrants had to go through to get into our country from Ellis Island.  The medical exam will consist of students drawing a card to see if they have a preexisting disease in which they would have to solve some puzzles to get out of quarantine, they will have customs agents check their passports and papers, their applications for citizenship, and proctor a citizenship test.  The sheet for volunteers will go home next Thursday, November 15th.  Also, on December 21st, in place of the holiday party, we will be partnering up with Mr. Patrick Scott's and Ms. Krafft classes to do a Cultural Foods Party.  Here, students will be asked to create a festive heritage dish that represents a country their ancestors are from.  If you cannot trace the ancestry to another country but to another part of the United States, you can do a regional cultural dish as well.  These dishes will be sampled by the students, a lot like samples are given out at Costco or Sam's Club.  I will send a note explaining this more next Thursday as well.  There will be no newsletter, spelling test, or vocab test next week.  There will however still be a reading log.  That's all for the general updates, here's more on the subjects:

Science News
The students this week unravelled their sedimentary rock samples they made last Friday and what a success!  In many cases they could see the three layers of sedimentary rock they created.  Students also looked at real samples of igneous and metamorphic rocks and wrote a compare and contrast of them.  Finally, the students created their own igneous crystals, through an igneous rock demonstration.  These will go home next week some time.  Next week, we will be investigating metamorphic rock and creating them through a simulation.  Following these three types of rocks, we will be looking at fossils and creating some, and learning about minerals.

S. Studies News
The students began Unit 2 with an investigation of the geographic regions of North America.  Next Wednesday or Thursday, they will have a test on chapter 3 on North America's Geography and move into the next chapter about the United States.

Writing News
Students have completed their second drafts of their personal narratives and will be doing their final drafts on computers next week.  Please check with your child if he/ she has his/ hers done.  If not, please get them done this weekend.

Reading News
We kept on working with text to text connections this week, where we created thinking maps displaying our connections and then transferred them to a paper.  Next week, we will be working on text to world connections.

Math News
This week we worked on integers, which are any number on a number line.  We learned that zero is neither a positive or negative integer, and that the absolute value of an integer is the total number of spaces it is from zero on a number line.  Finally, students compared and ordered integers.  Next week, we will be looking at adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing positive and negative integers.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend and enjoy the last days of mild weather!  Go Irish!  Beat BC!

Homework Log

The homework log for this week is up on the class web site.

New Lesson Plans Are Up

This week's lesson plans are available on the class web site, and the homework log will be made available later today.

The Week of November 5th, 2012

This week on Tuesday, November 6th, there will be no school due to a teacher in service day.  I have to have my report cards done by Monday afternoon, therefore, please have all missing work turned into me on Monday morning.  any work not turned in by then will not be counted in the grade for the report card.  There will be no progress reports next week, please look for one the week after.  Report cards are due to go home Monday, November 12th.  Conference notes, if you have not turned one in to me, please do so.  I will send home new notes on Monday with your scheduled time if you have not gotten a note stating your preference to me.  Thanks again for the wonderful party last week.  I will get out thank you cards soon to all who helped or donated items.  During the week of November 12th, there will be no spelling or vocabulary test due to the shortened week of conferences.  Conferences will be held on November 14th- November 16th. We are getting into that season again where students are coming down with colds and other things,  please be sure to remind your child to dress appropriately for recess, always wash his/ her hands, and not to share food or beverages with other students.  We also need Kleenex and hand sanitizer in the room if anyone would be willing to donate.  We currently are collecting box tops, soup labels, and can goods.  For the can goods, we are in a competition with Adams Upper Elementary.  Donate if you can!

Reading News
This week we learned how to make connections from text to text, and next week we will continue with this skill.  By the end of next week, we will start on making connections text to world.  Many kids are not checking out books in the library and coming to class without a reading book.  Please make sure your child has one daily, and if they cannot check out a book in our library, please take them to the city library to get one.  A new reading log and Book It form will come home today.

Math News
On Monday, the students will take a test on the graphing and chart making they did in chapter 2.  These include: making a frequency chart, bar graphs and histograms, line plot graphs, and steam and leaf plot graphs.  Students will also need to be able to calculate the mode, mean, and median, plus know the definition of each.

Writing News
This week the kids worked on their personal narratives with some peer editing.  Next week they will continue to do peer editing and then work on the final drafts.  Look for a spelling list to go home today for next Friday's tests.

Science News
This week the students learned about the three different types of rocks they will be studying, and then made sedimentary rocks in the classroom.  Next week, they will learn about igneous rocks and how they are formed above and below the Earth's surface.

S. Studies News
Our next chapter will be on the geography of North America.  Students will learn the different climates, land regions, and natural resources found in the continent they live on.

Have a great weekend, and if your child has not done as well as you hoped this quarter, know we are at a fresh start, and during conferences, we will discuss ways to improve your child's success.